Report: Ikaria Withdraws IPO, Leaving Arch, Hutch in the Lurch

Ikaria, the company with the futuristic “hibernation-on-demand” technology with roots at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, has withdrawn its IPO plans, according to a report from Dow Jones News Services. Goldman Sachs,  an underwriter of the deal, confirmed it has been withdrawn, according to the wire service.

Earlier in the day, Xconomy reported that Ikaria was seeing weaker demand for its shares than it had hoped for, and it reduced the value of its offering by 38 percent. The withdrawal of the IPO has to be a major disappointment for Arch Venture Partners, one of the largest shareholders in Ikaria, which was in line to have its stake valued at about $56 million if it could have commanded the mid-point of its projected IPO price. The Hutch, and founder Mark Roth, also have significant stakes in the company.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.