VentureBeat

Broncus Tech, medical device maker, files for $86M IPO — Broncus Technologies, a Mountain View, Calif., developer of minimally invasive devices for treating emphysema, filed to raise $86 million in an initial offering. The company’s SEC filing is here.

The Broncus technology is a minimally invasive, catheter-based device that creates new passages to bypass collapsed airways in the lungs caused by chronic smoking and similar issues, enabling trapped air to escape. Broncus is only one of several device companies hoping to treat emphysema; we’ve previously written about Emphasys Medical, which has also filed for an IPO (see the third item here) and Pulmonx (see here).

If at first you don’t succeed: Aegerion Pharma tries again with $86M IPO filing — Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, a Bridgewater, N.J., specialty pharma that withdrew an IPO bid in June, has decided to try again. The company once again aims to raise $86 million in its latest offering, which you can see here.

Our previous coverage of Aegerion, which is working on drugs that lower cholesterol in a new way, is here and here. No word on why the company thinks things are looking better now — of course, it cited the ubiquitous “market conditions” for its earlier withdrawal — but it has definitely returned.

BG Medicine cuts IPO size by 1.5M shares — BG Medicine, a Waltham, Mass., developer of molecular diagnostics that had aimed to go public on Amsterdam’s EuroNext exchange, last week cut its IPO size to 4.5 million shares from six million shares.

The company also appears to have boosted its IPO price, however, and may also have dropped its plan to list in Europe, as it is now pricing its shares in dollars rather than euros and says in its filing that it plans to list on the Nasdaq. In any event, BG Medicine now stands to raise as much as $83 million in the offering.

Reliant Tech formally withdraws IPO — The “skin-rejuvenation” laser maker, which reportedly postponed its IPO a few days ago, has formally withdrawn its filing, noting that terms available in the market are “not sufficiently attractive.” The company had aimed to raise up to $87 million in the offering. Now Reliant Pharmaceuticals, which is also pursuing an IPO, can rest easy.

Bridgewater, N.J.’s Aegerion Pharmaceuticals withdrew an IPO that the company expected to raise as much as $80.5 million, citing “market conditions.” The company’s withdrawal statement is here. The company had filed to go public back in March.

Aegerion is developing drugs that lower cholesterol and trigyceride levels by limiting production of the substances in the liver. Like other specialty-pharmaceutical companies, the company doesn’t develop its own drugs, and instead acquires cast-offs from other companies. I wrote about its IPO plans here.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, a Bridgewater, N.J., specialty pharmaceuticals company focused on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, said it hopes to raise up to $80.5 million in an initial offering, down slightly from its earlier plan to raise as much as $86.5 million. The company plans to offer five million shares, plus a possible overallotment of an additional 750,000 shares, at a per-share price of $12 to $14.

The company is testing inhibitors designed to limit the production of cholesterol and triglycerides in the liver and intestines, which could make them possible treatments for high cholesterol in the estimated 1.5 million Americans who cannot tolerate the popular cholesterol-lowering drugs known collectively as statins. Aegerion’s lead product candidate, AEGR-733, should enter late-stage human testing in the second half of this year.

Like other specialty pharmaceutical companies, Aegerion doesn’t discover its own drugs, and instead licenses or acquires cast-offs from other companies. Its S-1 filing with the SEC is here.