Drug developer Anacor cancels IPO plans
Biotech firm Anacor Pharmaceuticals has withdrawn its filing to go public after an arduous 16-month wait (unprecedented for health care enterprises, reports VentureWire). The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company says the market is not optimal to hit its target of $57.5 million in the sale.
Anacor, currently working on a therapy to treat nail fungal infections, had earmarked $49 million of that sum for further research and development of its lead drug candidate. It had already struck licensing deals with Schering-Plough and GlaxoSmithKline in this pursuit. While it has yet to bring in revenue in its six years, the company has raised $37 million to date from Rho Capital Partners, Venrock, Care Capital and Aberdare Ventures.
This brings the total number of companies canceling IPOs due to economic conditions this year to 42.
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About the Author, Camille Ricketts
Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
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