PRINCETON, N.J. -- The Liposome Co. Inc. on Tuesday filed for apublic offering of 3 million shares of common stock.

Based on the company's (NASDAQ:LIPO) Tuesday closing priceof $6, the offering could raise about $18 million. The offeringwould bring LIPO to 17.7 million shares outstanding. Thecompany's last public offering of 1.2 million shares in June1987 netted $7.1 million.

Proceeds from LIPO's offering are to be used primarily to fundclinical testing of TLC G-65, liposome encapsulated gentamicindrug and for general corporate purposes. TLC G-65 is in PhaseII clinical trials for the treatment of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAI) in people with AIDS. MAI is anopportunistic infection that strikes between 30 percent and 50percent of AIDS patients.

LIPO also reported Tuesday revenues of $7 million for the yearended Dec. 31, 1990, an 88 percent increase compared with1989 revenues. Net loss was $5 million, compared with a netloss of $7.6 million in 1989.

LIPO is the third company this month to venture back into thepublic offering market. ImmunoGen Inc. (NASDAQ:IMGN) ofCambridge, Mass., and Gensia Pharmaceuticals Inc.(NASDAQ:GNSA) of San Diego both announced filings forofferings of 2 million shares of common stock.

Underwriters for the LIPO offering, Hambrecht & Quist Inc. andOppenheimer & Co. Inc., both of New York, have options topurchase 450,000 additional shares through an overallotment.-- Karen Bernstein

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