BUZZ-89bio rises after $250 mln equity haul

** Shares of 89Bio ETNB.O up 1.7% at $9.16 premarket after co secures equity raise

** San Franscisco-based firm late Tues sold ~28.6 mln shares, including 6.9 mln pre-funded warrants, at $8.75 for $250 mln gross proceeds

** Co plans to use net offering proceeds to fund its lead drug candidate, pegozafermin, to treat metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a type of fatty liver disease

** On Mon, ETNB shares closed up ~26% at $9, in wake of Akero Therapeutics AKRO.O saying its lead drug, efruxifermin, showed it can help reverse scarring in patients with MASH

** ETNB shares closed at $9.01 on Tues, giving co ~$1.06 bln market cap

** Goldman Sachs, Leerink and BofA lead bookrunners for equity offering

** ETNB shares have risen past seven sessions and are up ~15% to begin 2025

** Separately, AKRO raised $350 mln of equity in upsized offering