LipoScience became the first life sciences company in 2013 to complete an initial public offering. The maker of a diagnostic test to assess cardiovascular risk raised $45 million by offering 5 million shares at $9.

The price was 36 percent below the midpoint of its original $13 to $15 range, which it had cut to $9 to $10 the day before completing its offering. Although the company recorded $54 million in revenue in its last fiscal year, it is not yet profitable. In its regulatory filing LipoScience said it expected to continue operating at a loss for several years while it works to increase its market share and develop new products.

Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, the in vitro diagnostics company uses nuclear magnetic resonance technology to make personalized medical diagnostic tests and analytical tools. Its key product measures low-density lipoprotein, or bad cholesterol, a key risk factor in heart disease. The company had previously raised $58.7 million in capital from investors that included Three Arch Capital, SightLine Partners, Pappas Ventures, Invesco Private Capital, and Agilent Technologies, among others.

LipoScience shares, trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker LPDX, rose 8 percent in the first day of trading.

U.S. life sciences companies, stoked by the positive reception to a slew of successful equity and debt offerings the previous week, continued to tap the public markets for capital. Companies raised $870 million during the fourth week of January, bringing the two week total to almost $2 billion.

Ariad Pharmaceuticals raised $300 million in a follow-on offering of 15.3 million shares at $19.60 a share. The offering was just below Ariad’s share price of $19.85 when it was announced. According to JPMorgan, one of the bookrunners on the deal, the issue was the largest healthcare offering completed to date where the deal is essentially done through “back room” discussions under confidentiality agreements. Issuers can test potential buyers’ interest without first disclosing details to the public. Immediately after interest is shown, details of the public offering are filed with the SEC and publicly announced just prior to the actual offering.

The follow-on offering came one month after Ariad received accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Iclusig to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia and Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia that is resistant to or intolerant of prior treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Specialty biopharmaceutical company Auxilium raised $325 million of 1.5 percent unsecured convertible senior notes due 2018, and granted underwriters a 30-day option for another $25 million of notes. Auxilium develops and markets specialty products including a testosterone gel as a topical treatment for hypogonadism and Xiaflex for the treatment of adult Dupuytren’s contracture patients with a palpable cord in the United States. The company shares marketing rights for Xiaflex outside the United States through agreements with various pharmaceutical companies. In November, it submitted a supplemental marketing approval request to the FDA for Xiaflex as a treatment of Peyronie’s disease, with a PDUFA date in September.