Two additional life sciences players - diagnostics firm Med Biogene Inc. and biocatalyst technology firm Codexis Inc. - have filed paperwork for initial public offerings.

Both firms have some experience in the IPO field: Vancouver, British Columbia-based Med Biogene already is listed on the Toronto exchange, and Codexis originally filed for an IPO in April 2008 as the economy was heading south, and it withdrew the filing in September 2008.

Med Biogene, which is seeking to raise $24 million, is aiming to shore up its treasury in preparation for the launch of its most advanced product, the genomic-based LungExpress Dx diagnostic test for lung cancer, which it hopes to launch in the U.S. in 2010.

The company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it plans to use proceeds to conduct post-launch studies and to complete the validation of its commercial assay using a reproducible technique from medical and biological labs called RT-qPCR. Proceeds also would be used to acquire laboratory equipment, build sales, marketing and reimbursement capabilities and for general corporate purposes.

The firm also said it plans to commercialize the test in Asia and Europe through distribution agreements, and also to seek partnerships with pharmaceuticals companies to use the 15-gene expression-based LungExpress DX assay as a companion diagnostic to help determine which patients are more likely to respond to drug therapies.

In October the company said a validation study met its primary endpoint in confirming that the test is an independent prognostic marker in early stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for identifying patients with significantly different prognoses.

The study was performed in an independent set of tumor samples from 183 untreated stage I and II NSCLC patients (predominantly adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) collected over five years. The company said the prognostic utility of the test has been validated in approximately 675 patient samples.

In addition to its IPO filing, Med BioGene moved to restock its coffers, closing a nonbrokered private placement by issuing 5.832 million units for gross proceeds of approximately $700,000. Each unit was priced at 12 cents and consists of one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant.

Each warrant entitles the holder to purchase one share at a price of 18 cents for a period of 24 months, which is subject to the acceleration if the closing share price on the TSX exchange is greater than 30 cents for 20 or more consecutive trading days.

The company reported cash and cash equivalents of $1,027,676 as of Sept. 30.

Codexis is based in Redwood City, Calif., the same home base as Maxygen Inc., from which it was spun out in 2002. The company has focused on the biocatalyst technology, which is designed to craft chemical processes for active pharmaceutical ingredients to the generic and branded markets. In the past, it has collaborated with companies such as Schering-Plough Corp., of Kenilworth, N.J., and New York pharma firms Pfizer Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

Currently Codexis is developing biocatalysts for use in producing advanced biofuels under a multiyear research and development collaboration with Shell. It said it also is moving into other bioindustrial markets, including carbon management, water treatment and chemicals.

The company's work is based on the application of its MolecularBreeding, or gene shuffling, technology to engineer enzymes with high purity in a shortened process to improve both manufacturing and productivity. The process begins with genetic material from a natural source, and relevant gene sequences are isolated from that material and then "shuffled" with other DNA before being screened for certain properties and actions. Biocatalysts that show increased productivity are isolated and screened again.

The process is repeated until it produces a gene sequence that can be put back in the host enzyme.

Codexis reported cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $55.9 million as of Sept. 30.

Codexis and Med Biogene offer further evidence that the IPO window is opening in the life sciences industry. Cumberland Pharmaceuticals and Talecris Biotherapeutics Holding Corp. already have gone public. No pure biotech drug developer has priced an IPO, but there are plenty waiting in the wings.

Drug companies with IPO paperwork on file include Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc., Trius Therapeutics Inc., Alimera Sciences Inc., Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc., Aldagen Inc., Tengion Inc., AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. and diagnostic/specialty firm Prometheus Laboratories Inc.