NEW YORK, April 17 – Athersys, which markets its Random Activation of Gene Expression technology for correlation of protein function and gene structure, withdrew its proposed $115 initial public offering in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday.
Athersys said it was canceling the IPO due to market conditions. But the Cleveland-based company said it might still sell shares in a private offering.
RAGE technology works by randomly activating genes, than tagging them in different samples. By detecting these tagged genes in diseased cells, researchers can correlate gene expression with disease processes.
This cancellation is the latest in a series of public offering withdrawals by genomics companies in recent months. DoubleTwist withdrew a proposed IPO in March, Genometrix cancelled its IPO in February, and in October, Orchid withdrew plans for a follow-on offering.