AutoGenomics has officially pulled back from a proposed IPO filed more than a year ago, adding a downbeat note to an otherwise promising fall during which some diagnostics companies are jumping full-on into the public markets.
The Vista, CA-based molecular diagnostics outfit withdrew its IPO at the end of October in a short regulatory filing. AutoGenomics said simply that it may "undertake a subsequent private offering" instead.
Back in February 2013, AutoGenomics said it would pull its $65 million IPO (plans were filed in September 2012) after blowing a Feb. 15 deadline to give the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission its 2012 fourth-quarter financials. There's no explanation in the filing as to why the IPO withdrawal took so long. At the time, the company said it wanted to make another IPO attempt in the 2013 second quarter. The first try took place in 2008, with plans filed to raise $86.3 million, after which AutoGenomics withdrew its IPO without explanation, GenomeWeb previously reported.
AutoGenomics has some promising prospects, considering it already has the Infiniti gene analyzer, an FDA-cleared product built for more than 50 tests in areas including oncology and infectious diseases. As of February 2013, the company was already developing further tests focused on BRAF gene-related cancer mutations and HPV, among others.
Other diagnostics companies have fared better with their IPO plans. Veracyte ($VCYT), a 2013 FierceMedicalDevices Fierce 15 winner, went public at the end of October and raised $65 million. And Foundation Medicine ($FMI) rocketed to success with its IPO, raising $106 million, hitting the high end of its range. Other diagnostics IPOs are pending, including Oxford Immunotech, CardioDx and Biocept Laboratories.
- here's the AutoGenomics filing
- check out GenomeWeb's take (reg. req.)