Elcelyx Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, said it is enrolling patients with Type II diabetes in a Phase IIb trial of NewMet, a delayed-release formulation of generic metformin...Clinical improvements were seen in all patients with reductions in median stool frequency from 23 to 14 per week (p = 0.03) and an improvement in the median Bristol Stool Form Scale assessing stool type from 5.515 to 4.34 (p = 0.05...Tracon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it initiated two randomized Phase IIb studies

In addition to the trio of filings, one biotech IPO closed last week, as San Diego-based Ambit Biosciences Corp...A week earlier, Receptos Inc., also of San Diego, priced its IPO, raising $72.8 million by selling 5.2 million shares at $14 apiece

The San Diego-based biotech priced about 8.1 million shares at $8 apiece for gross proceeds of about $65 million...Proceeds would be used to fund clinical trials, R&D for additional alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) indications, expanding distribution capabilities for additional territories

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, priced a $100 million public offering of 8 million shares of common stock at $12.50 apiece, a 3.5 percent discount to Tuesday's closing price...Receptos Inc., of San Diego, said it completed its initial public offering of 5.2 million shares priced at $14 apiece for proceeds of $72.8 million and granted underwriters Credit Suisse Securities LLC, Leerink Swann LLC, BMO Capital Markets and Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences a 30-day option to purchase up to an

Mirna Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, has initiated a Phase I study of MRX34, the first miRNA to advance to a clinical trial for cancer...Prometheus Laboratories Inc., of San Diego, said PROCLIVITY 01, a multicenter study of Proleukin (High Dose Interleukin-2 [HD IL-2])1 plus vemurafenib therapy in patients with BRAF V600 mutation-positive metastatic melanoma (mM) is enrolling patients

is more than doubling its cash position with a $30 million registered direct offering, with proceeds to fund R&D activities, namely clinical development of DX-2930, a drug slated to start clinical development for prophylactic use in hereditary angioedema (HAE...MediciNova Inc., of San Diego, entered a securities purchase agreement, selling about 1.2 million shares of common stock priced at $3.15 apiece

Receptos Inc., of San Diego, priced its initial public offering (IPO) of 5.2 million shares of common stock at $14 per share, for a total raise of $72.8 million...The funds will support clinical work in multiple sclerosis (MS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and allergic/immune-mediated disorders. (See BioWorld Today, April 8, 2013.) The pricing hits pretty close to the $86.3 million target set when the company filed for its offering only a month ago

said Grey, formerly CEO of SGX Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, acquired in 2008 by Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co...The drug has gone through 12 clinical trials in more than 1,400 subjects already, showing that it knocks down serum bile acid levels safely...Lumena plans to complete the Phase I clinical program of LUM002 in healthy volunteers later this year

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co., of San Diego, treated the last patient in the Phase I (Part A) portion of the Phase I/II trial of GCS-100 in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD...The NH004-3 clinical trial is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover, multicenter study comparing NH004 and placebo thin films in Parkinson's disease patient complaining of sialorrhea

were down nearly 10 percent Friday following Thursday's after-market release of first-quarter earnings, which included news that the San Diego-based biotech is pulling its European marketing application for obesity drug Belviq (lorcaserin), though the bigger disappointment may be the ongoing delay in Belviq's U.S...The drug was included in a recent diabetes management report from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists

The trial, which will enroll 300 patients, is based on results from a Phase IIb study in newly diagnosed AML patients, 60-75, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in 2011...and Canada in partnership with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, which has previously supported the development of CPX-351 . (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 27, 2012.) The transaction, led by New York and San Diego-based life sciences venture capital firm Valence Life Sciences LLC, sold a total of 10,430

Trius Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, announced a range of clinical data for the experimental antibiotic tedizolid phosphate (TR-701) and a presentation on linezolid-resistant strain of bacteria

Receptos Inc., of San Diego, set a price range for its proposed initial public offering, anticipating selling 4.7 million shares priced between $14 and $16...The funding allowed ReXceptor to enter a formal partnership with C2N Diagnostics, which will assist the company with the initiation and coordination of the clinical trial of an AD program licensed from Case Western's Technology Transfer Office and based on discoveries that bexarotene, a medication sold at Targretin for cutaneous T-cell

Cel-Sci Corp., of Vienna, Va., entered a co-development agreement with Ergomed, a clinical research organization (CRO), to expand its Phase III study of Multikine (leukocyte interleukin) as an injectable treatment for head and neck cancer...Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, initiated a Phase II trial evaluating PEGPH20 as a first-line therapy for patients with Stage IV metastatic pancreatic cancer

Ceregene Inc., of San Diego, reported top-line data from its double-blind, randomized, controlled Phase IIb study of CERE-120 (AAV-neurturin), a gene therapy designed to deliver the neurotrophic factor neurturin, for Parkinson's disease...Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Dublin, Ohio, said the Journal of Nuclear Medicine published the results from a clinical trial of NAV4694 in healthy subjects and those with diagnosed forms of dementia

AG014 comprises oral delivery of an anti-TNF antibody with proven clinical efficacy in IBD, resulting in local efficacy and an improved safety profile over systemic drugs...MediciNova Inc., of San Diego, said in an SEC filing that it entered an equity distribution agreement with Macquarie Capital Inc. (MCUS) to sell shares of common stock up to an aggregate of $6 million from time to time, through MCUS as sales agent

Otonomy Inc., of San Diego, raised $48.5 million in two funding rounds in 2010...Proceeds will be used to advance its gene therapy product for congestive heart failure into clinical development

The study was carried out to explore previous clinical findings with cabozantinib in castration-resistant prostate cancer patients with bone metastases showing a 67 percent rate of bone scan response and other clinical signs of effect...MEI Pharma Inc., of San Diego, presented data showing the ability of its mitochondrial inhibitor drug candidate, ME-344, to decrease tumor burden and delay recurrence in a preclinical in vivo model of recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

Cardium Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, entered a definitive agreement with a single institutional health care fund managed by Sabby Management LLC, its largest shareholder, for a financing of up to $4 million in gross proceeds...MEI Pharma Inc., of San Diego, priced a public offering of about 2 million shares of common stock at $7.50 apiece, a 9.5 percent discount to Thursday's closing price