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

BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, reported the International Independent Board of Experts' data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) again recommended continuing the ReLive Phase III trial without modification...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

Eisai Inc., of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., said antiepileptic drug Fycompa (perampanel) showed a clear therapeutic benefit in difficult-to-treat patients with partial epilepsy, according to two new analyses of early clinical experience

clinical development plan and financial terms relating to ISIS-TTRRx to reflect an accelerated development plan for that antisense drug...Isis has 28 candidates in preclinical and clinical development across a wide variety of indications, with nine scheduled to report data in the next 12 months

The study, dubbed Gammaglobulin Alzheimer's Partnership, was conducted in collaboration with the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study, a clinical trial consortium supported by the National Institute on Aging

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.

Critics of the firm, too, have pointed to the lack of a big pharma partner to expand Qsymia's reach. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 23, 2012.) Lief said Belviq already has picked up some momentum...The drug was included in a recent diabetes management report from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists

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...That's the sweet spot for a number of pharma companies...ERYtech Pharma SA, of Lyon, France, has had its prospectus accepted for a proposed initial public offering on the NYSE Euronext exchange in Paris

clinical trials, for SMD and dry age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD...BHR Pharma LLC, of Herndon, Va., said the 1,000th patient has been enrolled in its SyNAPSe clinical trial, a global Phase III study evaluating the effectiveness of its intravenous progesterone infusion agent, BHR-100, to treat severe traumatic brain injury (TBI...BHR Pharma is sponsoring SyNAPSe with the intent to bring the first-ever approved TBI treatment to market

Last month, it inked a deal with AbbVie, of Chicago, giving the big pharma firm an option to RPC4046 following the Phase II proof-of-concept trial in EoE...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...Funds will be used to progress the clinical development program for lead candidate, Pracinostat, its oral histone deacetylase inhibitor for advanced hematologic malignancies, and for

Array BioPharma Inc., of Boulder, Colo., reported clinical data at the International Myeloma Workshop in Kyoto, Japan, showing that ARRY-520, a selective KSP inhibitor, demonstrated single-agent activity in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, with 19 months median overall survival and a 16 percent overall response rate...Cerulean Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., will present Phase II data for investigational nanopharmaceutical product CRLX101 at the American

Erytech Pharma SA, of Lyon, France, said it received clearance of its investigational new drug application for a Phase I trial of Eryasp (L-asparagainase-loaded erythrocytes) in patients 40 years and older with newly diagnosed acute lymphoblastic leukemia...Novavax Inc., of Rockville, Md., said top-line data from its Phase II dose-ranging study testing its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidate in women of childbearing age hit its protocol-specified objectives, supporting progression

The financing included both new and existing institutional investors, including Essex Woodlands, NovaQuest Pharma Opportunities Fund, Delphi Ventures, Vivo Ventures, Technology Partners, Shepherd Ventures, Bio*One Capital, Pac-Link Ventures and Palo Alto Fund...The latest round is expected to support ongoing clinical development of lead candidate, LiRIS (lidocaine releasing intravesical system), in development for patients with interstitial cystitis.

Acasti Pharma Inc., of Laval, Quebec, a subsidiary of Neptune Technologies & Bioressources Inc., reported preliminary data from a randomized, open-label, dose-ranging, multicenter trial assessing the safety and efficacy of NKPL66, or CaPre, in mild-to-high hypertriglyceridemia...The NX03-0040 prostate cancer clinical study of 150 men is testing low (2.5 mg) and high (15 mg) single doses of NX-1207 for the effect to eradicate or shrink low-grade localized prostate cancer tumors

Secondary objectives of the trial include clinical activity by serum TTR levels...For the Uceris 9-mg group, 17.4 percent of patients achieved clinical and endoscopic remission, compared to 4.5 percent of the placebo group (p = 0.0047...Virobay Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., and Leo Pharma A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, achieved a milestone in their collaboration on development of an oral therapy for psoriasis upon initiation of a Phase I trial of VBY-891 by Virobay

The study design calls for the collection of 5,250 clinical endpoints, and Merck remains blinded to the actual results of the analysis and to other safety and efficacy data

Janssen and partner Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, will enroll patients into five global clinical trials, which will involve a total of 28,850 patients

Zealand Pharma A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, disclosed in a pipeline update that it plans to advance danegaptide into a single site clinical efficacy study to further profile the peptide drug in cardio protection