By Karen Young

BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. priced its public offering of 7 million shares at $12 per share, resulting in gross proceeds of $84 million.

BioMarin, of Novato, Calif., sold an additional 1 million shares than it proposed in November when the offering was disclosed. Its stock opened at $12.19 the following trading day. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 13, 2001.).

The net proceeds are expected to be about $78.5 million. In addition, underwriters have an option to purchase another 1.05 million additional shares to cover overallotments, which could mean an additional $12.6 million.

The managing underwriters of the offering are UBS Warburg LLC, of Stamford, Conn.; CIBC World Markets Corp., of New York; and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., of Minneapolis.

At the time the offering was announced, BioMarin said it would use the additional financing to fund development and commercialization of its lead product, Aldurazyme, an enzyme replacement therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS I). Last month, BioMarin and its partner, Genzyme General, a division of Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., said they plan to file regulatory applications early next year in the U.S., Canada and Europe for Aldurazyme. They also reported that preliminary data from a 45-patient, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase III pivotal trial were positive. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 5, 2001.)

BioMarin said that the money would be used for additional clinical trials and manufacturing of Neutralase, an injectable heparinase, for the reversal of heparin anticoagulation; preclinical studies and clinical trials for other product candidates; and potential licenses and other acquisitions, which would remain focused on its strategy of enzyme therapeutics.

In October, BioMarin acquired drug assets from IBEX Technologies Inc., of Montreal, in a deal potentially worth $20 million. BioMarin is paying $10.5 million ($8.5 million in BioMarin stock) for IBEX¿s assets, and would pay another $9.5 million based on product approvals. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 11, 2001.)

Glyko Biomedical Ltd., of Toronto, owns 26 percent of BioMarin.

As of Sept. 31, BioMarin had $43.9 million in cash and short-term investments, with about 42 million shares outstanding.

BioMarin¿s stock (NASDAQ:BMRN) gained $1.19 Friday, or 9.2 percent, to close at $14.16.