By Mary Welch

Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc. moved up its timetable to go public by at least a year as it registered for an initial public offering (IPO) to raise $80 million to help advance its products through clinical trials.

Last fall, Gregory Mossinghoff, Inspire¿s vice president of corporate development, told BioWorld Today the company expected to go public in 2001. At that time, the company had just completed a $12.4 million private placement of preferred stock. ¿This is our third major venture round,¿ Mossinghoff said at the time, ¿and hopefully, it¿s our last private round if all goes well.¿ (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 2, 1999, p. 1.)

Company officials could not comment Monday because of an SEC-imposed quiet period.

Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., of New York, is the lead manager for the IPO. Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, of New York, and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc., of Minneapolis, are co-managers.

The company intends to use the net proceeds for clinical development, product commercialization and preclinical activity. It expects to have five products in the clinic this year.

Inspire develops products to treat diseases characterized by deficiencies in the body¿s innate defense mechanisms of mucosal hydration and mucociliary clearance. The products are based on a proprietary technology platform relating to P2Y receptors. Studies indicate that a subtype of this family, the P2Y₂ receptor, coordinates the mechanisms of mucosal hydration and mucociliary clearance.

The company has three products in advanced clinical development, all of which target respiratory and ophthalmic diseases. Slated to enter Phase IIa trials later this year is INS365 respiratory for chronic bronchitis. This compound is being co-developed with South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc., in a deal worth up to $76 million. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 22, 1999, p. 1.)

INS365 respiratory also is partnered with Kissei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Matsumoto City, Japan, in a deal worth up to $17.5 million for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, including chronic bronchitis. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 15, 1998, p. 1.)

INS365 ophthalmic for dry-eye disease is in Phase IIb studies with partner Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, in a deal worth about $6.25 million. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 4, 1999, p. 1.)

Inspire intends to take INS316 into Phase III trials this year as a diagnostic adjunct for lung disease. INS316, a nebulized acute-use agent, is designed to assist a patient in expectorating a sputum sample containing adequate deep-lung material. The sample could then be used to enhance the diagnosis of lung cancer.

Inspire also has two products, INS37217 respiratory for cystic fibrosis and INS37217 ophthalmic to treat retinal detachment, expected to enter Phase I trials this year.

As of Dec. 31, the company had $22.7 million in cash. It reported revenues of $600,000 and an operating loss of $8.5 million.

The lead institutional investors are Polaris Venture Partners, of Waltham Mass., with 5 million shares; Alta V Limited Partnership, also of Waltham, with 4.9 million shares; and Domain Associates LLC, of Princeton, N.J., with 4.5 million shares.

Inspire¿s proposed Nasdaq ticker symbol is ISPH.