Nanosphere Grosses $12.7M in IPO With Over-Allotment Option
Nanosphere this week said it has grossed $12.7 million in its initial public offering of 7 million shares, and that its underwriters have exercised their full over-allotment option to buy an additional 1.05 million shares at $14 apiece.
The company, which trades under the ticker symbol NSPH, in August said it generated $1.1 million in revenues last year and $1.9 million in revenues in 2005, and held $34.5 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 31.
The molecular diagnostics company’s sole book-runner was Credit Suisse Securities. Co-managing the IPO were Piper Jaffray & Co., Leerink Swann, and Allen & Company.
Nanosphere markets the only US Food and Drug Administration-approved test for warfarin sensitivity.
Genizon Partners with NDEI to Continue Schizophrenia Studies with Quebec Founder Population
Genizon Biosciences said this week it has partnered with the Canadian company Neuropsychiatrie, Decouverte & Innovation to conduct further genome-wide research on schizophrenia-related genes Genizon has discovered.
Earlier this year, Genizon identified multiple genes associated with schizophrenia in a genome-wide association study using DNA samples from patients from the Quebec Founder Population.
Under the agreement with NDEI, the company will provide Genizon with a second set of samples from the Quebec Founder Population that it will use for further research.
NDEI was founded in 2002 as a spinoff company of the Centre de Recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard.
“We expect the results of these studies to lead to a new generation of safer and more effective treatments tailored to individual schizophrenia patients,” said Michel Maziade, a scientist at the University of Laval, which will provide access to the samples.
Financial terms of the agreement were not released.
Qiagen's Q3 Revenues Rise 50 Percent, But Acquisition Costs Hit Bottom Line
Qiagen this week said that its third-quarter revenues rose 50 percent year over year, but acquisition-related charges and a 77 percent increase in R&D costs swung the company from a profit to a loss.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, Qiagen reported revenues of $176 .6 million compared to $117.9 million in the comparable period a year ago. The most recent quarter’s results include the operations of Digene and eGene, both of which Qiagen acquired in July for $1.6 billion and $34 million, respectively.
Qiagen did not break out the portion of revenue it derived during the third quarter from these two acquisitions.
Charges related to these two acquisitions, however, resulted in a net loss of $7.3 million for the quarter compared to a profit of $19.4 million in the third quarter of last year. Qiagen took charges during the quarter of $25.9 million for purchased in-process research and development; $4.5 million for acquisition, integration, and related costs; and $3 million for acquisition-related intangible amortization.
“We saw revenue and earnings growth which were in line [with] and above our expectations, respectively,” said Qiagen CEO Peer Schatz. “Sales of our sample and assay technologies to customers in the molecular diagnostics field developed better than expected” and contributed approximately 42 percent of the firm’s overall revenues in the quarter, he said.
The firm’s R&D expenses climbed 77 percent to $17.9 million from $10.1 million year over year.
Qiagen finished the quarter with $308.7 million in cash and cash equivalents.
The firm reiterated its previous revenue guidance of $614 million to $635 million for full-year 2007.
Decode’s Genotyping Business Drives Double-Digit Growth in Q3 Revenues
Decode Genetics this week said third-quarter revenues rose 27 percent while R&D spending was steady and net loss widened by 3 percent.
Total receipts for the three months ended Sept. 30 climbed to $10.9 million from $8.6 million year over year — an increase that the company attributed to its growing genotyping business.
R&D spending ticked down to $14.1 million from $14.2 million year over year.
Net loss increased to $24.3 million from $23.6 million in the year-ago period.
Decode said it had around $118.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, and investments as of Sept. 30.
Company CEO Kari Stefansson said Decode has continued to expand its DNA-based risk predisposition tests by launching an assay for myocardial infarction. Decode also plans to launch tests for other conditions, including one for glaucoma, in the near future.
Osmetech Licenses Warfarin-Dosing SNP From Marshfield Clinic
Osmetech said last week it has exclusively licensed a molecular biomarker from Marshfield Clinic, a clinical and research facility in western Wisconsin, that it plans to develop into a genetic test for determining appropriate warfarin doses.
Osmetech plans to develop, manufacture, and sell a genetic test based on the biomarker. Osmetech CEO James White said the biomarker will be used on the company’s XT-8 platform.
"We are excited to add this new SNP to our warfarin product, which is due to be submitted later this year to the US Food and Drug Administration,” White said in a statement. “The marker provides additional information to improve the dosage accuracy over any other product on the market."
Osmetech said it plans to market the product in the first half of 2008.
Financial terms of the agreement were not released.