Cancer Genetics’ IPO delayed amid Facebook frenzy

Posted under Blog, Cancer Genetics, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, IPO, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, molecular diagnostics, Pharmaceuticals, Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by Ryan McBride

Cancer Genetics has nixed plans to launch an initial public offering this week, having planned to raise $48 million to advance a pipeline of molecular diagnostics for cancer, Renaissance Capital reported Thursday. Last week Rib-X Pharmaceuticals delayed its own IPO, following a history of biotechs struggling to trade their shares on the public market. Seeking Alpha reasoned this week that Cancer Genetics' IPO might be small enough to slip through even though Wall Street has been bracing for the blockbuster maiden offering of Facebook. Guess not. Item

 

Merrimack Pharma stumbles out of the IPO gate

Posted under Biotech IPO, Blog, Cancer Drugs, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, IPO, irinotecan, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, MM-398, Pharmaceuticals, Pipeline, Sanofi, Startups, Universities, Videos by rmcbride

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals ($MACK) had a rough first day of trading Thursday. The Cambridge, MA-based company's shares fell 13.7% from the opening price of $7 per share, giving the developer of cancer drugs a lackluster public debut.

The developer, a 2011 Fierce 15 company, saw its shares fall soon after investors began trading its stock on the Nasdaq. According to MarketWatch, the company had sold 16.7 million shares of common stock in its IPO at $7 per share, below the range of $8 to $10 the company originally sought in its maiden public offering. The company had ditched plans for the bigger IPO before succeeding with the smaller offering this week.

Success can be messy. Merrimack stumbled a bit on its first day of trading, but very few privately held biotechs are able to pull off IPOs in the wintry climate for the deals nowadays. The company has 5 drugs in clinical trials, including an anti-cancer antibody drug dubbed MM-121 in mid-stage development with partner Sanofi ($SNY). That program emerged via Merrimack's discovery platform that involves using computational elements to understand the complexity of diseases.

Merrimack's lead drug is a nanoencapsulated version of the chemo drug irinotecan called MM-398, and part of the reason for the IPO was to fund Phase III development of the drug for treating aggressive prostate tumors.  

- check out the MarketWatch article

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Merrimack Pharma discounts expectations in $100M IPO

Posted under Blog, Cancer Drugs, Companies, Diagnostics, Funding, IPO, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals, Pipeline, Startups, Universities, Videos by john

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, a Cambridge, MA-based developer with 5 cancer therapies in the pipeline, is hoping that it can finally pull off an IPO after significantly reducing the amount of money it hopes to raise while cutting the proposed share price. Merrimack earlier pulled the plug on its $166 million IPO, which had sought investors willing to pay $8 to $10 a share. Now it's looking for $100 million by selling 14.3 million shares at $7 each, Renaissance Capital reports. The effort values the company at $647 million. Biotech IPOs have been tough to pull off ever since the 2008 financial crisis. But a growing number of hardy companies have pushed ahead in any case, often suffering from a common need to cut their prices and accept less than hoped for. A few IPOs have been successful, though, largely due to the active support of a loyal group of financial backers. We recognized Merrimack as a Fierce 15 company last year. Story

Biofuels Digest Measures Bioenergy Business Outlook

Posted under bioenergy, Bioenergy Business Outlook Survey, biofuels, Biofuels & Climate Change, Biofuels Digest, biotech industry, Blog, business confidence index, business development, Business Outlook Survey, Companies, Diagnostics, Environmental & Industrial, financing, Funding, IPO, Medical Devices, Medical Supply, Pharmaceuticals, Startups, Universities, Videos by biotechnow@bio.org (Biotechnology Industry Organization)

Biofuels Digest and BIO launched the 2012 Q1 Bioenergy Business Outlook Survey.

In the last survey, Biofuels Digest reported that 79 percent of bioenergy executives are more optimistic both about their organization’s prospects for growth and industry growth, than 12 months prior.

Bioenergy, biofuel and biotech executives are invited to participate in the survey.

Overall, the survey painted a picture of an industry that is expecting to grow at nearly triple the growth rate of the world economy (8.9 percent for the industry, compared to 3.2 percent for the total economy), but expecting to find generally less external support in the form of tangible support from government, and less IPO activity. The industry sees the IPO window as substantially less open in the next 12 months than the past year, but report a generally higher success rate in obtaining new finance.