RA Capital Management, led by Peter Kolchinsky, has opened a new position in clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX). A new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that RA Capital now holds just under 1.90 million shares of Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX). The stake represents 7.3% of the company’s common stock, and is passive by nature, consistent with Kolchinsky’s hands-off investment approach. RA Capital was co-founded by Kolchinsky in 2001 with Rich Aldrich. Based in Boston, the fund invests in public and private healthcare and life sciences companies engaged in developing drugs, medical devices, and diagnostics. In its latest 13F, RA Capital disclosed a public equity portfolio valued at $988.4 million as of March 31, with the fund’s top holdings, in terms of value, being Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:ACHN), Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ:DYAX), and BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:BCRX).
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California-based Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on cardio-renal, gastrointestinal and metabolic diseases. The market cap of the company is $271.20 million. Last week, Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) announced that it entered into a termination agreement with AstraZeneca plc (ADR)(NYSE:AZN). Under the agreement, Ardelyx will regain all rights for all NHE3 inhibitors previously licensed to AstraZeneca, including the company’s lead product candidate, tenapanor. This will allow Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) to accelerate the clinical development path for tenapanor in constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C). The company plans to initiate a phase 3 clinical program in IBS-C patients in the fourth quarter of this year. In addition, Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) is planning to start a phase 2b clinical trial in the fourth quarter to evaluate the optimal dosing regimen for tenapanor for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in dialysis patients. In other company news, Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) announced that it is developing RDX022 for the treatment of elevated potassium, or hyperkalemia. For RDX022, the company plans to pursue a 505b(2) regulatory pathway in the United States.
On June 3, Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) announced that it wants to raise about $77.8 million in a private placement, with the company entering into an agreement to sell its common stock shares and warrants to purchase shares of common stock. New Enterprise Associates, the company’s largest shareholder with ownership of 5.62 million shares, will invest about $50.2 million in the private placement, while the remaining $27.6 million will be invested by a combination of new and existing investors, including RA Capital Management, according to a statement by the company.
For the first quarter of 2015, Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) posted a net loss of $3.5 million, or $0.19 per share, versus a loss of $3.1 million, or $2.44 per share, in the first quarter of 2014. Total revenue for the quarter was $5.9 million, down from $8.6 million in the same period last year. It seems that Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX)’s announcements during the last week have had a positive impact on the company’s stock, which has gained 14.04% during the last four days and a tremendous 74.76% during the last month. Among the shareholders of Ardelyx Inc (NASDAQ:ARDX) to benefit from those gains were Hal Mintz‘s SABBY Capital and Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies, which held 112,174 shares and 51,600 shares of the company respectively, as of the end of the first quarter.
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