Two more biotechs limp onto Wall Street with discounted debuts

Another hoped-for big week of biotech IPOs has come up well short, with two entrants downsizing their ambitions to make it out and a third reportedly thwarted by some bad timing.

Irish biotech Innocoll ($INNL) had once hoped to raise $75 million to fund development of its bioresorbable collagen products, looking to price its shares at between $13 and $15 each. In the end, the company had to crank up its offering and dim its value, going public at just $9 a share and selling 6.5 million shares to raise $58.5 million

Bedford, MA's Ocular Therapeutix ($OCUL) fared only a little better. The drug developer once sought $75 million, with hopes of pricing at between $13 and $17 a share. In the end, the company is walking away with $65 million after taking a discount and debuting at $13.

And Atara Biotherapeutics, perhaps the most promising of the week's IPO hopefuls, is pressing pause on its in-demand offering. According to International Financing Review, the biotech just got word of some preclinical results on the ovarian cancer treatment STM 434, news it must evaluate and disclose publicly before it can pull off an offering. Atara isn't commenting on the report, but IFR's sources say the company is likely to hold off on an IPO until after Labor Day.

Six biotechs were poised to go public this week, seeking nearly $400 million at midpoint. Instead, four made it out, banking $233.5 million as each came in below or at the bottom of its expected range.

But despite biotech's recent turn toward volatility, a few promising drug developers have been able to cut through the din and pull off major IPO successes, including Sage Therapeutics ($SAGE) and its up-sized $90 million haul, Kite Pharma ($KITE) and its $128 million debut and Zafgen ($ZAFG), which raked in $96 million to support its obesity treatment.

And the pace of filings is hardly slowing down. This week alone, ear disease biotech Avalanche Biotechnologies set terms for a $76 million IPO, while Tobira Therapeutics laid out plans for a $60 million raise and Auris Medical detailed a $76 million IPO of its own.

- read Innocoll's release
- here's Ocular Therapeutix's statement
- get the story on Atara