BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Friday that it hascompleted its initial public offering of 2.25 million shares ofcommon stock at $6.50 per share.

The gross proceeds of $14.3 million fell short of what theBirmingham, Ala., company hoped for when it filed itsregistration statement on Jan. 7 for the offering of 2.5 millionshares at $7.50 to $9.50 per share.

"Given the state of the market and circumstances (health carereform), we are very pleased," BioCryst's president, FrederickDechow, told BioWorld.

The company had about $2.9 million cash as of Dec. 31.

The company granted underwriters Dillon, Read and Co. Inc.and Needham & Co. Inc. an option to purchase up to 337,500shares to cover overallotments.

BioCryst (NASDAQ:BCRX) uses structure-based drug design todevelop small molecule pharmaceuticals for the treatment of Tcell proliferative disorders, infectious diseases and certaincardiovascular disorders. The company has completed a seriesof four Phase I human clinical trials of topical BCX-34, its leadcompound, involving 113 healthy volunteers.

BioCryst also has completed two separate Phase I/II trials withtopical BCX-34. One involved treatment of cutaneous T celllymphoma and one the treatment of psoriasis.

-- Jim Shrine

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