By Lisa Seachrist

Washington Editor

CV Therapeutics Inc. raised $60 million in a public offering of 5 million shares that closed Wednesday night.

The offering, which priced at $12.00 a share, closed just a month and a half after the company saw its stock (NASDAQ:CVTX) soar 56 percent to close at $13.812 a common share following news that a Phase III study of its lead drug candidate, ranolazine, increased the amount of time patients with severe stable angina could spend on a treadmill.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based CV Therapeutics' stock closed Thursday at $13.065 a share, down $0.937 a share in heavy trading.

Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., of New York; BancBoston Robertson Stephens, of New York; J.P. Morgan & Company Inc., of New York; and SG Cowen Securities Corp., of Boston, served as underwriters for the offering.

The company intends to use the proceeds of the offering to continue development of ranolazine and to move other clinical products along. The money should last CV Therapeutics at least through the first quarter of 2001, according to a company filing with the SEC.

The company is still under an SEC-ordained "quiet period" and was unable to comment on the offering.

CV Therapeutics originally registered the offering as 4 million common shares when its stock was trading at a spike level of $18.125 (see BioWorld Today, Sept. 9, 1999, p. 1). The company eventually sold the stock for $12.00 a share, but had to register an additional 1 million shares on Wednesday to meet demand. Over the next 30 days, the underwriters have an option to purchase an additional 750,000 shares to cover overallotments. Should the underwriters exercise that option, the company could see an additional $8 million from the offering.

For the second quarter ended June 30, CV Therapeutics had $38 million in cash and posted a net loss of $5.4 million. The company had 11.9 million outstanding shares at that time. The offering brings the number to almost 17 million shares.

The company has seen its stock gain in strength since reporting the initial results of the MARISA (Monotherapy Assessment of Ranolazine in Stable Angina) trial, showing three different doses of ranolazine could allow patients to remain on a treadmill anywhere from 22 seconds to 49 seconds longer than placebo-treated patients.

CV Therapeutics has started a second Phase III study called CARISA (Combination Assessment of Ranolazine in Stable Angina), which will study the drug in combination with either a beta-blocker or a calcium channel blocker. The company hopes to file a new drug application in 2001.

In addition to ranolazine, CV Therapeutics has a Phase II study for CVT-124 for the treatment of congestive heart failure and CVT-510 in Phase I for atrial arrhythmias.