--- title: "Silence Therapeutics raises $175 million" url: "https://aibio.space/news/silence-therapeutics-raises-175-million-after-divesiran-phase-2-win/" publisher: "aibio.space (Biotech Investor Relations News)" date: "2026-08-11" section: "Financings" tickers: "NASDAQ:SLN" source: "https://silence-therapeutics.com/investors/press-releases/press-releases-details/2026/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Pricing-of-Upsized-175-Million-Underwritten-Public-Offering/default.aspx" summary: "The upsized offering priced at $13.50 per ADS a day after the SANRECO results, adding to $72.1 million in cash at the end of June." --- By the aibio.space Silence desk. Sources - [Silence Therapeutics](https://silence-therapeutics.com/investors/press-releases/press-releases-details/2026/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Pricing-of-Upsized-175-Million-Underwritten-Public-Offering/default.aspx) - [BioWorld](https://www.bioworld.com/articles/733365-silence-draws-upsized-175m-after-divesirans-phase-ii-pv-win) - [Clinical Trials Arena](https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/?p=257567) - [SEC filing (Q2 2026 results)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001479615/000119312526341240/d162225dex991.htm) [SLN](https://aibio.space/companies/silence-therapeutics/) 2026-08-11 # Silence Therapeutics raises $175 million after divesiran phase 2 win Tickers [SLN](https://aibio.space/companies/silence-therapeutics/) The upsized offering priced at $13.50 per ADS a day after the SANRECO results, adding to $72.1 million in cash at the end of June. ## Key facts - **Company**: Silence Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: SLN) - **News type**: Financings - **Primary source**: [Silence Therapeutics](https://silence-therapeutics.com/investors/press-releases/press-releases-details/2026/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Pricing-of-Upsized-175-Million-Underwritten-Public-Offering/default.aspx) *Traders on the NYSE floor, 1963. Photo: Thomas J. O'Halloran, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The picture shows the field, not the companies named.* Silence Therapeutics priced an upsized underwritten public offering of [12,962,963 American depositary shares at $13.50 each](https://silence-therapeutics.com/investors/press-releases/press-releases-details/2026/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Pricing-of-Upsized-175-Million-Underwritten-Public-Offering/default.aspx) on August 11, 2026, for gross proceeds of about $175 million. The London-based siRNA company had proposed a raise of about [$150 million on August 10](https://www.bioworld.com/articles/733365-silence-draws-upsized-175m-after-divesirans-phase-ii-pv-win), the same day it reported phase 2 results for divesiran in polycythemia vera. Jefferies, Morgan Stanley, Cantor and William Blair ran the books, [according to the company](https://silence-therapeutics.com/investors/press-releases/press-releases-details/2026/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Pricing-of-Upsized-175-Million-Underwritten-Public-Offering/default.aspx). The underwriters got a 30-day option to buy up to 1,944,444 more ADSs, and the deal was set to close on or about August 13. ## The details Each ADS represents [three ordinary shares](https://silence-therapeutics.com/investors/press-releases/press-releases-details/2026/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Pricing-of-Upsized-175-Million-Underwritten-Public-Offering/default.aspx) of 5 pence each. The pricing release did not say how the money would be used. A related item on the [company's second-quarter release page](https://secure.businesswire.com/news/home/20260810075814/en/Silence-Therapeutics-Reports-Second-Quarter-2026-Financial-and-Business-Results) said the offering closed with 14,907,407 ADSs sold, including full exercise of the underwriters' option. The price sat between two reference points. [Clinical Trials Arena](https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/?p=257567) reported that SLN shares closed at $11.95 on August 7 and at $15.43 on August 10, the day of the data, a near 30% gain. The offering priced below the August 10 close. ## Context Silence went into the raise with [$72.1 million in cash and cash equivalents](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001479615/000119312526341240/d162225dex991.htm) at June 30, 2026, against $85.1 million in cash and short-term investments at the end of 2025. Its second-quarter net loss was $12.3 million, and R&D spending of $9.1 million was about half the year-earlier level after the company finished zerlasiran phase 3 readiness work in 2025. The data that set up the raise were strong. Divesiran produced an [88% response rate against 19% for placebo](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260810915756/en/Silence-Therapeutics-Announces-Positive-Topline-Results-from-Phase-2-SANRECO-Trial-of-Divesiran-in-Polycythemia-Vera-Supporting-its-Potential-Best-in-Class-Profile) in the 48-patient SANRECO trial, and Silence said it would take the 12-week dose into a phase 3 trial starting in the first half of 2027. Neither the [first-quarter release](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Highlights-Recent-Business-Achievements-and-Reports-First-Quarter-2026-Financial-Results-2026.pdf) nor the second-quarter release gave a cash runway. Two months later, Merck KGaA agreed to [acquire Silence for $20 per ADS](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Enters-into-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-Merck-KGaA-Darmstadt-Germany-2026.pdf), a 130% premium to the October 16 close. ## What it means for investors The raise followed a common pattern in biotech: sell stock into a data-driven rally while the order book is deep. It added cash ahead of a planned phase 3 in PV, though the company gave no runway figure. Iain Ross, the chairperson and interim principal executive officer, later said the Merck deal was ["the result of a competitive sale process"](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/merck-kgaa-buys-silence-13b-deal-biotechs-blood-cancer-sirna-drug). Investors who bought at $13.50 saw the [$20 Merck offer](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Enters-into-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-Merck-KGaA-Darmstadt-Germany-2026.pdf) come in about 48% above their price. That figure is computed from the two published prices, and it only counts if the deal closes. The cost of the raise was dilution. Silence had [141,739,180 ordinary shares](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001479615/000119312526341240/d162225dex991.htm) outstanding at June 30. The 14.9 million ADSs sold equal about 44.7 million ordinary shares, close to a third more stock. Because the Merck price is set per ADS, that dilution was already in the share count when the deal value was agreed. ## What to watch Silence shareholders will vote on the Merck scheme of arrangement, which also needs sanction from the [High Court of England and Wales](https://s27.q4cdn.com/622061554/files/doc_news/Silence-Therapeutics-Enters-into-Agreement-to-be-Acquired-by-Merck-KGaA-Darmstadt-Germany-2026.pdf). Closing is expected in the first quarter of 2027. [Report an error](https://aibio.space/reputation/#correction) ## Companies in this story SLN Silence Therapeutics plc NASDAQ ยท United Kingdom Open the desk ## More from the Silence desk Mergers ### [Merck KGaA agrees to buy Silence Therapeutics for $20 per ADS to get PV drug divesiran](https://aibio.space/news/merck-kgaa-agrees-buy-silence-therapeutics-20-ads-get-pv-drug/) Oct 19, 2026 Financings ### [City Therapeutics raises $200 million in upsized IPO priced at $18](https://aibio.space/news/city-therapeutics-raises-200-million-upsized-ipo-priced-18/) Oct 16, 2026 Debt Financing ### [Pelthos amends Horizon venture loan, funds Loans E to H and adds Loans I and J](https://aibio.space/news/pelthos-amends-horizon-venture-loan-funds-loans-e-h-adds-loans/) Oct 30, 2026 --- Source page: https://aibio.space/news/silence-therapeutics-raises-175-million-after-divesiran-phase-2-win/. Facts in aibio.space stories are checked against company filings and releases; opinion is labelled. Cite as: aibio.space, "Silence Therapeutics raises $175 million", 2026-08-11, https://aibio.space/news/silence-therapeutics-raises-175-million-after-divesiran-phase-2-win/