Aldagen Files for IPO Despite Tough Market

On the same day that Elixir Pharmaceuticals canned its IPO plans citing tough market conditions, Aldagen filed an S-1 expecting to raise as much as $81M. The company has not yet issued details of how many shares they expect to offer or even the share price. The only biotech, US IPO was Bioheart Inc.’s infinitesimal $5.8M offering in February.

In the S-1, the company said the proceeds from the offering would be used to fund ongoing research and development, including clinical trials. The company uses a platform to find adult stem cells expressing high levels of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), an enzyme believed to promote regeneration across a wide variety of cell types. Aldagen began enrolling patients in a phase III trial in March to improve the efficacy of umbilical cord blood transplants used to treat inherited metabolic diseases. Results are expected in the first half of 2010.

I doubt the Aldagen IPO will be any different that the nearly 20 other biotech IPO filings idling waiting for the market to change. After the Bioheart fiasco, it might be nice if Aldagen raised enough cash to pay Cowen its fees.

Comments

[BioInvestor]

IPOs in this space are still pretty anemic. I was surprised to see Fluidigm--a microfluidic company in the life sciences tool space--file an S-1 registration statement. Eventually, things will look up in biotech--I am looking for every positive sign that I can see!