Continuing a pattern set by other IPOs this month,CytoTherapeutics Inc. went public on Wednesday with areduced-price offering of 2.25 million shares of common stockat $11.

The Providence, R.I., company raised $25.8 million, but hadhoped to price the shares at $12 to $14.

Providing further evidence of the increasing softness in thenew issues market, investors immediately drove down thestock (NASDAQ:CTII), which closed Wednesday at $9.75.

Of the other four biomedical companies that have gone publicthis month, two closed on Wednesday below their IPO prices:Cellcor Inc. (NASDAQ:CLTX), which went public at $11 andclosed down 50 cents at $10.50, and Biosys (NASDAQ:BIOS),which went public at $12 and closed unchanged at $11.38.Telios Pharmaceuticals Inc. closed at its original price of $8, butthe company had to reduce its proposed $10-to-$12 IPO pricerange and trim the number of shares sold from 3 million to 2.5million.

Of the five IPOs, only SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc.(NASDAQ:SCLN) has risen from its $7.25 IPO price, closing at$9.13 on Wednesday.

CytoTherapeutics is developing therapeutics in which cells ortissue are encapsulated within semipermeable polymermembranes. Its lead product, NeuroCrib, is expected to enterclinical trials to treat Parkinson's disease within 12 to 18months.

After the offering, CytoTherapeutics has 9.2 million sharesoutstanding. Underwriters Robertson, Stephens & Co. andOppenheimer & Co. Inc. have a 337,500-share overallotmentoption. -- Karen Bernstein

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