Sometimes in biotech, you get to skip the hard part. Athira Pharma Inc. (ATHA) shares rocketed 74.49% higher Thursday after the company announced it's acquiring rights to a clinical-stage breast cancer drug that's already more than halfway through its Phase 3 trial. No need to spend years navigating early development when someone else has done the heavy lifting.
The trading action was remarkable even by biotech standards. Session volume hit 57.29 million shares versus an average daily volume of roughly 31,000 shares. That's not a typo. The stock surged to a fresh 52-week high at $7.22 as investors digested the news.
The Drug Deal
Athira secured an exclusive global license from Sermonix Pharmaceuticals for lasofoxifene, excluding Asia and certain Middle Eastern countries. The drug targets metastatic breast cancer, and here's the appealing part: the ongoing Phase 3 ELAINE-3 clinical trial is already more than 50% enrolled, with topline data expected in mid-2027.
For a company looking to pivot or expand its pipeline, acquiring a late-stage asset with clear visibility to data readout is about as good as it gets. You're buying into a program that's already proven viable enough to make it this far.
What Athira Is Paying
The consideration structure tells you something about how these deals work. Athira will issue Sermonix a pre-funded warrant to purchase approximately 5.5 million shares at an exercise price of just $0.001 per share. That's essentially giving Sermonix equity in the company.
Beyond that, Sermonix stands to collect up to $100 million in milestone payments if Athira hits certain commercialization targets or annual net sales thresholds. It's the classic biotech deal structure where the upfront cost is manageable, but the real payout comes if the drug actually succeeds.
The Financing Package
Athira didn't just announce the acquisition. The company also locked down $90 million in upfront financing through a private placement of common stock and warrants. If those warrants get exercised, that's potentially another $146 million flowing into the company to support development through key clinical and regulatory milestones.
Management says the upfront $90 million should be enough to fund lasofoxifene development through the topline data readout and key regulatory milestones, extending the company's cash runway into 2028. That's meaningful visibility in an industry where cash burn is always a concern.
The company plans to use the proceeds for developing lasofoxifene for treatment-resistant metastatic breast cancer, advancing other pipeline assets, and covering general corporate expenses and working capital needs.
For Athira shareholders, this represents a significant strategic shift. The company is essentially betting on a late-stage oncology asset with a clear path to potential approval, assuming the Phase 3 data cooperates in 2027.