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Biopharm Company Raising $40 Million in IPO

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(bfishadow, WikimediaCommons)

11 August 2016. Omeros Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company developing drugs that prevent inflammation in surgeries, is raising $40 million in its initial public stock offering. The Seattle enterprise, trading on the Nasdaq exchange as OMER, offered 3.48 million shares at $11.50.

Omeros discovers and markets small molecule and protein-based drugs, focusing initially on prevention of inflammation that occurs as complications from surgery. The company says its PharmacoSurgery platform addresses complex molecular processes that cause changes in signals triggered by trauma at the surgical site.

The company’s first commercialized product is Omidria, approved by FDA in May 2014 for use in cataract surgery to prevent miosis, or constriction of the pupil, as well as reduce post-operative pain. The company has other PharmacoSurgery platform drugs in development for use with arthroscopic surgery and urological procedures using an endoscope in the urinary tract.

Another direction for Omeros is in central nervous system treatments. The company has drugs being tested in clinical trials for opioid and nicotine addiction, as well as schizophrenia and Huntington’s disease, an inherited disorder in which nerve cells in certain parts of the brain degenerate. As reported in Science & Enterprise, Omeros began a clinical trial in February 2014 testing its experimental drug code-named OMS824 to treat symptoms of Huntington’s disease.

Much of the company’s longer-term research is on G protein-coupled receptors, a class of proteins found on cell surfaces and are targets for as many as half of current prescription drugs. Omeros says it plans to develop therapies based on G protein-coupled receptors for a number of applications including cancer, central nervous system, metabolic, cardiovascular, and musculoskeletal disorders.

As of the closing bell today, Omeros shares were selling at $11.37. The Nasdaq exchange overall rose 0.5 percent.

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