NeXagen Inc. filed silently for an initial public offering of 2.75million shares of its common stock on Nov. 24.

The documents filed with the Securities and ExchangeCommission placed a maximum value of $15 per share for theproposed offering. If the offering is completed, NeXagen ofBoulder, Colo., will have 11.3 million shares outstanding.

The underwriters for the offering, which could bring in asmuch as $41.25 million, are Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. and S.G.Warburg and Co. Inc.

NeXagen was founded in 1991 to capitalize on its founders'proprietary technology for making high-affinity nucleic acidligands targeting small molecules, such as peptides. Theseligands can be used to rapidly identify lead compounds fordrug development and diagnostic applications. The technology-- termed systematic evolution of ligands by exponentialenrichment, or SELEX -- has attracted three majorpharmaceutical partners to date.

In November 1992, NeXagen entered into a three-yearcollaboration with Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis to locate anddevelop high-affinity nucleic acid ligands that bind to PLA2, anenzyme involved in certain inflammatory diseases, includingsystemic inflammatory response syndrome, adult respiratorydistress syndrome and certain kinds of arthritis. Lilly made a$3 million equity investment in the company in connectionwith the R&D agreement.

NeXagen signed on two partners in 1993. In June it enteredinto a three-year agreement with Becton Dickinson & Co. ofFranklin Lakes, N.J., to locate and develop high-affinity nucleicacid ligands for in vitro diagnostic products and devices. BectonDickinson, a medical device and diagnostic manufacturer andsupplier, made an initial $5 million equity position in NeXagen,giving it a minority position.

And just last month, NeXagen signed a three-year pact withSchering AG covering in vivo diagnostic products andradiotherapeutics. Schering also made a $5 million equityinvestment in the company.

Counting the $13 million from its corporate partners, NeXagenhas raised $32 million in equity since its inception, PatrickMahaffy, the company's president and chief executive officer,told BioWorld. This figure includes a total of $9 million fromWarburg and Pincus Investors L.P. and $10 million frominstitutional investors, including Accel Partners, New EnterpriseAssociates and SED Ventures.

The company reported cash and cash equivalents of $17 million(not including the $5 million from Schering), as of Sept. 30,according to the prospectus.

-- Jennifer Van Brunt Senior Editor

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