Avalanche skyrockets in trading debut

Ophthalmic gene therapy play Avalanche Biotechnologies Inc. (NASDAQ:AAVL) jumped $10.99 (65%) to $27.09 on its first day of trading Thursday after raising $103 million through the sale of 6 million shares at $17 in an IPO. Earlier this month, Avalanche said it planned to sell 5.4 million shares at $13-$15. The $17 price valued the company at $363.4 million; with Thursday's move, the company is now valued at $579.1 million. Jefferies; Cowen; Piper Jaffray; and William Blair are underwriters. ...