Rib-X Pharmaceuticals, a US-based antibiotics developer, postponed its initial public offering a day, according to Nasdaq OMx, a day after it slashed the price range of its planned initial public offering in half on May 8.
Rib-X had said it would sell shares at between $6 per share to $7 per share, down from an initial $12 to $14 per share filed last month. The company increased the number of shares it was selling to 10 million, and the company could raise up to $80m. The flotation would give the company a market capitalisation of $135.8m if it sold shares at the top of its range.
Shareholders in Rib-X include SR One, the corporate venturing unit belonging to healthcare conglomerate GlaxoSmithKline which holds 7.5% of Rib-X’s common stock, and MedImmune Ventures, a corporate venture fund operated by pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca (which holds 6.0%).
Also holding stock in Rib-X are private equity (PE) firm Warburg Pincus (45%), and venture capital (VC) firms Saints Capital (23.1%), Oxford Biosciences Partners (13.9%) and Cardinal Partners (5.4%).
Additional investors include VC firm ABS Ventures, VC fund Euclid SR and PE firm Vox Equity Partners. Rib-X has raised about $160m since 2002.
Rib-X currently has two antibiotic candidates in clinical development and plans to use the proceeds from the IPO to advance them.
The flotation is being advised by Deutsche Bank, William Blair, Lazard Capital Markets and Needham & Company.
The company made a net loss of $53.4m in 2011 on $2.7m of revenue.