A soft reception
In contrast to their older siblings from the class of 2000, the most recently completed biotech IPOs are not getting very far off the ground. Shares of small molecule cancer therapeutic company Allos (ALTH) were down $5 (28 percent) to $13 on Tuesday on its first day of trading. On Monday, ALTH raised $90 million through the sale of 5 million shares at $18 per share (see BioCentury Extra, March 27). Antifungal and antibacterial play Intrabiotics (IBPI), which on Monday raised $112.5 million through the sale of 7.5 million shares at $15 per share, was up a meager $0.75 to $15.75 in the aftermarket on Tuesday.
Indeed, none of the three most recent product company IPOs, which include IBPI, ALTH and InterMune (ITMN), which markets Actimmune interferon gamma-1b to treat chronic granulomatous disease and osteopetrosis, are trading appreciably above their respective IPO prices. On March 24, ITMN raised $125 million through the sale of 6.25 million shares at $20. ITMN was down $0.625 to $20.50 on Tuesday. ...