LeonaBio filing records exercise of pre-funded warrants for 776,648 shares
Key Facts
LeonaBio's Form 4 filing records Perceptive Advisors LLC's exercise of pre-funded warrants for 776,648 common shares at $0.001 per share in a transaction dated October 26, 2026. The form identifies the company as LeonaBio, Inc., ticker LONA, and names Perceptive Advisors LLC as the reporting person. The table describes a warrant exercise and does not establish an open-market purchase of this amount. The form also does not characterize the transaction as a signal about the stock's valuation or the reporting person's confidence in the company.
According to the relationship boxes on the form, the reporting person was classified as a director and an owner of at least 10%. The table of non-derivative securities lists code M for the transaction, alongside the common shares acquired, and also lists a pre-funded warrant exercisable for 776,648 shares. The $0.001 per-share price is the price reported for this transaction. The form therefore specifies the instrument, number and recorded price without calling it an ordinary open-market stock purchase. A footnote links the warrant issuance to a grant of licenses and rights to the company, placing it within a broader contractual arrangement.
The footnote says the securities were issued to Sermonix in exchange for granting licenses and rights to the issuer. The filing also states a restriction on warrant exercise: beneficial ownership limits currently prevent the Master Fund or PXV II from exercising any of their warrants. The restriction means that holding warrants does not necessarily allow them to be converted into shares immediately, according to the form. In a separate part of the filing, the form states that PXV II received exercisable pre-funded warrants on October 26 to acquire 2,352,932 common shares. These details concern contractual instruments and rights, not an open-market purchase.
The background to these instruments is a licensing agreement with Sermonix, which granted LeonaBio exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize lasofoxifene worldwide, except in Asia and certain Middle Eastern countries. In its annual report, the company said consideration included pre-funded warrants, payments to service providers and monthly installments. It also announced $90 million in private financing when it disclosed the licensing deal, and said cash-exercise warrants could provide up to $146 million more if exercised in full. The company is developing lasofoxifene in the Phase 3 ELAINE-3 trial in combination with abemaciclib to treat estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer with ESR1 mutations.
The company's financial data place the deal at a time when cash, cash equivalents and investments had declined to $51.1 million on June 30, 2026, from $88.3 million on December 31, 2025. Net cash used in operations totaled $37.9 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, compared with $21.7 million in the corresponding quarter of 2025. For the stock, price records showed LONA closing at $4.76 on October 26, then $4.89 on October 27 and $4.96 on October 28. These prices record the stock's movement after the transaction date and do not establish that the warrant exercise caused it.
The investor relations website listed a Form 4 filing and a Schedule 13D/A filing dated October 26, 2026. For the next operational milestone, the company said it expects to complete enrollment of about 600 participants in the ELAINE-3 trial during the fourth quarter of 2026. It expects preliminary trial data in the second half of 2027. These dates provide a timeline for the clinical program, while the current ownership filing concerns the warrant exercise and licensing arrangement.