Arena Pharma Sells 21 Mln Shares

(RTTNews) - Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA) said Wednesday that it has sold 21 million shares of its common stock to Jefferies LLC and Piper Jaffray & Co. as underwriters for its previously announced public offering.

The underwriters offered the shares to purchasers in transactions on The NASDAQ Global Select Market, in the over-the-counter market, through negotiated transactions or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, at prices related to prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices.

The offering is expected to close on or about January 26.

In addition, Arena has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an aggregate of 3 million additional shares of common stock.

Arena anticipates using the net proceeds from the offering for the clinical and preclinical development of drug candidates, for discovery research for new drug candidates, and for general corporate purposes, including working capital, costs associated with product sales and manufacturing services, capital expenditures and potentially for the commercialization of any new approved drugs.