aibioSAB Biotherapeutics agrees to $175 million private placement with Sanofi
Tickers SABS
SAB will issue convertible preferred stock convertible at $1.75 per share, plus warrants that could bring up to $284 million more if exercised in full. It expects cash to last into the middle of 2028.
Key facts
- Company
- SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: SABS)
- News type
- Financings
- Primary source
- SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. 8-K (2025-07-21)
SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SABS) said on July 21, 2025 that it signed a securities purchase agreement to raise $175 million upfront in gross proceeds through a private placement, which is a sale of securities to selected investors without a public offering. The Miami company described the deal as oversubscribed.
The investors include Sanofi, a strategic investor, and new investors RA Capital Management, Commodore Capital, Vivo Capital, Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing, Spruce Street Capital, Forge Life Science Partners and Woodline Partners LP. Existing investors Sessa Capital, the T1D Fund and ATW Partners also took part. The release does not say how much each investor bought.
What investors receive
SAB will issue up to 1,000,000 shares of Series B nonvoting convertible preferred stock. Those shares convert into up to 100,000,000 shares of common stock at a conversion price of $1.75 per share. The company will also issue warrants for up to 1,500,000 shares of Series B preferred. If the warrants are exercised in full, they would bring up to $284 million more in gross proceeds. The release describes those warrants as milestone-based but does not define the milestones or when they would be met.
The release also does not give the number of common shares outstanding before the deal, so the dilution from 100,000,000 conversion shares cannot be measured from it.
Placement agents
Leerink Partners is lead placement agent for the private placement. UBS Investment Bank, Chardan and Oppenheimer & Co. are joint placement agents. The release does not name counsel for the company or for the investors.
Use of the money
SAB plans to use the net proceeds to fully fund its Phase 2b SAFEGUARD study of SAB-142 in newly diagnosed autoimmune type 1 diabetes, along with working capital and general corporate purposes. With its current cash, the company expects the money to extend its cash runway into the middle of 2028. The deal was expected to close on or about July 22, 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.
The drug and the evidence so far
SAB-142 is a human anti-thymocyte globulin that the company is developing to delay progression of type 1 diabetes. The company says it received FDA clearance to start clinical testing in May 2024 and announced positive topline data from a Phase 1 trial in January 2025. The release gives no efficacy figures from that trial. Its annual report, filed in March 2025, says the SAFEGUARD Phase 2b study was anticipated to start in mid-2025.
The company also cites data from more than 700 human subjects treated with antibodies produced by its platform. Those figures cover the platform in general and are not results for SAB-142 alone. The annual report says the company has run three drug products through seven clinical trials, with one advancing to Phase 3.
What the deal does and does not settle
The $175 million upfront is the only money that comes with the deal at closing. The rest depends on warrant exercises tied to milestones the release does not define. The preferred stock also converts into up to 100,000,000 common shares. Sanofi's role is described as strategic, but the release does not state any terms of that participation beyond the investment itself. The runway estimate into the middle of 2028 is tied to using the money to fund the Phase 2b study.