** Viridian Therapeutics VRDN.O shares up 1.1% at $20.02 after co's equity haul exceeds expectations
** Co late Weds announced pricing ~10.7 mln shares at $18.75 and preferred stock convertible into ~1.3 mln shares for $225 mln gross proceeds
** Deal size increased from planned $150 mln raise
** VRDN shares on Tues popped ~32% after co's drug, veligrotug, significantly reduced thyroid eye disease (TED) symptoms in late-stage study, putting it in position to become the first rival to Amgen's AMGN.O blockbuster therapy Tepezza
** Shares on Weds rose another 5.6% to close at $19.80
** Co plans to use offering proceeds to further clinical development programs, and for other general purposes
** With ~63.9 mln shares outstanding, it has ~$1.3 bln market cap
** Through Weds, stock down ~9% YTD
** Jefferies, Goldman, Stifel and RBC are jt bookrunners for stock offering
(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@thomsonreuters.com
lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))