NEW YORK (AP) Shares of ReWalk Robotics, which makes wearable robotic exoskeletons that helps paralyzed patients walk, more than doubled in their stock market debut.
The medical device maker was one of two health companies that had their initial public offering Friday. Shares of the other, cancer treatment developer Affimed Therapeutics, fell as the broader markets ended Friday with their first loss since early August.
IPOs from health companies have been hot this year. Shares of online health care software company Castlight Health Inc. and drug developer Ultragenyx Pharma more than doubled in their first day of trading earlier this year.
Here's how Friday's IPOs fared:
REWALK ROBOTICS LTD.
The Israeli company raised $36 million after offering 3 million at $12 per share. And underwriters have a 30-day option to buy an additional 450,000 shares. The offering was below what the company previously expected. In August, the company expected to raise as much as $53.6 million by offering 3.35 million shares between $14 per share and $16 share. ReWalk plans to use the cash raised to increase marketing and develop new products. Shares of the company, which are listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol "RWLK," soared $13.60, or 113.3 percent, to close at $25.60.
AFFIMED THERAPEUTICS
The German biopharmaceutical company develops treatments that use the body's immune system to fight tumor cells. It raised $56 million after offering 8 million shares at $7 per share. Underwriters have a 30-day option to buy an additional 1.2 million shares. The offering was below what the company previously expected. The company planned to raise as much as $81.3 million by offering 6.25 million shares between $11 per share and $13 per share. It plans to use the money raised fund research for cancer treatments. Shares of the company, which are listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol "AFMD," fell $1.30, or 18.6 percent, to close at $5.70.