Gritstone Oncology Announces $110 Million Private Placement

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Gritstone Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: GRTS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing the next generation of cancer immunotherapies to fight multiple cancer types, today announced that it has executed a securities purchase agreement to raise gross proceeds of $110 million resulting from the sale of shares of its common stock and/or pre-funded warrants through a private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing at a price per share of $3.34. The financing was led by certain existing and new investors, Redmile Group, Avidity Partners and EcoR1 Capital.

The PIPE financing is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close on December 28, 2020. The PIPE financing was done in compliance with applicable Nasdaq rules and priced at the “Minimum Price” (as defined in the Nasdaq rules). Cowen served as the sole placement agent for the financing. The company expects to use net proceeds from this private placement to fund research and development expenses, including the clinical development of its lead cancer immunotherapies, GRANITE and SLATE, and advancement of opportunities from its core technologies including Gritstone EDGE™ and vaccine platforms, as well as for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

“We believe these additional resources position us well to accelerate the advancement of our two lead cancer immunotherapies, GRANITE and SLATE,” said Andrew Allen, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder, president and chief executive officer of Gritstone Oncology. “Additionally, we are exploring the broader potential of our first-in-class technology platforms – EDGE™ as a leading T cell antigen identification technology complementing our highly immunogenic vaccine platforms, now well established in human clinical studies.”

The securities sold in this private placement have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the U.S. except pursuant to an effective registration statement or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. Gritstone has agreed to file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission registering the resale of the shares of common stock issued in this private placement.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

About Gritstone Oncology
Gritstone Oncology (Nasdaq: GRTS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company, is developing the next generation of cancer immunotherapies to fight multiple cancer types. Gritstone develops its products by leveraging two key pillars—second, a proprietary machine learning-based platform, Gritstone EDGE™, which is designed to predict, from a routine tumor biopsy, the tumor-specific neoantigens (TSNA) that are presented on a patient’s tumor cells; and second, the ability to develop and manufacture potent immunotherapies utilizing patients’ TSNA to potentially drive the patient’s immune system to specifically attack and destroy tumors. The company’s individualized neoantigen-based immunotherapy, GRANITE, and its “off the shelf” shared neoantigen-based immunotherapy, SLATE, are being evaluated in clinical studies. Novel tumor-specific antigens can also provide targets for bispecific antibody (BiSAb) therapeutics for solid tumors, and Gritstone’s BiSAb program is currently in lead optimization. For more information, please visit gritstoneoncology.com.

Gritstone Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements related to the potential of Gritstone’s therapeutic programs; and the timing and expectation of the closing of the PIPE financing. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause Gritstone’s research and clinical development programs, future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, including Gritstone’s programs’ early stage of development, the process of designing and conducting preclinical and clinical trials, the regulatory approval processes, the timing of regulatory filings, the challenges associated with manufacturing drug products, Gritstone’s ability to successfully establish, protect and defend its intellectual property and other matters that could affect the sufficiency of existing cash to fund operations. Gritstone undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the company in general, see Gritstone’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed on November 5, 2020 and any current and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contacts
Media:
Dan Budwick
1AB
(973) 271-6085 
dan@1abmedia.com

Investors:
Alexandra Santos
Wheelhouse Life Science Advisors
(510) 871-6161
asantos@wheelhouselsa.com