Par files for IPO

Par Pharmaceutical has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of up to $100m. The Chestnut Ridge, New York company specializes in harder to make generics (or those that face complex regulatory challenges) and also has two branded specialty pharma products: the hormonal anticancer therapy Megace (megestrol acetate) and Nascobal (cyanocobalamin, USP) vitamin B12 nasal spray. The company has not decided the size and timing of the offering, but it intends to use the proceeds primarily to pay down debt. In December 2014 long-term debt totalled $1.9bn. Revenues in 2014 were $1.3bn, and the firm booked a net loss of $106m. Last year it agreed to pay $100m to settle a patent dispute with Salix Pharmaceuticals over the latter's oral proton-pump inhibitor Zegerid, an immediate-release form of omeprazole plus sodium bicarbonate.