Broncus Technologies Registers for IPO

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company did not disclose the expected number or price range of shares to be sold in the IPO but indicated the offering price could total up to $86.3 million.

Broncus noted the total offering price was estimated solely to calculate its registration fee and may change.

The company's catheter-based "Airway Bypass" procedure is used to treat emphysema patients by creating new passages in the lungs to bypass collapsed airways and allow trapped air to exit the lungs.

Broncus said it believes the patented treatment will be the first minimally invasive procedure to treat homogeneous, or diffuse, emphysema, the most common form of the disease.

Broncus plans to submit its premarket approval application to the Food and Drug Administration in mid-2009. If approved, the company expects to begin selling its Exhale emphysema product line in the U.S. in mid-2010.

The company said it expects several Airway Bypass products to be used for other lung diseases, including pulmonary hypertension and lung cancer.

According to a 2005 survey by the National Center for Health Statistics cited in Broncus' prospectus, 3.8 million adults in the U.S. have reported that they had been diagnosed with emphysema.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Bronchus reported a wider loss of $11.3 million, compared with $6.7 million in the first nine months of 2006. The development-stage company currently generates no revenue.

Broncus plans to use its net proceeds from the IPO for clinical trials, research and development, sales and marketing and working capital and general corporate purposes, including potential acquisitions.

Before joining Broncus, President and Chief Executive Cary B. Cole co-founded and served as vice president of sales and marketing at medical imaging company CompuRAD Inc. He was vice president of marketing for Lumisys Inc. after CompuRAD merged with the medical imaging company.

Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns are serving as the IPO's lead underwriters. Jefferies & Co. and RBC Capital Markets are also underwriting the offering.

Broncus plans to list its shares on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol "LUNG."