InterMune share sale may raise $120 million

InterMune has filed a statement with the US Securities and ExchangeCommission to sell 3 million common shares which, based on the firm's stock price on June 4, would be worth around $120.3 million. InterMune, which is based in Burlingame, California, says it plans to use the net proceeds for clinical development, commercialization of existing drugs and general corporate purposes. Lehman Brothers is the lead managing underwriter for the offering.

InterMune's lead product is Actimmune (interferon gamma-1b), which is approved for the treatment of chronic granulomatous disease and severe malignant osteoporosis. The firm is currently conducting a Phase III trial with the drug in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and further studies are in the pipeline for Actimmune as a treatment in a number of areas, such as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, ovarian cancer and cystic and liver fibrosis.