Interesting IPO today - Sangamo. Priced at $15, now trading around $17.50 - I just bought a very little in the aftermarket. Seems to me like an interesting "post-genomics" play. The fact that the offering was cut in size isn't a good sign for a quick bounce, though.
Here's some PR from them yesterday - kind of surprised to see a release right before the IPO:
Wednesday April 5, 10:01 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Sangamo BioSciences, Inc.
Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. Announces Collaborative Research Agreement With Bristol-Myers Squibb
POINT RICHMOND, Calif., April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. today announced that it has signed a collaborative research agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Under the terms of the agreement, Sangamo will provide specific Universal GeneTools(TM) to Bristol-Myers Squibb for use in their internal research and validation programs. Financial terms were not disclosed.
``Sangamo is extremely pleased to add Bristol-Myers Squibb as its nineteenth collaborative user of Sangamo's engineered transcription factors for drug discovery research,' said Edward Lanphier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sangamo.
Sangamo has entered into Universal GeneTools agreements with numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including: AstraZeneca, Bayer Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, DuPont Pharmaceuticals, Genset SA, Glaxo Wellcome, Hoffmann-LaRoche, Immunex, Japan Tobacco, Merck KGaA, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, Schering AG, SmithKline Beecham, Warner-Lambert, and Zaiya, Inc. These collaborators are applying Sangamo's ZFP transcription factors to the validation of human gene targets for drug discovery. ZFP transcription factors are being incorporated into both cell-based and animal models for this purpose.
Sangamo is a leader in the research and development of novel transcription factors for the regulation of genes. Genes are composed of DNA and control the expression and transmission of all inherited traits. Transcription factors are proteins that turn genes on and turn genes off, or regulate gene expression, by recognizing specific DNA sequences. Sangamo's Universal Gene Recognition technology enables the engineering of transcription factors known as zinc finger DNA binding proteins, or ZFPs. ZFPs are the most abundant class of transcription factors in humans and other higher organisms and naturally function to regulate gene expression. By engineering ZFPs so that they can recognize a specific gene, Sangamo has created ZFP transcription factors that can control gene expression and, consequently, cell function. The company intends to establish Universal Gene Recognition as a widely used technology for commercial applications in pharmaceutical discovery, therapeutics for the treatment of human diseases, clinical diagnostics, and agricultural and industrial biotechnology.
Peter |
