Mondobiotech, which listed on the Swiss stock exchange last week, aims to raise 5-10 million Swiss francs ($4.7-9.4 million) every two months by issuing new shares, its chief executive said.

The drug discovery group -- which focuses on identifying new treatments for rare and neglected diseases, then licenses those to third parties -- does not need cash to fund its day-to-day operations but sees the listing as an opportunity to raise its profile, Chief Executive Fabio Cavalli told Reuters on Monday.

Every two months we will raise the capital of the company, Cavalli said in a telephone interview. Normally... we increase (capital by) 5-10 million Swiss francs.

The group, which became the first healthcare company to list on the Zurich exchange since Addex in 2007, had given no details on how much it hoped to raise from the listing when it was announced last week.

It uses the Internet to collect information on potential drugs and create partnerships among scientists studying often overlooked diseases.

It has drugs in clinical development for the treatment of diseases like high blood pressure in the pulmonary artery and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an often fatal condition characterized by scarring and inflammation of the lungs.

It has licensed seven drug candidates to U.S. listed biotech companies, including InterMune, Biogen Idec and United Therapeutics .

Going public will raise Mondobiotech's profile -- useful for partnership discussions with other, larger listed drugmakers -- and enable use of its shares for possible acquisitions, Cavalli said.

The group's board is due to meet Sept 7 to discuss its next share issue, Cavalli said.

We have a lot of requests at the moment, he added.

($1=1.061 Swiss Franc)

(editing by John Stonestreet)

Healthcare