Avidity Biosciences Inc (Nasdaq:RNA), a US biopharmaceutical company focused on providing a new class of RNA therapeutics called Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs), announced on Monday that it has closed its previously announced underwritten public offering of 17,250,000 shares of common stock, including 2,250,000 shares sold pursuant to the underwriters' full exercise of their option to purchase additional shares, at a price to the public of USD40.00 per share.

Gross proceeds to Avidity from the offering, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other offering expenses, were USD690.0m. All the shares sold in the offering were sold by Avidity.

Avidity intends to use the net proceeds from this offering, together with its existing cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, to advance the development of its three late-stage clinical programmes, to build appropriate commercial inventory levels to support multiple potential launches, to expand its commercial infrastructure, to progress research and development associated with its AOC platform, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Leerink Partners, J.P. Morgan, TD Cowen, Cantor and Wells Fargo Securities acted as joint bookrunning managers for the offering.