BG Medicine Inc. is going ahead with plans for an initial public offering, but halved the amount it hoped to raise.
The Waltham, Mass.-based company is now looking to raise about $33.3 million, less than half the value of the reported $71.2 million IPO the company attempted in December 2010.
The diagnostics company is aiming to price the 4.75-million-share offering at $7 per share, according to a filing with the federal Securities & Exchange Commission. BG Medicine sought to price 4.75 million shares at between $13 and $15 each in the previous offering.
The comapny also withdrew plans for a $45 million IPO in 2008 and an $86.3 million offering in January 2010.
BG Medicine plans to use about $15 million of the proceeds to support the commercial launch of its BGM Galectin-3 biomarker test, according to its most recent filing. The test, designed to evaluate risk of heart attack, won 510(k) clearance from the Food & Drug Administration last month and CE Mark approval in the European Union in October 2009.
Flagship Ventures is the company’s largest backer, owning a 44.4 percent stake. Flagship partner Noubar Afeyan is the chairman of BG’s board, according to the SEC filing. Other investors include Gilde Europe Food and Agriculture Fund BV, GE Asset Management, Humana Inc., Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV, Legg Mason Capital management and SMALLCAP World Fund.
BG reported a net loss of $13.8 million, or $1.11 per share on a pro forma basis, on revenues of $620,000 during the nine months ended Sept. 30, according to the filing. That compares with a loss of $11.9 million, or $1.29 per share, on revenue of $8.1 million during the same period last year. For the year, the company brought in about $8.5 million in revenues with losses of $16.1 million.
The company has said an automated version of its galectin-3 test is necessary for it to achieve broader market penetration. It’s working with Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), Alere Inc. (NYSE:ALR) and bioMerieux SA (EPA:BIM) to incorporate the test those companies’ automated lab instruments and it plans file for FDA clearance for the automated test by the fourth quarter of 2011, according to Dow Jones.
If successful in its latest IPO, the company will list its shares on the NASDAQ market under the symbol BGMD.
