Report: Omeros plots new try at an IPO

With the shares of quite a few biotech companies pointing back north these days and stock offerings coming back into vogue, Seattle-based Omeros is getting ready to try another leap into an IPO market that appears to be gradually thawing out.

That's the word from Xconomy, which broke the story, quoting sources familiar with the deal. Omeros mounted an IPO attempt two years ago, but couldn't get it done before economic turmoil shuttered that exit door. For its part, a spokesperson said that the company isn't talking, citing an "ongoing regulatory quiet period."

"The window is opening again for IPOs," Michael Butler, CEO of Seattle-based Cascadia Capital, tells Xconomy. (Cascadia is not underwriting the Omeros deal.) "In this environment, the quality of the companies going out is high, and the pricing is reasonable. The institutions want to see IPOs happen, and companies want to get out."

This would be the first IPO for a Washington biotech in more than two years. Nationally. Cumberland Pharmaceuticals took the first leap back into the IPO market earlier this month, raising $85 million.

- read the story from Xconomy

Related Articles:
Biotech industry shows signs of a strong comeback
Omeros to buy Nura in cash/stock deal (2006)
Cumberland raises $85M, ending IPO drought