Despite losing a potentially lucrative FLT3 inhibitor partnership with Astellas Pharma Inc...for $1.3 billion in 2004, began its second life when the big pharma spun out the firm and lead asset ETC-1002 in 2008. (See BioWorld Today, May 2, 2008.) It raised $22.8 million in a Series A round and recently added $33 million in a preferred stock deal...Proceeds would be used to fund clinical trials, R&D for additional alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) indications, expanding distribution capabilities for

Proceeds will be used to fund ongoing and new clinical trials and development and commercialization efforts for pimavanserin, as well as activities for other product candidates and for general corporate purposes...Kite Pharma Inc., of Los Angeles, said it closed a $20 million private placement of shares of its Series A preferred stock...Receptos will use the proceeds to support clinical work in multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease and allergic/immune-mediate disorders. (See BioWorld Today

shored up its balance sheet in a $36 million private offering to advance pipeline work, including planned clinical trials of ARC-520, an RNAi-based drug in chronic HBV infection...The firm also has programs in two big pharma partnerships...Shares of Supernus (NASDAQ:SUPN) lost 3 cents Monday to close at $5.12.

Clinical Cancer Research included a paper that suggested the compound, ENMD-2076, acts potently against breast cancer cell lines that lack expression of the estrogen and progesterone receptors, while also lacking HER2 amplification, i.e., TNBC...Medicago Inc., of Quebec City, said it gained a $15 million loan from an undisclosed pharma company...The company also granted the initial purchasers a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $10 million in aggregate principal amount of the notes on the

Arno is conducting clinical and preclinical studies of three drug candidates to treat a variety of cancers...MEI Pharma Inc., of San Diego, completed a private placement of common stock and warrants in a financing led by new investors Vivo Ventures and New Leaf Venture Partners...NeRRe Therapeutics Ltd., of London, raised £11.5 million (US$18.4 million) to develop a portfolio of clinical and preclinical neurokinin receptor antagonists divested from GlaxoSmithKline plc, also of London. #kicker123

Vascular Pharma will receive an up-front payment and milestone payments in exchange for the acquisition rights...Vascular Pharma expects its funding to last through completion of Phase II, getting the company to the point where Janssen may exercise its option...Pharma giants Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, and Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, have thrown their hats into the ring, as well

and NewLink Genetics Corp., if not boasting approved products like Horizon Pharma Inc...Following the exchange, BioSante said an aggregate of $15.8 million principal amount of the notes will remain outstanding. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 16, 2011

True, there has been only one pricing since the spring – specialty pharma firm's Horizon Pharma Inc.'s $49.5 million offering in July – but the fact that a couple of other platform biotechs have jumped in the queue – Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc...Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Rockville, Md., said underwriter Citigroup exercised the full option for an additional $64.5 million principal amount of its convertible senior notes due 2018, in connection with its public offering of notes earlier this

Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., of Chadds Ford, Pa., priced $500 million aggregate principal amount of 7 percent senior unsecured notes due 2019 at an issue price of par and $400 million aggregate principal amount of 7.25 percent senior unsecured notes due 2022 at an issue price of par in connection with its previously disclosed public offering

VistaGen's platform, known as Human Clinical Trials in a Test Tube, actually combines several stem cell technologies, including those developed by Gordon Keller, who heads up VistaGen's scientific advisory board and works out of a lab at the University Health Network's McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto...It also has a clinical-stage candidate, AV-101, an oral prodrug designed to convert in the brain into active metabolite 7-chlorokynurenic acid, an agonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate

And Danish biotech Zealand Pharma A/S pulled in about $67.9 million later in the year in a scaled-back offering. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 24, 3010.) Besides Philogen and Kancera, this year's only other ex-U.S. IPO so far has come from Israeli firm RedHill Biopharma Ltd., which completed its offering for listing on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange earlier this week, raising NIS51.6 million (US$13.6 million...The specialty pharma company, which previously hoped to sell 5.77 million shares between $12

The drug will be dosed in combination with Tarceba (erlotinib, Astellas Pharma and Roche AG) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a primary endpoint of overall survival and secondary endpoints including overall survival in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor wild type and progression-free survival...The two companies share equally the cost of Phase II and Phase III clinical studies...ArQule's clinical pipeline additionally includes ARQ 621

BioWorld Today Contributing Writer Clavis Pharma ASA raised $25.7 million in a private placement of 4.4 million new shares, at NOK35 per share (US$5.84), a sum that will carry the firm for two years...Other activities to be funded include preclinical proof of concept and early clinical development of CP-4200 and companion diagnostic development for hENT1 (human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 1) biomarkers...Tranche 2, of 2.285 million new shares, will be subject to approval by an extraordinary

Assistant Managing Editor Knowing it would need to raise additional cash this year, nanopharmaceutical firm Cerulean Pharma Inc...Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., of Chadds Ford, Pa., disclosed a private offering of $400 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2020

The pharma firm will cover all development and sales costs, while OncoGenex banked $20 million up front, a $10 million equity investment and could receive up to $370 million in milestones plus tiered royalties in the largely back-end-loaded deal. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 22, 2009.) Nearly all of investors' focus on OncoGenex has been in prostate cancer program, due to the promising midstage data and the overall excitement in the prostate cancer space following this year's approval of Dendreon

Bioniche Pharma's lead product Urocidin for bladder cancer is currently in clinical trials. (See BioWorld Today, July 16, 2010.)

Sunesis in-licensed voreloxin from Japan's Dainippon Pharmaceutical Co. (now part of Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. Ltd.), which had chemically manipulated the molecule to target rapidly dividing cancer cells...A Phase II single agent clinical trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer has also completed enrollment...Rodman & Renshaw, LLC acted as the exclusive placement agent for this transaction.

Noxxon Pharma AG, of Berlin, closed a €33 million (US$40.8 million) Series D round led by new investor NGN Capital, with participation from existing investors TVM Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Seventure Partners, VC Fonds Technologie Berlin GmbH, Dow Venture Capital, FCP OP Medical BioHealth-Trends, IBG Beteiligungsgesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt mgH, the Dieckell Group and others...Funds will be used to support ongoing preclinical and clinical work on the firm

Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, entered agreements to exchange up to 60 million shares of common stock for up to $30 million aggregate outstanding principal amount of its 4 percent convertible senior subordinated notes due 2010...DARA has two clinical-stage candidates: KRN5500, which is in Phase II for neuropathic pain in cancer patients, and DB959, a dual PPAR delta/gamma agonist in Phase I development for Type II diabetes...Shares of DARA (NASDAQ:DARAD) fell 55 cents, or 12 percent, to close