ANN ARBOR – QuatRx Pharmaceuticals Co. announced unexpectedly Monday that it has withdrawn its Initial Public Offering registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission because of poor market conditions.
In a statement, QuatRx Chief Financial Officer Gary Onn said the market has not been kind to life science companies and QuatRx didn?t think it could get a high enough valuation for its stock.
In its S-1 filing, QuatRx sought an initial stock price from $11 to $13. Onn said the company didn?t think it could get that high a price and will reevaluate when market conditions change. He said the company has had $72 million invested so far, is in good financial shape and can afford to wait.
QuatRx, founded in 2000 by Robert Zerbe, Stuart Dombey, Randy Whitcomb and Chris Nicholas. QuatRx has several compounds in clinical trials. Included is a compound in Phase 3 trial, ospemifene, for the treatment of menopausal and post-menopausal symptoms; a compound in Phase 2 trial, fispemifene, for treatment of male menopausal symptoms, including lowered testosterone levels; a compound in Phase 2 trial, becocalcidiol, for treatment of psoriasis; and a compound in Phase 1 trial, QRX 401, to lower the levels of bad cholesterol in the bloodstream. The company also has another lipid-lowering compound just entering clinical trials, and two more compounds in preclinical testing at Hormos Medical Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary in Turku, Finland.
