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DURHAM, N.C. — Chimerix's debut as a public company produced a whopping climb in stock price. 

The Durham company went public at $14 per share, raising $102 million for the antivirals company.

But Chimerix’s public debut proved to be even stronger and the stock marched upward throughout the day topping the $18 per share mark in afternoon trading. Chimerix (Nasdaq: CMRX) closed its first day of trading at $18.79 per share, up 34 percent from its offering price.

The closing price was the high for the day. Some 4.5 million shares were traded.

Chimerix sold 7.3 million shares, which is some 20 percent more than the 6.1 million shares that the company had originally planned to sell. Morgan Stanley and Cowen and Company are joint book-running managers for the offering. William Blair and Lazard Capital Markets are co-managers.

Chimerix can raise even more money. Underwriters have 30 days to purchase up to an additional 1 million shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any. The offering is expected to close on April 16.

At the $14 per share offering price, Chimerix estimated that it would see net proceeds of $93 million from the $102.5 million raised. The company plans to spend $45 million on phase III clinical trials of lead program; CMX001 is being studied as a way to prevent infection in patients who are undergoing stem cell transplants. The remaining proceeds will be spent on working capital.

The phase III trials on CMX001 are expected to start this year. The company has already completed phase II studies of CMX001. The Food and Drug Administration has put CMX001 on a “fast track,” a designation reserved for new drugs that address serious diseases that have few, if any, treatments.