Foundation Medicine IPO Greeted with Open Wallets

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Cancer-treatment company Foundation Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ: FMI) held its initial public offering (IPO) Wednesday morning. The company sold 5.9 million shares at an offering price of $18 a share, above its proposed range of $14 to $16 for a total of 5 million shares. Following the offering the company will have around 27 million shares outstanding, not including the underwriters’ options on 833,300 additional shares.

At the IPO price the company raised about $106 million. Foundation Medicine expects to use its net proceeds to fund expansion, new and ongoing clinical trials, working capital, and general corporate purposes. The company plans to spend about $18 million to expand its sales force in the U.S. and internationally, another $12 million to fund clinical trials, and $10 million on both expanding its laboratory operations and infrastructure expansion.

Foundation Medicine is a commercial-stage company that sells molecular information derived from its proprietary methods for analyzing cancer tumors to physicians and biopharmaceutical companies.

Shares have jumped about 78% shortly after noon, to $32.00 after hitting a high of $33.25.