IPO FILING: Epocrates Inc. (EPOC)

Epocrates Inc. submitted an SEC filing to come public via an IPO Thursday night. The filing shows a proposed maximum aggregate offering price of $75 million, although this number is for filing purposes only. They applied to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol “EPOC.” The underwriters are listed as Citi, Peter Jaffray, William Blair and Company, and Needham & Co.

Epocrates provides medical information support tools to healthcare professional. The company has strong brand recognition and over 500,000 healthcare professionals actively subscribe to use their product, including 1 in 4 doctors and 1 in 3 medical students. The technology allows healthcare professionals to access medical information on various devices, such as Blackberries, Palms, iPhones, desktops and PC’s. The market has seen a growing use of PDA’s or smartphones by physicians and the company believes its strong market position and brand name will create demand for their services. In 2006 and 2007, the company generated $49.5 and $65.6 million, respectively. Income before taxes in 2006 and 2007 were -$1.4 million and $4.6 million, respectively. The company generated enough in 2007 to pull it out of the red and into the green.

Epocrates joins other recent medical industry companies trying to go public. Codexis and Fluidigm also recently submitted their IPO paperwork.

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Rachel Lopez
April 18, 2008