ARCTURUS SEEKING FUNDS FOR VACCINE EFFORTS

Clinical trial in progress; biotech working on a powder

San Diego biotech Arcturus Therapeutics is looking to raise $150 million to fund efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.

The biotech announced Monday that it’s offering nearly 1.37 million shares at $110 apiece and expects to close the offering this week.

Piper Sandler & Co., Guggenheim Securities and Wells Fargo Securities, which are underwriters on the deal, have the option to purchase another 200,000 shares.

Arcturus plans to use the money to test and manufacture its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, which uses a snippet of the coronavirus’ genetic code to spark a protective immune response.

The vaccine is currently in clinical trials in Singapore to test its safety and how well different doses galvanize the immune system. Arcturus began those trials over the summer, in partnership with Singapore’s government. A lot has changed since then. Pfizer will likely soon get emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration for its COVID-19 vaccine. Massa

chusetts biotech Moderna could soon follow suit. Both vaccines are about 95 percent effective in preventing symptomatic cases of COVID-19 and use a molecule called RNA to teach the body to respond to the coronavirus.

Arcturus’ vaccine uses RNA, too, but in a form that makes additional copies of itself once it enters your cells. That means researchers won’t need to use as much vaccine, says CEO Joseph Payne, noting that the per-person doses of vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer are, respectively, at least 20 times and six times the doses Arcturus is using in its trials.

The less vaccine each person needs, the more people can be vaccinated. Another potential advantage, according to Payne: Arcturus is working on producing its vaccine as a powder. That powder, which would be dissolved in liquid before use, could potentially stay in the fridge or even at room temperature for far longer than other, more finicky vaccines — such as Pfizer’s, which must be stored at minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit.

Infectious disease experts such as Dr. Davey Smith of UC San Diego have stressed that, while the pandemic will end, the coronavirus will be with us for the foreseeable future. And Arcturus is banking on there being sustained demand for a COVID-19 vaccine even after the current crisis has ended.

“No one knows the exact number, but there’s going to be a good number of vaccines that help address this immediate need of the pandemic,” said Payne in a September interview with the UnionTribune. “Looking beyond that, into the (next) phase, Arcturus is hoping that we’ll be one of the toptier vaccine candidates to manage COVID-19.”

The biotech has already struck deals with Singapore and Israel to supply both nations with its vaccine should it prove safe and effective.

Shares in Arcturus closed at $105.45 Thursday, up $16.40 for the day.