NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Natera went public late last week, raising $180 million in an initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.
The San Carlos, California-based reproductive health molecular diagnostics firm offered 10 million shares of common stock at an offering price of $18 per share. The underwriters on the offering — Morgan Stanley, Cowen and Co., Piper Jaffray, R.W. Baird, and Wedbush Securities — have an over-allotment option to purchase an additional 1.5 million shares.
Natera said in its prospectus for the offering that it intends to use about $59.1 million of the proceeds for working capital and general corporate use, while about $100 million will be used for continued investments in R&D. Additionally, it said that proceeds may go toward acquisition of complementary businesses, technologies, and other assets, though it has no current understandings, agreements, or commitments for any such transactions.
The firm launched its Panorama NIPT in March of 2013. The test, which employs Natera's proprietary mmPCR method of amplifying the DNA in a sample, non-invasively screens for fetal chromosomal abnormalities, including Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, Patau syndrome, Turner syndrome, and triploidy.
For Fiscal Year 2014, Natera recorded $159.3 million in total revenues and a net loss of $5.2 million. The firm noted in its prospectus that 185,000 Panorama tests were accessioned during 2014, and another 55,000 Panorama tests were accessioned in the first quarter of 2015.
Natera is trading under ticker symbol "NTRA." The firm initially filed to go public about a month ago and had targeted proceeds of $100 million.
In Monday morning trade, shares of Natera were up around 2 percent at $23.16.