By Mary Welch

Cepheid raised $30 million in its initial public offering by selling 5 million shares at $6 each, much lower than the anticipated initial price range of $10 to $12.

Cepheid originally filed to raise $92 million, but did not specify how many shares would be offered. The proceeds will be used for funding research and development activities, expanding manufacturing and customer service for existing products, and continuing development and manufacturing of additional products. (See BioWorld Today, April 11, 2000, p. 1.)

Despite the lowered opening stock price, Cepheid did well on its first day of trading. Its stock (NASDAQ:CPHD) closed Wednesday at $9, up $3 or 50 percent.

UBS Warburg LLC, of New York, was the lead manager. Prudential Vector Healthcare and Invemed Associates LLC, both of New York, were co-managers. The underwriters have an option for an additional 750,000 shares to cover overallotments.

After the offering, the company had 25.5 million shares outstanding.

Cepheid, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., develops, manufactures and markets microfluidic systems that integrate, automate and accelerate biological testing. The company's systems combine microinstrumentation technologies with molecular biology to create miniaturized systems that perform all the necessary steps to analyze complex biological samples - including sample preparation, amplification and detection - on a single platform.

Initially, the company is focusing on the detection and analysis of DNA and RNA in samples such as blood, urine, cell cultures, food and industrial water for such applications as life science research, clinical diagnostics, industrial testing and pharmacogenomics.

Its proprietary I-CORE technology, which is found in both the Smart Cycler and GeneXpert systems, generally achieves amplification and detection in less than 25 minutes, the company said.

Cepheid expects to market its first product, the Smart Cycler, in the next few months. Initially directed toward the life sciences research market, the Smart Cycler is a fast, versatile DNA amplification and detection system, the company said. Cepheid expects to launch a portable version, the Smart Cycler XC, later this year.

GeneXpert, currently in development, is designed to integrate automated sample preparation with the company's amplification and detection technology in a disposable cartridge format.