Telor Ophthalmic Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Tuesday thatit has filed a registration statement with the Securities andExchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering of 2.5million shares of common stock, which it expects to price at$12-14 per share.

Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. is the managing underwriter for theoffering.

Telor of Woburn, Mass., is developing prescriptionpharmaceuticals for use in ophthalmic surgery and for treatingage-related eye diseases. The company has focused initially ondeveloping products that use active ingredients with a provenhistory of use as systemic pharmaceuticals.

Telor started Phase I trials in February on its product Tekron,which is a topical formulation of ethacrynic acid for controllingelevated intraocular pressure associated with glaucoma andocular hypertension.

And the company has already completed a Phase I/II trial(which it started in April 1992) on the same compound -- buttagged as Xarano for this application -- for use during cataractsurgery to prevent or reduce transient post-operative increasesin intraocular pressure. Phase III trials are scheduled to beginthe first half of this year.

Ethacrynic acid is a small molecule that has been used for 25years as a systemic drug to treat fluid retention resulting fromcongestive heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver and kidneydisease. Studies have indicated that the compound is also ableto increase the ability of built-up fluid to drain from the eye.It's thought that ethacrynic acid does this by changing theshape of cells and loosening the junctions between cells liningthe fluid outflow channels.

Telor is also conducting clinical research on the feasibility ofusing a pharmaceutical to treat presbyopia, an age-relatedimpairment of the ability of the eye to focus on near objects.There are no animal models for this condition.

Telor completed an oversubscribed $8.8 million privateplacement of convertible preferred stock in May 1992. Thecompany had approximately $7 million in cash and cash-equivalents at the end of 1992, according to a companyrepresentative.

-- Jennifer Van Brunt Senior Editor

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