Telor Ophthalmic Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Wednesdaythat it has completed its initial public offering (IPO), grossing$20 million on sales of 2.5 million shares of common stock at $8a share.

The stock started trading Tuesday on the NASDAQ system asTELR. The Woburn, Mass., company had hoped to garner $12-$14 per share when it registered the offering with theSecurities and Exchange Commission on April 8.

Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. is the managing underwriter for theoffering. The underwriters have an option to purchase anadditional 375,000 shares of stock to cover any overallotment.

This is the first biopharmaceutical IPO to complete since March25, when Zonagen (NASDAQ:ZONA) sold 1.35 million shares at$5.50.

Telor is developing prescription pharmaceuticals for use inophthalmic surgery and for treating age-related eye diseases.Its lead products -- already in the clinic -- are Tekron (atopical formulation of ethacrynic acid for controlling chronicelevated intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma andocular hypertension) and Xarano (the same compound, but foruse during cataract surgery to prevent or reduce transientpost-operative increases in intraocular pressure).

Telor will devote more than 50 percent of the funds from itsIPO to product development, especially of Tekron and Xarano,according to Stephen Riggi, company president.

Telor completed an oversubscribed $8.8 million privateplacement of convertible preferred stock in May 1992. It hadslightly more than $7 million in the bank at the close ofcalendar 1992, Riggi told BioWorld.

-- Jennifer Van Brunt Senior Editor

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