• Aerpio Therapeutics Inc., of Cincinnati, closed a $27 million Series A financing led by Novartis BioVentures and joined by Venture Investors LLC, Triathlon Medical Ventures, Kearny Venture Partners, Athenian Venture Partners and AgeChem Venture Fund. The proceeds will support ongoing development of Aerpio's pipeline, including AKB-9778, which is expected to entering Phase Ib/IIa in diabetic macular edema by the end of the year. The first-in-class small molecule works by inhibiting the human protein tyrosine phosphatase ß enzyme, which acts as a negative regulator of the Tie2 receptor. In a Phase I study in healthy volunteers, AKB-9778 was well tolerated through the predicted efficacious dose range, with evidence of on-target pharmacology. Aerpio was created in a spinout transaction from Cincinnati-based Akebia Therapeutics Inc. in December 2011.

• Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners Inc., of Coral Gables, Fla., closed its registered direct offering of 4 million shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 1.2 million shares of common stock, generating gross proceeds of $6 million. Roth Capital Partners acted as the exclusive placement agent.

• MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., said underwriter BofA Merrill Lynch fully exercised its option to purchase an additional 582,088 shares of common stock, bringing the total gross proceeds of its recent public offering to about $59.8 million. Net proceeds of about $56.2 million will be used for general corporate purposes and commercialization activities for Levadex, an orally inhaled investigational drug for treating acute migraine. MAP plans to resubmit the new drug application for Levadex later this year. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 2, 2012.)

• OvaScience Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., filed for an initial public offering, agreeing to sell about 7.6 million shares at a fixed price of $5.50 apiece. The offering is intended to permit holders of the company's shares to resell those shares, and OvaScience will not receive any proceeds from the resale. According to the prospectus, the company has arranged for registered broker-dealer to apply to have its common stock quoted on the OTCBB and OTC Markets – OTCQB tier, or another over-the-counter system. OvaScience is working in the area of in vitro fertilization (IVF), using fresh mitochondria isolated from a woman's own egg precursor cells to rejuvenate a mature egg during IVF and increase the chances of successful pregnancy. (See BioWorld Today, April 6, 2012.)