IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced Thursday the effectiveness ofits registration statement relating to the direct placement of 2.8 millionshares of common stock at $2.75 per share. The placement, to a groupof institutional investors, is expected to close on June 23.The offering, the company's first since its initial public offering inSeptember 1991, is being managed by Vector Securities InternationalInc. The placement comes with no restrictions to the investors, whoalready have committed. The offering will gross IDEC $7.7 million.IDEC, of San Diego, filed in March to sell 2.75 million shares at closeto $5 per share. That offering was postponed April 28 because ofunfavorable market conditions."We felt we needed to do something at this time," David Ludvigson,senior vice president and chief financial officer of IDEC, toldBioWorld. "We don't see a time when we see this market being a heckof a lot better than it is."SmithKline Beecham is purchasing 600,000 of the 2.8 million shares,for $1.65 million, which will count toward the $5 million IDEC stock itis to purchase in 1994. That commitment is included in a collaborationworth up to $50 million to IDEC. It involves a primatized monoclonalantibody that acts against the CD4 antigen, for treatment of rheumatoidarthritis. In May, IDEC began a Phase I/II multi-dose trial of theantibody.Other IDEC candidates in human clinical studies include a pan-Bantibody to treat B-cell lymphomas, which is in Phase II, andMelimmune, a vaccine to treat malignant melanoma, which also is inPhase II.Ludvigson said IDEC had about $18.3 million cash at the end of Marchand was burning $4 million to $5 million per quarter. He said thisoffering is expected to meet the company's cash needs for 15 months.Before the offering, IDEC had 9.4 million shares outstanding. n

-- Jim Shrine

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