BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Europe looking stuck

February 2, 2004 8:00 AM UTC

Hiccups in Europe have made the already dim prospects for a 2004 European IPO window look still dimmer, even as the IPO rocket by Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. (EYET) woke up the U.S. market. Two European companies that have been touted as IPO candidates, Proskelia SA and Micromet AG, have hit some rough patches that investors will want to digest. Adding to the doubts is scuttlebutt that Biovitrum AB, the bellwether of private European companies, is no longer looking to go public in the first half.

Cancer company Micromet (Munich, Germany) announced a restructuring that includes firing 33% of its staff. Meanwhile, word is slowly leaking out that Proskelia (Paris, France) is running headless, as the CEO quietly stood down last November after facing off with the company's board over strategy. ...