Still reeling from weeks of market volatility, Myriad Genetics on Tuesday announced it would not go ahead with its secondary public stock offering.

The company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month to offer as many as 2.3 million shares of stock, which at that time could have added more than $300 million to its coffers.Since then, Myriad's stock has soared to historic highs, and plunged to shocking lows. Tuesday, the company announced it was withdrawing its filing, citing adverse market conditions.

"The market has been very volatile," Myriad spokesman William Hockett said. "The price of the company's stock is at a point where we're not comfortable selling additional shares."

Hockett said Myriad has no immediate plans to re-offer the stock.

"We're fortunate that we have $65 million in the bank, and no immediate need for that cash."

Myriad has not ridden the market rollercoaster alone. Virtually all biotechnology stocks have taken a hit the last three weeks, following a series of national industry announcements. President Clinton made public amends for a statement he made jointly with British Prime Minister Tony Blair that caused some to question the nations' policy regarding the patentability (and thus the profitability) of genomic research. Institutional investors reacted along with individual players, dumping shares of biotechnology stock across the board.

That slide continued Tuesday for Myriad, which saw its stock dip 25 cents per share, at $54.75.

Another Utah biotech company has chosen to proceed with its latest stock offering, this one a private placement of NPS Pharmaceuticals' common stock with committed institutional investors. NPS' offering, unlike Myriad's, is not predicated on the going market price.

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"With ours, there's no market risk to the company," NPS Chief Financial Officer Robert Merrell said Tuesday. "They are two very different types of deals."

Investors agreed to a $12 per-share asking price in a deal inked in February. Since then, NPS stock has risen to over $31 per share. Tuesday, its stock closed at $12.31.

NPS awaits an SEC review of its February filing, which is worth an estimated $43.5 million.

"The market has been very volatile," Myriad spokesman William Hockett said. "The price of the company's stock is at a point where we're not comfortable selling additional shares."

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