Minerva slashes IPO

Minerva Neurosciences Inc. (Cambridge, Mass.) lowered the price range for its planned IPO on NASDAQ and now plans to sell 5.5 million shares at $6. The $6 price would raise $32.7 million and value the company at $109.7 million. Earlier this month, the company said it planned to sell the same number of shares at $10-$12. Jefferies; Baird; and JMP Securities are underwriters. Minerva said existing shareholders have indicated an interest in purchasing up to $16 million of shares in the IPO.

Minerva also now expects to raise $19.7 million through the sale of 3.3 million shares at $6 to Johnson & Johnson Development Corp. in a concurrent private placement. The company expected to raise $26 million in the placement previously. JJDC is the venture arm of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Upon the offering close, Minerva will pay J&J's Janssen Pharmaceutica N.V. subsidiary a $22 million upfront payment as part of a February deal to co-develop MIN-202, an orexin 2 receptor ( HCRTR2; OX2R) antagonist, for insomnia (see BioCentury Extra, June 19). ...