Rockwell Medical prices $35M stock offering

Rockwell Medical selling $35 million in stock to raise money for studies of anemia treatment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Rockwell Medical Inc., which makes products used in the treatment of kidney disease and anemia, said Wednesday that it will sell $35 million in stock.

The Wixom, Mich., company says it is selling about 11.5 million shares of stock for $3.05 per share. After discounts and expenses Rockwell expects to raise $32.8 million.

The funds will be used to support clinical trials of an experimental anemia drug and for other general corporate purposes. The underwriters of the offering will have the option to buy another 1.7 million shares to cover any over-allotments.

Rockwell Medical shares have traded between $3.16 and $10.70 in the last year. The stock closed at $3.59 Monday, and the offering is priced at a 15-percent discount to that price.

In morning trading the shares fell 22 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $3.37, after earlier dropping as low as $3.25.

Rockwell Medical is conducting late-stage clinical trials of a drug it called soluble ferric pyrophosphate. It is intended to treat anemia in patients with late-stage kidney disease, and it is designed to travel directly to the bone marrow, avoiding damage to the liver. The company says small, frequent doses of soluble ferric pyrophosphate could be safer and more effective than the standard treatment, which involves large doses of intravenous iron.

The company said the offering should close Monday. Rockwell Medical had 25.9 million shares on the market as of May 1.