ImaRx Therapeutics, a Tucson-based drug developer, became the city’s fifth firm traded on a major exchange on Thursday with a $15 million initial public offering. Tucson now has two publicly traded bioscience firms: ImaRx and Ventana Medical Systems.
ImaRx, founded by University of Arizona radiologist Evan Unger in 1999, pioneered the development of gas-filled “microbubbles” injected into the bloodstream to deliver targeted therapies and drugs. The company currently has 32 employees.
“For Tucson, it’s an important step,” Raymond Woosley, president of the Critical Path Institute, told the Arizona Daily Star. “We need more examples like this to point to that have started here and been successful. This is a measure of success.”
Trading under the ticker “IMRX,” the stock debuted on one of Wall Street’s worst days of the year, dropping 21 cents to $4.79, a 4.2 percent loss.
For more information:
“ImaRx navigates a rutted road,” Arizona Daily Star, 07/27/2007