By Matthew Willett

BioMedicines Inc. filed to offer shares worth $57.5 million in an initial public offering for the drug development strategists.

The Alameda, Calif.-based company said in its prospectus it plans to use the IPO proceeds for product development, including clinical trials, product acquisition and operating capital.

Underwriters for the offering are UBS Warburg LLC, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. and Pacific Growth Equities Inc. The company's filing does not disclose the number of shares being offered or their proposed price.

Its approach to drug development includes, it said, identifying alternatives or improved development strategies for drug candidates for which other companies have made prior investments in clinical activities and development.

Using its proprietary Database Evaluation and Linkage System (DEALS) algorithms, BioMedicines combs public and private chemical, biological and clinical databases for such product candidates.

The company plans to offer its shares on Nasdaq under the symbol "BIOS."

It's pipeline includes five candidates, three of which are in clinical trials. Those candidates were licensed from Schering AG, of Berlin; Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany; and G.D. Searle & Co., of Skokie, Ill.

BioMedicines' Atamestane is in a Phase III trial in post-menopausal metastatic breast cancer. Its omega interferon candidate is in a Phase II trial in Europe and the U.S. for treatment of chronic hepatitis C, and Biomed 101, designed for use in conjunction with interleukin-2 for patients with metastatic melanoma or kidney cancer, is in a Phase Ib trial.

Biomed 536 and Biomed 081, a therapeutic for treatment of hormone-resistant tumors and an improved radiation therapeutic, respectively, are both in preclinical studies.

Founded in 1995, the company has about $41.9 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. As of Sept. 30, 2000, the company had about 15 million shares outstanding held by 46 shareholders.

Shareholders include CEO Mark Moran, a 14.9 percent stakeholder; Brentwood Venture Capital, of Los Angeles, a 16.2 percent owner; and Alta Partners, of San Francisco, a 12.5 percent owner.