Booming Blueprint to Expand Into Former GlaxoSmithKline Site
May 4, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
Blueprint Medicines , headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., in its first-quarter financial filings, noted that on April 28, it had signed a lease for 99,833 square feet of office and laboratory space at 45 Sidney Street in Cambridge. The space was formerly used by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline , which vacated the site in spring of 2015.
Blueprint plans to move its headquarters to the new location in the first quarter of 2018.
This is in response to the company’s explosive growth. In terms of its clinical programs, the company is continuing to enroll patients in its ongoing Phase I clinical trial for BLU-285 in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and has completed enrollment in its Phase I trial of BLU-285 in advanced systemic mastocytosis. It recently dosed the first patient in its Phase I trial of BLU-667 for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) and other advanced solid tumors with RET alterations.
In addition, the company closed on its public offering in April, an underwritten public offering of 5,750,000 shares of common stock at a price of $40 per share. The net proceeds of the offering were $215.6 million.
“In the first quarter of 2017, we expanded our clinical-stage portfolio of drug candidates with the dosing of the first patient in our Phase I trial of BLU-667, a selective RET inhibitor that addresses both primary and predicted resistance mutations, while also progressing our ongoing Phase I trials of BLU-554 and BLU-285,” said Jeff Alberts, chief executive officer of Blueprint, in a statement. “Our recent financing in April further strengthened our balance sheet, and we believe that we are well positioned to continue advancing our robust pipeline, including three clinical-stage drug candidates and multiple discovery programs, through important milestones. We look forward to presenting updated Phase I data for BLU-285 in GIST and systemic mastocytosis and BLU-554 in hepatocellular carcinoma later this year, which will help inform and guide our future development efforts for these programs.”
At the first quarter, Blueprint reported cash, cash equivalents and investments totaling $236.3 million, down from $268.2 at December 31, 2016. Its working capital is $188.2 million, and total stockholders’ equity is $188.2 million.
The company’s collaboration revenue is $5.84 million, with total operating expenses of $34.2 million. At the first quarter it reported a net loss of $27.9 million.
At the recent stock offering, per a Form 13 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Biotechnology Value Fund LP picked up 945,674 shares of the company’s common stock on May 3. That brings the fund’s aggregate amount of Blueprint stock to 945,674, or less than a 2.4 percent stake in the company.
The company’s market cap is currently $1.66 billion based on 38.13 million shares and a price of $43.81 per share.
Blueprint is currently trading for $43.80.
Carmen Augustine, an analyst with Jefferies, wrote in a note, “With additional clinical data for two lead candidates (BLU-285, BLU-554) in 2017 likely to strengthen their therapeutic potential, and added clarity around approval path for BLU-285 in GIST as soon as 1H17, we see opportunity for further upside despite recent run-up in share price.” Jefferies raised the company’s target price to $52, maintaining a “buy” rating.