A big pharma partner could ease some of the pressure on Vivus...The funds will be used to advance Theraclone's clinical programs and support its I-STAR technology platform.

Another $406 million could come in the form of clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, and Enanta would be eligible for tiered, double-digit royalties and a U.S...and London-based GW Pharma plc, which is seeking a Nasdaq listing and a capital raise. (See BioWorld Today, March 11, 2013, March 12, 2013, and March 20, 2013.) In other financings news...Net proceeds are expected to support clinical trial costs and acquisition of manufacturing equipment, leasehold improvements and general corporate

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

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said researchers from the Clinical Trial Service Unit at Oxford University presented results from the HPS2-THRIVE (Heart Protection Study 2-Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events) study of Tredaptive (extended-release niacin/laropiprant) during the late-breaking clinical trial session at the American College of Cardiology 62nd Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco...Findings were presented during the late-breaking clinical trial session

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

The company plans to use proceeds from the offering to complete clinical development of Ravicti in hepatic encephalopathy (HE) and to fund post-approval studies in UCD...Hyperion gained rights to Ravicti from Ucyclyd Pharma Inc., a subsidiary of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp...at the same unit price.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Ridgefield, Conn., part of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, reported the first interim results in HCV/HIV co-infected patients from the company's ongoing hepatitis C (HCV) clinical trial program, HCVerso...Polyphor Ltd., of Allschwil, Switzerland, completed a Phase I trial demonstrating the clinical safety and tolerability of its Pseudomonas-specific antibiotic POL7080...The study compared the efficacy and safety of once-weekly Milprosa to daily 8 percent

Targeted Medical Pharma Inc., of Los Angeles, said results from an open-label study of oral amino acid-based erythrocyte stimulating system (ESS) for the treatment of chronic anemia showed that hemoglobin increased an average of 11.39 percent from baseline measurement to 45 days...Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said VX-787 in a Phase II influenza challenge study resulted in statistically significant improvements in viral and clinical measurements of infection...Also, 93 percent of

The volasertib clinical development program is the company's most advanced in cell cycle inhibition

Dezima Pharma BV, of Naarden, the Netherlands, said it raised €14.2 million (US$18.6 million) for the clinical development of its cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor, DEZ-001 (previously TA-8995), and to develop additional earlier-stage dyslipidemia assets...It will use the proceeds to advance its opthalmic programs through clinical proof of concept

Antisense Pharma GmbH, of Regensburg, Germany, revised its business objectives related to the advancement of its next-generation TGF-beta inhibitor oligonucleotide program...In conjunction with the changes in its clinical program, the company said it reduced its work force by 50 percent and outsourced noncritical research and development functions...Kiadis Pharma BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, said it received a No Objection Letter from Canadian regulators to proceed with a Phase II study testing

Competitors in atopic dermatitis include Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., Oculus Innovtive Sciences and LEO Pharma A/S...Atopic dermatitis was also part of a recent set of collaborations between LEO Pharma A/S and institutions in Australia, France, Germany and the U.S., including the International Institute of Dermatology and Allergy with Charité University of Medicine in Berlin...The company is planning to begin clinical studies in the first half of 2014

Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd., of Hong Kong, said pinoxacin hydrochloride received approval for clinical studies from the State Food and Drug Administration

Amicus Therapeutics Inc., of Cranbury, N.J., reported positive results from clinical and preclinical studies of the pharmacological chaperone AT2220 (duvoglustat HCl) in combination with ERT for Pompe disease at the Lysosomal Disease Network World Symposium...Based on those results, the company plans to initiate a repeat-dose clinical study in the third quarter of 2013 to evaluate an intravenous formulation of AT2220 co-administered with Myozyme/Lumizyme...BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, said the FDA

The data, from the latest pre-specified interim analysis of the study, were presented at the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology Genitourinary Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Fla

Two posters feature clinical data of PROSTVAC evaluated as monotherapy or in combination with a radiopharmaceutical...The preliminary results from the studies supported the further clinical investigation in patients suffering from advanced prostate cancer, the company said...BHR Pharma LLC, of Herndon, Va., said the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted an orphan medicinal product designation for treating moderate and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) to its intravenous progesterone infusion agent