1. In Vivo

Unsuccessful IPOs

 
• By John Hodgson

Not all initial public offerings are taken up, even in the best of funding years. Of the 54 life sciences IPOs registered in 1997, 11 (20%) were withdrawn because of pricing issues or lack of interest.

Apollon Inc., for example, was a naked DNA vaccines company spun off by Centocor in 1992 (well before Centocor itself was acquired by Johnson & Johnson). A $100 million deal in 1995 for vaccine development with Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines had "validated" the company's approach. But when the company withdrew its IPO, Apollon only had $2 million in cash. Unsurprisingly, it was Wyeth that acquired the cash-strapped Apollon.

After Cell Pathways Inc. withdrew its IPO offer (filed in October 1997, withdrawn in April 1998), it raised $23...

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