This story originally ran on Nov. 12.
Molecular diagnostics firm Rules-Based Medicine is withdrawing its initial public offering, citing adverse market conditions.
The company filed for the IPO last December, saying proceeds from the offering would be used to pay dividends associated with its outstanding Series A preferred stock, repay borrowings under its revolving line of credit and subordinated debt, and fund sales and marketing efforts for its psychiatric diagnosis panel PsyMap and the development of other diagnostic panels.
In October, RBM launched the 51-biomarker PsyMap panel and the VeriPsych schizophrenia test, which uses the same 51-biomarker panel. VeriPsych is a diagnostic for use in the clinical setting, while PsyMap is aimed at the research market. The company is currently conducting studies on the use of PsyMap for the differential diagnosis of bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder and, according to vice president of corporate development Sam LaBrie, hopes to launch tests for these two conditions sometime next year.
Also in October, RBM launched its OncologyMAP panel, which consists of 102 serum-based protein biomarkers associated with cancer. In July, the company received a $3 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to add another 150 to 180 protein biomarkers to the panel over the next three years.
The company will be releasing an additional biomarker panel within the next few weeks, LaBrie told ProteoMonitor, although he declined to say what indications it would be aimed at. He also declined to discuss the withdrawal of RBM's IPO.
No securities were sold in connection with the proposed IPO, and the company never put a share price on the offering nor publicly disclosed how many shares it planned to offer.