Plymouth Meeting-based Harmony Biosciences closed a $50 million equity financing a week after receiving its first Food and Drug Administration drug approval.

One of the largest private stock sale in the local life sciences sector this year, the deal was disclosed in documents the Montgomery County company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, writes John George in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

[uam_ad id=”54865″]

When asked about the financing, the Plymouth Meeting company issued a statement: “Harmony Bioscience’s most recent raise was funded by inside investors and was in preparation for the planned commercial launch of Wakix in the fourth quarter of 2019, as well as to support future clinical development in new disease areas on behalf of patients.”

Harmony Biosciences hired about 90 employees this year, more than doubling its workforce that now totals 150, in anticipation of the product launch.

Narcolepsy, a chronic and debilitating neurologic disease, afflicts an estimated one in 2,000 Americans, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Some patients with Narcolepsy also have cataplexy, a medical condition in which strong emotion or laughter causes a person to suffer a sudden physical collapse, but remain conscious. In clinical testing, Wakix benefitted patients with both conditions.

To read the complete story click here.

[uam_ad id=”54875″]