Immune Response Corp. has grossed $44 million in a secondarystock offering, the company said Tuesday.

Of the 1.3 million shares priced at $44, a stockholder sold300,000 shares. After the offering, the San Diego company has14.9 million shares outstanding. Underwriters MontgomerySecurities and Robertson, Stephens & Co. have a 195,000-shareoverallotment option.

The stock (NASDAQ:IMNR) gained $3.25 to close at $49 onTuesday after Montgomery Securities analyst Brandon Fraddreiterated an "aggressive buy" recommendation. Fradd toldBioWorld that he raised his 1994 earnings estimates to $4.25from $1.20. Based on those numbers, he said, the stock isundervalued.

Using the guidelines for the recent Food and DrugAdministration approval of the AIDS drug ddI, Fradd saidImmune Response might be able to request acceleratedapproval of its AIDS therapeutic vaccine in the second quarterof 1992. The vaccine is in Phase II/III trials.

Data presented at a recent conference suggest that ImmuneResponse's vaccine could raise T cell counts well in excess ofthe numbers that were used to support ddI's approval, Fraddsaid. The ddI approval was based on increasing the number of Tcells by 10 or by 10 percent over four weeks, he said.

-- Karen Bernstein BioWorld Staff

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