| New drugs launch Radford firm’s IPO
Virginia Business
September 2004
Virginia
investor Randal J. Kirk’s New River Pharmaceuticals
got a lukewarm response from investors in its IPO offering
of 4.2 million shares. The company had hoped to raise
at least $46 million and predicted investors would pay
between $10 and $14 per share, but underwriters priced
the shares at $8, which would give the company $33.6
million.
New River’s stock trades under the ticker symbol
NRPH on the Nasdaq National Market. The company says
it’s developed safer, abuse-proof drugs for treating
attention-deficit disorders and chronic pain. It completed
one drug trial and plans more this year. In a letter
to potential investors, Kirk describes the current development
stage as “expensive, as we move more of our products
into human clinical testing – too expensive for
the current investors to support.”
Kirk, who heads Third Security LLC, a private investment
and advisory firm with about $800 million under management,
founded New River in 1996. He’s still the majority
owner, with a 65 percent stake. The company will still
need approval from the Food and Drug Administration
before marketing its drugs, but hopes trials later this
year, if successful, will speed FDA approval.
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