Aliso Viejo-based drug maker Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. is looking to raise $88 million through a stock sale to market a recently approved drug.
Avanir plans to sell up to 23 million shares of its stock at $4.40 a piece. The sale is expected to close on Monday.
The company’s shares were trading at about $4.50 on Wednesday with a market value of some $435 million.
Avanir plans to use the proceeds to market Nuedexta, a drug that was approved in October to treat bouts of uncontrolled laughing or crying in patients with neurological disorders.
The money also could go toward further study of Nuedexta, which Avanir is exploring as a potential treatment for chronic pain in diabetics.
Nuedexta, Avanir’s only approved product, is expected to start selling for uncontrolled laughing or crying in the first quarter.
The drug could have a potential patient market of 150,000 people, leading to peak sales estimate of $350 million, according to an analyst.
Avanir moved its headquarters from San Diego to Orange County in 2006.
