Omeros stock sinks in market debut

Seattle-based Omeros got a rough welcome Thursday to the stock market, losing 12.7 percent of its $10 initial public offering (IPO) price in its first day as a public company. It kept falling Friday, too.

Shares of Omeros, a biopharmaceutical developer, fell as low as $8.13 Thursday before rallying a bit toward the end of regular trading to close at $8.73.

Omeros, the first Pacific Northwest-based company to go public in nearly two years, was also the first early-stage pharmaceutical company nationally to do so since 2007.

But given Omeros' slide from an IPO price that was already at the bottom of the offering's estimated range, it may be awhile before another early-stage drugmaker follows its lead.

"When the IPO market slows down the biotechs are the first to go, and the performance of Omeros shows us that investor appetite for these companies hasn't quite returned yet," said Melanie Hase, vice president at Renaissance Capital, a Greenwich, Conn.-boutique specializing in IPOs.

Of the 36 domestic IPOs so far this year, Omeros had the third-worst opening-day showing. In fact, only 11 of those IPOs lost any ground their first day, according to Renaissance data.

Talecris Biotherapeutics, a North Carolina-based biotech, went public on Sept. 30 at $19 and gained 11.3 percent its first trading day; it closed Thursday at $21.47.

But Hase noted that Talecris, a former unit of Bayer Healthcare, is a large, established and profitable company, while Omeros has yet to put a product on the market.

"They still have to complete their clinical trials, file for (Food and Drug Administration) approval, and get approval," she said. "Investors are very picky. This is a buyers' market — valuations matter and risk profiles matter."

Omeros' underwhelming debut suggests its underwriters may not sell an additional 1 million shares that have been made available to cover over-allotments.

Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com