Securities in US-based biotech GI Dynamics Inc fell well below their offer price on their first day of trading on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Wednesday.

GI’s CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs) closed 17 cents, or 15.45 per cent, below their offer price of $1.10 each, at 93 cents.

GI, which is based in Lexington, Massachusetts, is developing non-surgical treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity.

GI Dynamics has 276.9 million CHESS Depositary Interests quoted on the ASX.

CDIs represent the beneficial interest in shares in a foreign company such as GI Dynamics. Each CDI is equivalent to one-fifth of a share.

The company raised $80 million under an initial public offer (IPO) and a concurrent private placement in the US.

Under the IPO and the private placement, 72.7 million CDIs were offered at $1.10 each.

GI Dynamics chief financial officer Robert Crane noted the fall in GI’s CDI price but was optimistic that it would improve.

“We’re treating obesity and diabetes and they’re the biggest diseases that you can treat in healthcare. They aren’t going away,” he told AAP.

“As we show traction in our product in treating patients both in Europe and in Australia, my belief is that any day-to-day turbulence in the market – and we’ve had plenty recently – will be inconsequential compared to the value that we can build over the years.”

GI’s lead product is the EndoBarrier, a 60cm-long sleeve that is placed into a patient’s intestines.

It acts as a physical barrier between food and that part of the intestinal wall where the EndoBarrier is placed.

The company says 13 clinical trials of the EndoBarrier have shown an immediate fall in patients’ blood sugar levels and a 20 per cent drop in body weight.

Funds from the IPO and private placement will be used to expand commercial activity in Australia and Europe, and to fund a clinical trial in the US.