Prosensa leaps in 1st day of Nasdaq trading

Shares of Prosensa are rising Friday in the Dutch biotechnology company's first day on the Nasdaq.

Prosensa Holding BV (RNA) climbed $6.26, or 48.3 percent, to $19.26, in afternoon trading.

The initial public offering of 6 million shares was priced at $13 apiece, at the high end of the projected price range of $11 to $13.

Presensa raised $78 million in the offering.

The underwriters have a 30-day option to buy up to 900,000 more shares to cover any excess demand.

The company plans to use the proceeds to fund its Duchenne muscular dystrophy development portfolio, its early-stage DMD discovery work and DMD-support projects, to fund other non-DMD projects and for working capital and general corporate purposes.