SangStat Medical Corp. said Wednesday that it completed a self-managed public offering of 1 million shares of common stock at$5.50 per share, raising $5.5 million.

The Menlo Park, Calif., company, which focuses on products relatedto transplants, now has about 9.5 million shares outstanding. Itreported cash and equivalents of $12.4 million on Dec. 31, and a netloss of about $5.5 million last year.

SangStat completed a private placement of 1.4 million shares at $4apiece on Jan. 27, raising $5.6 million. Three institutional investorspurchased the shares at a discount of about 20 percent, said PhillippePouletty, SangStat's president and CEO.

SangStat's stock (NASDAQ:SANG) closed unchanged Wednesdayat $6 per share.

He said that some analysts projected that the company's cash willtake it into 1997, while some estimated it could last the companyuntil it reaches profitability.

"A lot of people say public offerings are impossible in this market,"Pouletty told BioWorld. "We would say they are possible for biotechcompanies that have near-term prospects of revenues andprofitability, and can demonstrate they have a business in addition toa technology.

"We hope this means that '95 is going to be better than '94, withbetter distinguishing between companies that that have real productsand a business, and the ones that have only technology with long-term prospects."

SangStat is developing Thymoglobulin to treat graft rejection. A newdrug application is pending in Canada, and a Phase III trial isongoing in the U.S. Another product, Allotrap, is in a Phase II trial inFrance for promotion of graft acceptance following transplantation.And PRA-STAT, licensed to Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter HealthcareCorp., is being sold in the U.S. and Europe. _ Jim Shrine

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