Cumberland Pharmaceuticals Inc priced its initial public offering below the estimate range on Monday, but broke a nearly two-year drought for IPOs in the pharmaceutical sector.

Cumberland priced its shares at $17 apiece, raising $85 million in the first IPO by a pharmaceutical company since ARYx Therapeutics Inc went public in November 2007, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Nashville, Tennessee-based Cumberland, which specializes in hospital acute care and gastroenterology, had expected shares to price between $19 and $21 each, according to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

In June, Cumberland received FDA approval for its Caldolor pain and fever treatment.

It also markets and sells Acetadote, an injection that treats poisoning from acetaminophen, the active ingredient in many pain relievers, and Kristalose, a laxative.

Net of underwriting fees, the IPO will yield Cumberland about $75 million, which Cumberland said in a recent filing it would use to fund potential acquisitions and the commercial launch of Caldolor.

Sales for the quarter ended on March 31, 2009 were $9.4 million, up 13.2 percent from a year earlier, with a profit of $1.2 million.

The deal's underwriters, led by UBS Investment Bank, Jefferies & Co and Wells Fargo Securities, have the option to buy up to 750,000 additional shares.

Cumberland is set to begin trading on Tuesday on Nasdaq under the symbol CPIX.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba; editing by Andre Grenon)

Tennessee Investment