IPO roundup: MAP Pharma’s mixed reception, other recent filings

MAP Pharmaceuticals, the Mountain View, Calif., specialty pharma, had a mixed reception to its IPO Friday. The company priced its shares at $12, below its anticipated range of $14 to $16, raising up to $69 million — substantially less than the $92 million it might have pulled in. Investors, however, reacted positively and pushed up the shares 11 percent to $13.35.

MAP reformulates existing drugs in order to deliver them via inhalers. Its leading product is a new version of the asthma drug budesonide, which is used to treat pediatric asthma. See our previous coverage of the company here (second item) and here.

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Some other recent filings that slipped through the cracks:

Anti-infective developer Anacor Pharma looks for $58M IPO — Palo Alto, Calif.-based Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a biotech developing new antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and antifungal drugs, filed to raise up to $57.5 million in an IPO on Aug. 31. The company, which develops new drugs from a process focused on the chemistry of boron, is focused first on topical medications for fungal nail infections known as onychomycosis and the autoimmune skin condition psoriasis. See our previous coverage of the company here.

Emphasys Medical targets $86M IPO for lung devices — Redwood City, Calif.-based Emphasys Medical, a device maker focused on treatments for emphysema and similar lung diseases, filed on Sept. 21 to raise up to $86.3 million in an IPO. The company makes insertable one-way valves for the bronchial tubes that move air in and out of the lungs; these valves can “close off” diseased and overinflated parts of the lung in order to enable the remaining healthy areas to function normally.

As part of its SEC filing, Emphasys also disclosed the results of a pivotal trial of its device, known as the Emphasys Bronchial Valve, or EBV. In that randomized trial of 321 patients, those who received the EBV saw exhaled air volume — a sign of lung health — 6.4 percent greater than that of untreated patients. Patients treated with the device were also able to walk 5.6 percent farther in six minutes than the control group.

Drug formulator MonoSol Rx sets IPO price range, hopes for $83M — MonoSol Rx, a Warren, N.J., maker of drug formulations designed to mask the taste of particular medications, says it hopes to raise up to $82.8 million in an IPO. The company plans to sell up to 4.6 million shares at a price of $16 to $18 apiece, it said in a filing on Oct. 3. MonoSol Rx makes quick-dissolving “thin films” that can be used to repackage existing drugs into easy-to-swallow forms.

Irish reformulator Merrion Pharma hopes for $55M IPO — Dublin’s Merrion Pharmaceuticals, a developer of drug formulations that improve absorption within the gastrointestinal tract, aims to raise up to $55.2 million in an IPO. The company plans to offer four million shares as American Depositary Shares at a price of $10 to $12 apiece. Merrion’s technology is designed to reformulate drugs that can only be injected into pill or gel capsule forms.