• AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., obtained institutional investor commitments to purchase approximately $10 million of common stock in a private placement. The company will sell 2.9 million shares of common stock and warrants to purchase up to 2.6 million additional shares. Each unit, consisting of one share of common stock and one warrant to purchase 0.9 shares of common stock, will be sold for $3.40 to nonaffiliated investors and for about $3.51 to affiliated investors. The warrants, which may be exercised six months following the issue date at $3.40 per share, expire in five years. The financing is expected to close this week. Cowen and Co. LLC served as lead placement agent, with JMP Securities serving as co-placement agent. The company, which went public last year in an initial public offering, plans to use proceeds to continue the development of ARX-01 (Sufentanil NanoTab PCA System), its lead candidate, in treating postoperative pain. On Wednesday, shares of AcelRx (NASDAQ:ACRX) fell 10 percent, closing at $3.06. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 14, 2011.)

• Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners Inc., of Coral Gables, Fla., said it closed its offering of 6 million units, each unit consisting of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase one share, priced at 80 cents apiece. The firm expects net proceeds of about $4 million, which will fund activities for submitting a new drug application and preparing commercial launch for GABA aminotransferase inhibitor CPP-109 in cocaine addiction, as well as support manufacturing for CPP-115 and for general corporate purposes.

• Trovagene Inc., of San Diego, priced an underwritten public offering of about 1.15 million units at $8 each, for $9.2 million in gross proceeds. Trovagene granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 172,500 units to cover overallotments. Each unit consisted of two shares of common stock and one warrant to purchase an additional share. Each warrant may be exercised at $5.32 per share on the earlier of the exercise of the underwriters' overallotment option or 45 days from the date of the prospectus. Aegis Capital Corp. acted as sole book-running manager, with Summer Street Research Partners and Brean Murray, Carret & Co. LLC acting as co-managers. In connection with the offering, Trovagene completed a 1-for-6 reverse stock split, effective for trading purposes on May 30. Trovagene also said that, effective May 30, its common stock ceased trading on the OTCQB and began trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "TROV."