ESPR Prices Offering At $100/Share

(RTTNews) - Esperion Therapeutics Inc. (ESPR) is offering to sell 1.75 million shares of its common stock to the public at a price of $100.00 each. The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 262,500 shares of the common stock.

The gross proceeds from the offering to Esperion are expected to be $175 million, and the offering is scheduled to close on or about March 24, 2015. The company ended December 31, 2014 with cash and cash equivalents and available-for-sale investments, which totaled $85.0 million and $56.5 million, respectively.

Esperion's lead drug candidate is ETC-1002, a novel, first-in-class, orally available, once-daily LDL-C lowering small molecule designed to lower levels of LDL-C and to avoid side effects associated with existing LDL-C lowering therapies.

In a 12-week, phase IIb study, the results of which were reported earlier in the week, there was a greater LDL-cholesterol lowering from baseline with ETC-1002 compared to placebo in patients with hypercholesterolemia on stable statin therapy.

A phase II study evaluating the LDL-cholesterol lowering efficacy of ETC-1002 against placebo in patients with both hypercholesterolemia and hypertension is underway, and top-line results from this study are expected to be reported by mid-year.

Esperion also expects to conduct an End-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA for ETC-1002 in the middle of this year.

A phase 3 clinical development program, including the phase 3 long-term (104 week) safety study for ETC-1002, is expected to be initiated before the end of this year.

ESPR closed Wednesday's trading at $105.72, up 6.14%.