clinical trial with 1,040 patients. If ongoing trials are successful, Omeros plans to ask the FDA for approval to start marketing the drug in the second half of 2010, according to the most recent regulatory filing.
“We estimate that there are large markets for each of our PharmacoSurgery product candidates and believe that OMS103HP alone provides a multi-billion dollar market opportunity,” the company said in the filing.
Omeros lists two other drugs in its pipeline for reducing the complications of surgery—one for eye surgeries, and another for urinary tract procedures. The company also has programs in much earlier stages of development for a variety of neurological diseases, namely addiction, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease. Some of that work was obtained through the company’s acquisition of Seattle-based Nura in September 2006.
Omeros first tried to go public in January 2008, when it aimed to raise $115 million. Besides getting more capital to fuel its drug development pipeline, an IPO would provide all-important liquidity to a broad network of angel and venture investors who have stuck with the company for years.
Demopulos himself is listed as the company’s largest shareholder with a 16.3 percent stake, while Arch Venture Partners holds 5.1 percent, and Aravis General Partner has 3.4 percent. Smaller stakes are held by biotech pioneer Leroy Hood (106,603 shares) and Washington Research Foundation chairman Tom Cable (194,163 shares), according to the regulatory filing.
If successful, Omeros hopes to be listed under the ticker symbol “OMER.” The offering would be underwritten by Deutsche Bank Securities, Wedbush Pacific Growth Life Sciences, Leerink Swann, and Needham & Company, according to the filing.
