Cholestech Corp. announced Friday that it filed a registrationstatement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for asecondary public offering of 2.5 million shares of commonstock.

Of the shares being offered, 1.25 million are being sold byCholestech, and 1.25 million by shareholders. UnderwriterKemper Securities has an option to purchase up to an additional375,000 shares to cover overallotments.

The offering could raise up to $36 million, depending on theprice of the shares, said Edward Erickson, Cholestech'spresident and chief executive officer.

"We've picked up real momentum and our shares are doingwell, " said Erickson. "We have a full range of lipid productsnow, and market conditions are looking good."

In late June, Cholestech (NASDAQ:CTEC) raised $10 million in aninitial public offering (IPO) at $5 per share -- about $3 lessthan the company had hoped. Since then, said Erickson, thecompany has performed well and announced several deals,including a limited agreement with Merck.

Merck selected Cholestech's LDX system, which measurescholesterol levels in blood, to use in a lipid evaluation studythat Cholestech believes will lead to further collaborations withMerck.

Erickson said the funding should see the Hayward, Calif.,company through to fiscal 1995 and will be used to increasemanufacturing capacity, for R&D, and to scale up sales andmarketing forces.

"We hope to become self-sufficient over the next few years andonly need to go back to the market to fund special projects," hesaid.

Cholestech's stock was down $1.25 a share on Friday to $12.88.

-- Michelle Slade Associate Editor

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.