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Biotech / Medical : Biotech Lock-Up Expiration Hell Portfolio -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nigel bates who wrote (830)	10/13/2003 3:32:54 PM
From: keokalani'nui	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1005

The following med/drug companies have filed s-1's with an intent to go public and expectations to trade under the following symbols. Acadia (ACAD) Acorda (ACRD) Acusphere (ACUS) Aderis (ADPX) Advancis (AVNC) Genitope (GTOP) Myogen (MYOG) Nitromed (NTMD) Pharmion (PHRM) Memory and Renovis filed Reg D's apparently allowing them to postpone IPOs. Only Acusphere has jumped through the window. Any others teed up?

To: nigel bates who wrote (830)	10/13/2003 3:40:34 PM
From: keokalani'nui	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1005

European biotechs prepare to follow U.S. IPO rush Monday October 13, 11:36 am ET By Ben Hirschler, European Pharmaceuticals Correspondent LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - European biotechnology firms, eagerly looking on as a raft of U.S. peers goes public, are drawing up their own plans to tap the IPO share market by early next year, company officials and bankers said on Monday. The market for biotech initial public offerings -- notorious three years ago as an arena where fortunes were won and lost -- is back with a vengeance in the United States, where more than a dozen firms have filed to float. Europe's smaller, less mature biotech industry may hitch a ride on its coat-tails. "We are quite positive that there will be a spillover effect in Europe, as long as we see a stable aftermarket in the U.S.," Lehman Brothers banker Maarten de Jong told a European biotech conference. That last point is critical. Acusphere Inc ACUS.O>, the first of the new wave of U.S. biotechs to float last week, has slipped to a discount to its IPO price, suggesting sentiment remains fragile after a 50 percent run-up in the Nasdaq biotech index (NasdaqSC:^NBI - News) this year. Nonetheless, Markus Hosang of venture capital group MPM expects the first European IPOs by the end of this year or early next year, fuelled by renewed confidence in the sector as equity risk appetite grows and new drugs show promise in the clinic. Investor focus, however, will be on firms with experienced management and a pre-IPO valuation of of more than $200 million, he believes. SWEDISH PIONEER? Sweden's Biovitrum -- currently interviewing bankers to handle its planned flotation -- is tipped to be one of the first out of the door. "We are beefing up the process internally in order, hopefully, to be able to go public in the next six to 12 months," company spokesman Mikael Widdell told Reuters. The specialist in obesity and type 2 diabetes, which was spun out of Pharmacia, is already one of the largest biotech operations in Europe with more than 575 employees. Last month it signed a product deal with U.S. biotech leader Amgen Inc (NasdaqNM:AMGN - News) that could earn it up to $612 million. Other spin-outs from "Big Pharma" touted for a market float include French osteoporosis specialist Proskelia, formerly part of Aventis SA (Paris:AVEP.PA - News), and Swiss antibiotic developer Basilea, carved out of Roche Holding AG (ROCZg.VX). Ernst & Young estimated in a report earlier this year that there were around 50 European biotechs looking to launch an IPO when market conditions permit. Most will probably not make it in the next 12 months, as investors choose to back the bigger names that offer relative safety in an industry better known for promises than profits. No-one is expecting a return to the heyday of 2000 when biotech valuations soared amid exaggerated expectations over the impact of mapping the human genome on new drug development. Nonetheless, Canaccord Capital biotech analyst Mike Booth sees improving omens and predicts the IPO window could open around February next year. The private sector has already seen a series of big-ticket funding deals, with UK firms Arrow Therapeutics and BioVex raising a combined 38 million pounds ($63 million) this month alone. At the same, the convertible bond market is open for business after Switzerland's Actelion (Zurich:ATLZn.S - News) -- one of Europe's few profitable biotechs -- launched a well-received 125 million Swiss francs ($94 million) bond two weeks ago to fund an acquisition. "It seems that things are picking up, and much more quickly than was anticipated six months ago," said Biovitrum's Widell.