ICN Raises Offering to $390 Million

Drug maker ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. will seek to raise as much as $390 million through an initial public offering for its Ribapharm Inc. unit, increasing the size of the stock sale by about 30%, a regulatory document disclosed Thursday.

As recently as last month, ICN indicated in documents that it would seek to generate as much as $300 million by selling shares of Ribapharm, which makes the hepatitis drug ribavirin. The IPO at that time called for the sale of 20million Ribapharm shares at $13 to $15 each.

Keeping the share price the same, ICN will now market 26million Ribapharm shares, according to the latest documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ICN, based in Costa Mesa, will hold an 82.7% stake in Ribapharm after the offering.

Ribavirin is marketed in the U.S., the European Union and Japan by Schering-Plough Ltd. ICN’s royalties from the sale of ribavirin by Schering-Plough totaled $139 million last year.