By Mary Welch

Three more biotech companies decided to strike while the financial iron is hot, as NetGenics Inc., Transgenomic Inc. and Pain Therapeutics Inc. each filed for an initial public offering.

There now have been 26 companies filing to go public in North America this year, twice as many as completed initial offerings all of last year.

NetGenics, a provider of bioinformatics solutions, expects to raise $82.225 million by selling 5.5 million shares, while Transgenomic Inc., which provides research tools for the discovery and understanding of variations in the human genome, intends to raise $64.4 million by offering 4 million shares. Pain Therapeutics Inc., which has four opioid painkillers in Phase II trials, is looking to raise $75 million.

Headquartered in Cleveland, NetGenics expects to have 23.4 million shares outstanding after the offering. The company will grant the underwriters an overallotment option on 825,000 shares. Chase H&Q, of New York, is the lead underwriter. Warburg Dillon Read LLC, of New York, is also participating.

The company intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. NetGenics is developing a new generation of Synergy, a distributed computing environment that integrates legacy, third-party and proprietary data and software. A computing framework, Synergy can be adapted to address a customer¿s bioinformatics needs by integrating its choice of tools and data sources. Due to its component-based design, Synergy allows new applications or sources of data to be added at any time, the company said.

In January, NetGenics raised $21 million in equity financing that was earmarked for the further development of its bioinformatics products. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 14, 2000, p. 1.)

The company reported 1999 revenues of $1.8 million, with a net loss of $11.3 million. As of Dec. 31, the company had $82.8 million in cash.

Among the major stockholders are New York-based College Retirement Equities; International Biotechnology Trust plc, of London; Venrock Associates II LP, of New York; and Edgewater Private Equity Fund II LP, of Chicago.

NetGenics¿ proposed Nasdaq symbol is NTGC.

Omaha, Neb.-based Transgenomic intends to use its estimated proceeds of $64.4 million for expanding its manufacturing capacity in San Jose, Calif., as well as for debt reduction and research and development. After the offering, the company will have more than 20 million shares outstanding.

Chase H&Q is the lead underwriter. Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., of New York, and Dain Rauscher Inc., of Minneapolis, also are participating. The underwriters will be offered an additional 600,000 shares to cover overallotments.

The company believes its Wave System will become a leading tool to analyze genetic mutations. The system is designed to perform high-speed, automated analyses of DNA molecules to identify the type, location and frequency of DNA mutations with a high degree of accuracy and consistency. The Wave System allows researchers to analyze both known and unknown genetic mutations faster, with more accuracy and at a lower cost than other techniques, the company said. As of March 1, more than 240 systems had been sold in 20 countries, bringing in $14 million in revenues.

The company reported net sales for 1999 of $23 million and a net loss of $9.8 million. As of March 1, there were a little more than 20 million shares outstanding. Invesco Private Capital Inc., of New York, is the largest institutional shareholder with 11.3 percent of the company.

Transgenomic¿s proposed Nasdaq ticker symbol is TBIO.

Pain Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco, intends to raise $75 million, the proceeds of which will be used to develop a new generation of opioid painkillers as well as for research and development.

The company did not indicate how many shares would be offered or how many additional shares would be offered to the underwriters. Robertson Stephens Inc., of New York, is the lead underwriter. Also participating are CIBC World Markets Corp. and Lazard Frees & Co. LLC, both of New York.

The company uses its proprietary technology to reformulate opioid drugs, such as morphine, into branded painkillers with improved clinical benefits, the company said.

Pain Therapeutics¿ product candidates consist of two components: an opioid agonist, such as morphine, that blocks pain, and an opioid antagonist, such as naltrexone or naloxone, that inhibits pain relief. To date, more than 750 patients have been tested.

The company reported no revenues for 1999 and a net loss of $3.3 million. As of Dec. 31, it had $24 million in cash.

Principal shareholders include Cascade Investment LLC, of Kirkland, Wash.; TVM-Techno Venture Management III GmbH, of Boston; and Blue Ridge Limited Partnership, of New York.

The proposed Nasdaq ticker symbol is PTIE.