By Debbie Strickland
Anika Therapeutics Inc. boosted its cash roughly sevenfold through a public offering of 2.5 million shares sold at $7 a share, for gross proceeds of $17.5 million.
The offering price fell 12.5 percent short of the prospectus' assumed price of $8 per share. The Woburn, Mass., firm now has 9.4 million shares outstanding. Underwriters of the offering — led by Furman Selz, of New York, Volpe Brown Whelan & Co., of San Francisco, and Leerink, Swann & Co., of Boston — have an overallotment option of 375,000 shares.
Anika develops therapeutics and devices based on hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring polymer found throughout the body. HA helps protect and lubricate soft tissues and joints, maintain the structural integrity of tissues, and transport molecules to and within cells.
About 85 percent of Anika's revenues comes from the sale of two ophthalmic products, Amvisc and Amvisc Plus, to Chiron Vision, a subsidiary of Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron Corp. Amvisc and Amvisc Plus are HA products used as viscoelastic supplements in ophthalmic surgery.
One of the company's uncertainties, according to the prospectus, is whether Rochester, N.Y.-based Bausch & Lomb, which agreed to purchase Chiron Vision last month, will buy Amvisc products at the Chiron Vision rate, which "substantially" exceeds the minimum contractual obligation.
During the first three quarters of 1997, Anika reported a net income of $286,000 on sales of $6.0 million. As of Sept. 30, the company had $3.1 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Anika's development portfolio includes Incert, an HA-based, bioresorbable membrane designed to prevent postsurgical adhesions. The company estimates the world market for anti-adhesion products to be $900 million. Incert is slated to begin human clinical testing in Europe next year.
A preclinical product called Ossigel uses HA as a vehicle for delivering basic fibroblast growth factor. Partnered with Mountain View, Calif.-based Orquest Inc., Ossigel is designed to accelerate the healing of bone fractures.
In another early stage project, Anika is studying the use of HA components to inhibit cancer metastasis. Research indicates HA oligosaccharides bind and block metastasis-linked HA receptors on the surface of cells.
The company has one marketed human therapeutic — Orthovisc, an HA product used in the treatment of some forms of osteoarthritis. Orthovisc is approved in Canada for osteoarthritis of the knee and temporomandibular joint, and in Europe for the treatment of osteoarthritis in synovial joints. The product also has received approvals in Turkey and Israel and is under review in Australia, New Zealand and Egypt.
In the U.S., Anika has completed a pivotal, 226-patient clinical trial of Orthovisc for osteoarthritis of the knee. The company plans to submit a premarket approval application with the FDA by the end of the year.
Orthovisc has marketing partners for Spain, Portugal, Israel, Turkey and Egypt.
Anika also sells Hyvisc, an HA-based treatment for equine osteoarthritis. The product is distributed in the U.S. by Saint Joseph, Mo.-based Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health Inc., a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany.
Anika's shares (NASDAQ:ANIK) closed Tuesday at $7.594, down $0.156. *