Lion Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ:LBIO) Soars Higher

Shares of Lion Biotechnologies Inc (NASDAQ:LBIO) soared higher on Friday after the company announced $100 million in funding. The tiny biotech also appointed appointed Maria Fardis, Ph.D., as President and Chief Executive Officer on June 1, 2016. Dr. Fardis succeeds Elma Hawkins, Ph.D., who served as the company's President and Chief Executive Officer since January 2015. Dr. Hawkins will serve as an advisor to the Board. These two big news announcements sent the shorts scrambling to cover and signaled to Mr Market that LBIO is gearing up for major developments.Lion Biotechnologies Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of cancer immunotherapy products for the treatment of various cancers. The company's lead product candidate is an adoptive cell therapy using tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) for the treatment of patients with refractory metastatic melanoma, and is based on a clinical Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Cancer Institute. TIL therapy is also being evaluated in physician-sponsored clinical trials at MD Anderson Cancer Center and Moffitt Cancer Center.The $100 million financing package is for a total of 9,684,000 shares of common stock and approximately 11,368,500 shares of newly authorized Series B Preferred Stock in a private placement for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $100.0 million. The purchase price will be $4.75 for each share of common stock and $4.75 for each share of Series B Preferred Stock. The offering is expected to close on or about June 7, 2016, subject to customary closing conditions. Participants in this financing include Quogue Capital, OrbiMed Advisors, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Broadfin Capital and fewer than ten other institutional and accredited investors.Smart money is also joining the board of LBIO. Wayne Rothbaum will become Lion's interim Chairman. Wayne Rothbaum is currently president and managing member of Quogue Capital, LLC, a $500 million life sciences investment fund. Prior to starting Quogue in 2001, Rothbaum led the life sciences practice at the strategic consulting firm The Carson Group, advising over 70 public and private biotech companies. In 2012, Rothbaum co-founded and was the executive chairman and largest investor in Acerta Pharma.Also joining the board is Dr Iain Dukes. Dr Dukes was formerly senior vice president, business development and licensing at Merck & Co. and oversaw all licensing deals at Merck Research Laboratories. He has more than 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical research, drug discovery, scientific and technology licensing, start-up company leadership, and as a consultant to numerous biotech and venture capital organizations.We believe the most impressive addition is Dr Fardis. Prior to joining Lion Biotechnologies, Dr. Fardis was chief operating officer at Acerta Pharma, a Dutch biotech company focused on developing selective, covalent small molecules to treat cancer and inflammation. At Acerta, she worked on the development of acalabrutinib (ACP-196), a selective and potent inhibitor of BTK currently in multiple registration directed studies, until the company's acquisition by AstraZeneca for up to $7.0 billion. Before joining Acerta, Dr. Fardis held the position of chief of oncology operations and alliances at Pharmacyclics LLC, where she oversaw development of ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA), abexinostat (HDAC inhibitor), and FVIIa inhibitor programs. She was a key contributor in the creation of a broad clinical program for ibrutinib, as well as New Drug Application and Marketing Authorisation Application submissions. Previously, Dr. Fardis held a number of key scientific and management roles at Gilead Sciences. At Gilead, she was involved with multiple therapeutic areas including antivirals, oncology, and cardiovascular therapeutics and worked on the development and life cycle management of ambrisentan (Letairis).Currently trading with a market cap of $420 million, Dr Fardis summed up the situation with LBIO when she said:

"Lion Biotechnologies has a unique scientific approach in using immuno-oncology to treat solid tumors and I am thrilled to join the team and execute our mission to advance the frontier of personalized medicine. The combination of a strong leadership team as well as financial stability, will allow us to execute a broad development program in commercializing TILs for multiple indications."

While in the short run we expect some profit taking and consolidation, we believe LBIO will be a long term winner for investors. Smart money has gotten involved and with new board members and a new CEO, we believe the bull run in shares of LBIO is just getting started. We will be updating Insider Financial as soon as we know more. For continuing coverage on LBIO, sign up for our free newsletter today and get our next hot stock pick!Disclosure: We have no position in LBIO and have not been compensated for this article.