Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Xencor Inc. saw its share price increase significantly this month.
The Pasadena firm saw its stock price go up by 23% after announcing progress with some of its oncology drugs before the market opened on Sept. 9.
Then, on Sept. 10, the share price dropped by about 4% before recovering by 10% the next day after the announcement by the company that it had commenced an underwritten public offering of shares of its common stock at $18 a share.
The stock price closed at $19.13 that day and then closed at $21.13 on Sept. 11.
Xencor currently intends to use the gross proceeds of approximately $201 million from the proposed offering for general corporate purposes, which may include research and development, capital expenditures, working capital and general and administrative expenses, according to a release from the company.
Shares closed at $21.15 on Sept. 19.
The proposed offering announcement came a day after Xencor announced four new autoimmune disease drugs and progress on two other cancer drugs.
Bassil Dahiyat, chief executive of Xencor, said that the company’s clinical pipeline of XmAb bispecific T-cell engagers and newly announced autoimmune programs have multiple near-term milestones and offer a balance of opportunities to deliver novel treatment options that could potentially make a real difference in patients’ lives.
“The foundation of our portfolio is world-class protein engineering, using our XmAb platforms to potentially solve complex engineering problems and rationally build drug candidates that address specific clinical opportunities,” Dahiyat said in a statement. “Our goal is clear – fully leverage our protein engineering strengths and reduce exposure to biological uncertainties to increase our overall opportunities for clinical success.”
The new drugs include plamotamab, to be evaluated in patients with multi-drug resistant rheumatoid arthritis, with Phase 1b/2a study anticipated to initiate in the first half of next year; XmAb657 for patients with autoimmune diseases, with first-in-human Phase 1 study anticipated to initiate in the second half of next year; XmAb942 for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, with first-in-human Phase 1 study anticipated to initiate in the fourth quarter of this year; and XmAb TL1A x IL-23, a potential first-in-class bispecific antibody to combine two validated biological pathways of interest into one drug candidate for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. Xencor anticipates initiating first-in-human studies during 2026.
Sean McCutcheon, an analyst with Raymond James & Associates Inc., said in a research note from Sept. 9 that Xencor was entering “popular territory” with TL1A being the subject of some high-profile acquisitions last year.
“We note that the timelines to the clinic are well-defined for these programs, including first patient in for Phase 1 studies of the TL1A asset by year-end with healthy volunteer data during 1H2025, a welcome development and necessary to position vs competitors (namely Spyre Therapeutics Inc. for the TL1A in inflammatory bowel diseases),” McCutcheon wrote in the report.
The two cancer drugs that Xencor gave updates on are XmAb819 for patients with kidney cancer; and XmAb808 for patients with advanced solid tumors, particularly metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
The company anticipates reaching target dose levels of both drugs by year end and plans to provide clinical updates during the first half of next year.
On the cancer drugs, the most notable revelation was that XmAb819, has shown RECIST (response evaluation criteria in solid tumors) responses in kidney cancer patients at doses below the target range with dose escalation ongoing, McCutcheon wrote in the report.
“We see these updates as a strong positive indication that Xencor is focused on assets that have more limited biological risk and that they can prosecute a clear path to impactful clinical results near term,” McCutcheon said.
