• Marina Biotech Inc., of Bothell, Wash., entered a securities purchase agreement with investors to sell up to $8.7 million in common stock. The company will immediately sell approximately 1.8 million shares of its common stock at $1.84 per share in an initial financing with gross proceeds of $3.3 million. The price represents a 9.4 percent discount to the previous day's close. Investors also will receive a subscription unit to purchase up to an additional 2.4 million shares at any time up to 16 months after the initial closing at no greater than $2.21 per share. That portion of the sale could yield as much as $5.4 million in gross proceeds. LifeTech Capital, a division of Aurora Capital LLC, acted as placement agent. Marina Biotech said it anticipates using a portion of the net proceeds to fund development of its recently acquired compound for familial adenomatous polyposis, pre-IND expenses associated with preclinical programs in bladder and liver cancer, and research and development expenses associated with the company's RNAi drug discovery platform. Shares (NASDAQ:MRNA) lost 9 cents, to close at $1.94 on Friday.

• PDL BioPharma Inc., of Incline Village, Nev., completed the exchange of $92 million in aggregate principal of the company's outstanding 2 percent convertible senior notes due Feb. 15, 2012, in separate, privately negotiated exchange transactions. Note holders received $92 million in aggregate principal of new 2.875 percent convertible senior notes due Feb. 15, 2015. The company also placed an additional $88 million in aggregate principal of the 2015 notes. Following the exchange transactions, $136 million of the 2012 notes remain outstanding. The conversion rate for the 2015 notes is 140.571 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of the 2015 notes or $7.11 per share of common stock. The company's stock (NASDAQ:NPSP) lost 2 cents, to close at $6.69 on Friday.

• Sernova Corp., of London, Ontario, completed a non-brokered private placement of 6,666,667 units at a price of C15 cents per unit raising gross proceeds of C$1 million (US$998,861). The placement was previously announced on Oct. 18 as an offering of as much as C$750,000 and was increased by C$250,000 to accommodate oversubscriptions. Each unit issued consisted of one common share of the company and one-half of a share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant entitles the holder to acquire one share at a price of C20 cents for a period of 24 months. Proceeds will be used to fund ongoing development of Sernova's Cell Pouch System, including cGMP manufacturing, preclinical studies required by regulatory authorities to support a future Phase I/II study of insulin-dependent diabetes and for general working capital.

• Zogenix Inc., of San Diego, set terms for its proposed initial public offering (IPO), aiming to sell 6 million shares of common stock priced between $12 and $14 per share. At the midpoint price, net proceeds from the offering are expected to total about $70.4 million, or $81.3 million if underwriters exercise the full overallotment option. Funds would be used to support Phase III trials of ZX002, a controlled-release formulation of hydrocodone. Zogenix filed for the IPO in September.