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

To: tuck who wrote (21)	6/24/2004 11:00:02 AM
From: tuck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 107

Well, a couple squeezed through today, but they lost limbs on the other side of the window as it guillotined down . . . >>NEW YORK, June 22 (Reuters) - Investors were buying up shares in a pair of biotechnology companies that began trading on Nasdaq on Tuesday, but only after both companies reduced the prices at which they had originally planned to offer them. Shares of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqNM:MNTA - News) and La Jolla, California-based Senomyx Inc. (NasdaqNM:SNMX - News) had each risen more than 20 percent from their offering prices by midday before sliding back a bit. But Tuesday's apparent enthusiasm is tempered by a mixed climate both for initial public offerings in the sector and for the sector as a whole that led to the last-minute price reductions, analysts said. "Although we started the biotech year with a strong bang, I think the risk-taking appetite among investors has gone down over recent months and that is being reflected in the premium they are willing to pay for these IPOs," said Sena Lund, a biotechnology analyst for Cathay Financial. He noted a recent string of biotech IPOs prior to Tuesday's that also reduced prices before being implemented. "We had a good year in 2003 and early this year, but the valuations had reached a point where a correction was due," Lund said. "We have seen biotechs sell off in the past month and a half or two and it's part of the whole downturn in biotech that's impacting these emerging biotech IPOs," he added. Momenta shares were up $1.00, or 15.4 percent, at $7.50 after touching a high of $8.79 early in its first trading session. The offering price of $6.50 a share was reduced from a previously stated range of $7 to $9. Senomyx twice reduced its proposed share price, starting with a range from $13 to $15 per share, then lowering it to a range of $7 to $8, before settling on $6 per share. Senomyx shares were up $1.12, or 18.7 percent, to $7.12 after earlier reaching $7.70. Perhaps the year's most successful biotech IPO has been Eyetech Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqNM:EYET - News), which has seen its share price more than double since its initial offering at $21 per share in late January. Eyetech -- which along with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - News) is developing a treatment for the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, age-related macular degeneration -- has seen its shares top $49. They were trading for $44.06 on Nasdaq on Tuesday afternoon. << These companies will have to do early secondaries, and if the market still sucks . . . we could see a whole passel of Rigels. We'll see about Theravance. Cheers, Tuck

To: tuck who wrote (21)	10/5/2004 11:07:59 AM
From: tuck	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 107

>>10:27AM Theravance IPO prices above range; biotech IPO market thaw? (THRX) 16.00: Theravance prices its IPO at $16, above the expected range of $13-$15. The co is a development stage biotech co with four product candidates having advanced into clinical trials, one of which is in Phase 3 and one in Phase 2. The co focuses on small molecule medicines for respiratory disease, bacterial infections, overactive bladder and gastrointestinal disorders. The co has a strategic alliance with GlaskoSmithKline (GSK), which owns all Class A shares, or nearly 20% of shares outstanding.... The IPO priced above range, despite increasing the deal size to 6.2 mln from 5.2 mln. A biotech IPO pricing so strongly is a real eye-opener as these IPOs were avoided like the plague for most of the summer. Helping the pricing was a small float and Merrill and Lehman as co-leads. Also helping is the Biotech Index (BTK) increasing nearly 20% from its August lows. It's too early to say if the biotech IPO market has thawed, but this is a good start.<< Courtesy of Briefing.com. Lost that bet, good thing we didn't talk about financial terms. Cheers, Tuck