The story has been corrected to state that Roka's technology is based on transcription mediated amplification methods, not PCR technology.
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Roka Bioscience said on Monday that it anticipates raising as much as $77.8 million from its planned initial public offering.
In an amended Form S-1 filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the food safety molecular diagnostics firm said that it plans to offer 5 million shares of its common stock at a range of $14 to $16 per share. At the $15 midpoint price, the company anticipates net proceeds of $67.4 million. If the offering's underwriters exercise their overallotment options in full, net proceeds would rise to $77.8 million.
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith; Leerink Partners; Cowen and Co.; and Wedbush Securities are listed as the offering's underwriters. Roka plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under ticker symbol "ROKA."
Roka, which filed to go public in May, is a spinout of Gen-Probe (now part of Hologic) and develops transcription mediated amplification-based molecular diagnostics for detecting foodborne pathogens. Its flagship platform is the Atlas instrument, an automated sample-in, result-out platform, and the company offers assays for detecting E. coli 0157:H7; Shiga toxin E. coli; Listeria; Listeria monocytogenes; and Salmonella, according to Roka's website.