Matrix Pharmaceutical Inc., which raised $18 million in aprivate placement in July, registered to sell 3 millionshares in a public offering. Proceeds would total nearly$40 million at the company's current price.

The Menlo Park, Calif., company currently has 12.4million shares outstanding and about $38 million in cash,which it said would last about two years. Matrix's stock(NASDAQ:MATX), trading at $14.25 before Tuesdayafternoon's announcement, lost 25 cents Tuesday andanother $1.25 Wednesday to close at $12.75. At that pricethe offering would gross $38.25 million.

The New York-based firms Cowen & Co. Inc., Dillon,Read & Co. Inc., and UBS Securities Inc. areunderwriting the offering. Matrix sold 1.48 million sharesat $12 each in its self-managed private placement in July.(See BioWorld Today, July 25, 1995, p. 1.)

Last month Matrix submitted a marketing authorizationapplication in Europe seeking approval of Accusiteinjectable gel to treat genital warts. The company said itexpects to file a new drug application in the U.S. thismonth for the same indication.

Accusite is a sustained-release chemotherapy packageconsisting of a biodegradable protein matrix, 5-fluorouracil and the vasoconstrictor epinephrine. Theproduct, intended for dermatological conditions, also is inPhase III trials for basal cell cancer.

Intradose products, which consist of similar technology,are being developed for oncological indications. Phase IIItrials of a cisplatin formulation of Intradose are ongoingin head and neck cancer as well as other accessibletumors. Phase II studies are being done in other cancers._ Jim Shrine

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.