Microlin Bio Inc. (fka MICB)

[$hellKing]

From 2 years ago

Microlin Bio files for a $25M IPO to advance cancer Dx and Rx treatments
January 13, 2014 | By Mark Hollmer
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Microlin Bio, a fledgling diagnostic and drug developer, filed plans for a modest initial public offering to advance work on tests and related therapies for four different kinds of cancers.

The New York startup, incorporated just in July 2013, disclosed in a Jan. 10 regulatory filing that it hopes to raise as much as $25 million for its IPO. Plans call for using the money to propel validation studies of diagnostic tests and therapeutic treatments for lung, ovarian, colorectal and prostate cancers, according to the company's S-1 filing.

Microlin plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol "MCLB."

Microlin licensed its core technology from Ohio State University, including a number of patents focused on microRNAs, naturally occurring RNA molecules that regulate gene expression and a number of biological pathways whose imbalance may be linked to cancer and other diseases, the company noted in its regulatory filing.

"We believe that microRNAs represent a new class of diagnostics and therapeutics that may be more effective in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, with the potential for mitigated side effects in comparison with conventional small molecule drugs or biologics," Microlin explained.

Microlin said it would outsource its development in order to save time and capital and expects to work with CROs to get the job done. The company added that it hopes to work with an Ohio State University professor who would handle the lead on preclinical work.

CEO and executive chairman Joseph Hernandez is a veteran of companies including Affymetrix, Digene Corp. (now Qiagen), Innovative Biosciences, Prolias Technologies and Signal Genetics.

Microlin's proposed IPO follows a late 2013 life sciences IPO spike among diagnostics and (a few) device companies. Oxford Immunotec ($OXFD), Veracyte ($VCYT) and Foundation Medicine ($FMI)--all diagnostics outfits--staged successful IPOs toward the end of the year. Insulin pump maker Tandem Diabetes ($TNDM) raised $120 million in November, scoring with an IPO that hit at the top of its range. This month, London's Lombart Medical filed IPO plans to help propel commercial expansion of its aortic repair device.

Biocept Laboratories--a diagnostics company that filed IPO plans last fall, is still waiting to move forward. CardioDx had been expected to go public, but the 2012 Fierce 15 winner and maker of a gene expression diagnostic to rule out obstructive coronary artery disease canceled IPO plans, citing poor market conditions.