Targanta lowers IPO price

Shares of Targanta Therapeutics Corp. are expected to begin trading today after the biopharmaceutical company's initial public offering priced at $10 per share, well below the anticipated price range.

Targanta expected the offering, which totaled 5.8 million shares, to price between $12 and $14 per share.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based company is focused on developing and marketing antibiotics for serious infections treated in or picked up in hospitals and other institutional settings.

Targanta plans to use net proceeds from the offering to fund expenses related to its new drug application and other regulatory filings, for clinical trials and development, to fund commercial launch-related expenses, to make payments on existing debt facilities and for general corporate purposes and potential acquisitions.

Credit Suisse is the lead underwriter. Cowen and Co., Lazard Capital Markets and Leerink Swann are also underwriting the offering. The company has granted the underwriters an option to buy up to 862,500 additional shares to cover any overallotments.

Targanta's shares will be listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol "TARG." (AP)