BioWorld International Correspondent

PARIS - BioAlliance Pharma SA completed its initial public offering on Eurolist Compartment C of the Euronext stock exchange in Paris, raising gross proceeds of some €30 million (US$35.9 million).

The offering price finally was fixed at €13.30 per share, the midway point of the range of €12.40 to €14.20.

According to Bryan, Garnier & Co., whose Paris office was the joint lead manager and bookrunner in association with ING Securities Bank, of Paris, a total of about 8.3 million ordinary shares of BioAlliance Pharma were admitted for trading, giving the company a market capitalization of around €110 million. Managing Director Olivier Garnier pointed out that the IPO attracted "a large number of quality investors throughout France, Benelux, Switzerland, the UK and Spain."

In addition to the 2.1 million new ordinary shares issued in the primary offering, the underwriters have until about Jan. 6 to exercise their option to subscribe for a greenshoe of up to 338,346 new shares, equivalent to 15 percent of the initial offering, which could bring in €4.5 million more.

Paris-based BioAlliance, which is developing therapeutics for overcoming drug resistance in cancer, HIV and other severe infections, will use the funds to complete the development of Loramyc, its 50-mg formulation of miconazole as a once-a-day, bioadhesive, buccal tablet for oropharyngeal candidiasis. It plans to file for approval in Europe in 2006 and to launch the product in France in the first quarter of 2007.

In addition, BioAlliance expects a pivotal Phase III trial of Loramyc in the U.S. in mid-2006 in conjunction with a U.S. partner that will complete the development and registering of the product.

The company hopes Loramyc will be filed in the U.S. in early 2008 and be approved before the end of that year.

Loramyc incorporates BioAlliance's Lauriad adhesive technology, designed for early and prolonged release of therapeutic agents at the site of the disease. It is one of two proprietary drug delivery systems developed by the company, the other being its TransDrug nanoparticle technology for intracellular targeting.