The Medicines Co. said it raised $32.8 million through a public offering, with plans for the funds to include developing its approved product Angiomax in other indications.

Parsippany, N.J.-based The Medicines Co. sold 4 million shares at a negotiated price of $8.20 per share. Bear, Stearns & Co. is underwriting the offering.

The Medicines Co.'s stock (NASDAQ:MDCO) rose 35 cents Friday to close at $9.77.

The company is in an SEC-imposed quiet period and officials could not comment on the offering.

In its prospectus, filed in April pertaining to a shelf offering of up to 4 million shares, the company said it would use proceeds from any stock sale for working capital and other general corporate purposes, including funding additional trials of Angiomax and other product development activities, further commercialization activities of Angiomax for use in patients undergoing angioplasty, and the acquisition of product candidates and approved products.

Angiomax was approved in December 2000 for use in percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty procedures in patients with unstable angina. The company has a marketing agreement for the product with Innovex Inc., a subsidiary of Research Triangle Park, N.C.-based Quintiles Transnational Corp. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 8, 2000, and Dec. 19, 2000.)

The Medicines Co. pulled in $14.2 million in Angiomax revenues in 2001. The product directly blocks or inhibits the actions of thrombin, a component in the formation and growth of blood clots. The company is looking to broaden Angiomax sales through educational programs, preceptorships in medical centers, publications, clinical trials and support for investigator-initiated studies, it said in its prospectus. It said it wants to expand the use of Angiomax beyond the cardiac catheterization laboratory into the operating room and for the emergency treatment of ischemic heart disease patients.

In March, The Medicines Co. acquired rights from AstraZeneca plc, of London, to clevidipine, an intravenous compound for the short-term control of high blood pressure. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but The Medicines Co. is planning Phase III trials for the product. A portion of the funding also will be used for clevidipine development. (See BioWorld Today, March 8, 2002.)