Medidata, a maker of software used by the pharmaceutical industry, on Thursday began trading on the Nasdaq.

New York City-based Medidata climbed as much as 30 percent in early trading before settling up $2.92, or 21 percent, at $16.92 in midday trading. Underwriters late Wednesday priced 6.3 million shares at $14 each in a bid to raise $88.2 million.

The offering marks the third successful venture-backed public debut on U.S. markets in this dismal year for IPOs. In May, San Francisco-based online reservation site OpenTable went public, climbing as much as 59 percent. That same week saw Solarwinds go public, climbing 10 percent by close of markets.

Wall Street was attracted to Medidata’s growth story. The startup reported revenue of $105.7 million for 2008 compared with $63 million in 2007.

Founded in 1999, Medidata, which provides online documentation software to the pharmaceutical industry for use in clinical trials, in January filed to go public. At that time, the software maker was unprofitable. In May, Medidata amended its S-1 filing to state that it was profitable for its most recent quarter. The company turned profitable for its quarter ended March 31, when it logged $1.7 million in net income.

Investors in Medidata include Insight Venture Partners, Milestone Venture Partners, Stonehenge Capital Fund, GlobalNet Partners, and Silicon Alley Ventures,