BioWorld International Correspondent

BRUSSELS, Belgium - TiGenix of Leuven, Belgium, not only raised the €40 million (US$52 million) it was seeking from its share issue, but raised an additional €6 million by exercise of an over-allotment option by the joint lead managers in the offering, Piper Jaffray and ING.

The share price rose on the first day of trading, from its offer price of €5 to finish the day on €5.62. It was one of several indications of support among investors for biotech in Belgium.

The TiGenix offering closed early, on March 21. It was oversubscribed 4.5 times, with the part of the offering reserved for retail investors oversubscribed more than five times. Gil Beyen, co-founder and CEO of TiGenix, said, "We are extremely pleased with the success of this offering, both with retail and institutional investors as well as with the quality of the institutional investors who have participated."

TiGenix, a late-stage biomedical company that focuses on innovative local treatments for damaged and osteoarthritic joints, is the latest in a string of biotech companies to benefit from the favorable environment on the Euronext Brussels stock market. Devgen, of Ghent, ThromboGenics, of Leuven, and OncoMethylome Sciences SA, of Liege, all in Belgium, also have been able to raise funds from enthusiastic investors.

There already is talk in the marketplace of further biotech share offerings upcoming, including Ablynx, Unibioscreen of Brussels (after its impending merger with French Diatos), and Movetis, of Vosselaar, a spin-off from Janssen Pharmaceutica.

Meanwhile, ThromboGenics announced that Global Opportunities Capital Asset Management BV, also known as GO Capital, a Dutch-based asset manager, has acquired 1.2 million shares in the company, representing approximately 5.4 percent of its outstanding shares. The transaction, which was executed at nearly market price, makes GO Capital one of ThromboGenics' major shareholders.

Désiré Collen, CEO of ThromboGenics, which is focused on vascular disease, said, "This is an important vote of confidence in our product pipeline, our management team and our cutting-edge science."

Also, OncoMethylome, revealed that its June 2006 listing by Euronext Brussels had increased its cash position by €25.3 million, thus allowing it to increase product development capabilities, with a 70 percent growth in personnel, and significant R&D laboratory expansions in Liege and Leuven and Amsterdam.

Revenues for 2006 were €2.7 million The company also confirmed it had licensed a urine-based prostate cancer screening test to Veridex LLC, a Johnson & Johnson company, expanded its personalized treatment collaboration with Schering-Plough beyond brain cancer, and started MGMT pharmacogenomics methylation marker testing in multicenter brain cancer clinical trial in Europe and the US.

"The public listing and the laboratory expansions in Liege and Amsterdam have fueled the competitiveness of the company," said Herman Spolders, CEO of OncoMethylome Sciences. "We expect this positive momentum to continue in 2007."