• GenVec Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., completed a registered direct offering that raised a total of $17 million, and also announced encouraging clinical and preclinical data from its malaria vaccine program. The offering consisted of 11,258,279 shares of common stock and warrants to purchase 2,251,653 additional shares. Merriman Curhan Ford acted as lead placement agent, and Boenning & Scattergood, Inc. acted as co-placement agent. The shares of common stock and warrants were offered in units consisting of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase 0.20 shares of common stock at a per unit price of $1.51. The warrants have a term of five years and an exercise price of $2.016 per share.

• Active Biotech, of Lund, Sweden, has completed a new share increase, boosting its total shares from 3.9 million to 51.2 million. Nordstjernan AB and MGA Holding AB subscribed for their preferential parts of the new issue. In addition, Nordstjernan AB subscribed for an additional 150,087 shares, or 3.8 per cent of the shares issued. That leaves Nordstjernan and MGA holding 15.3 percent and 30 percent respectively of the shares and votes in Active Biotech. The new issue will provide Active Biotech with approximately SEK 157.7 million (US$25.8 million) before expenses.

• Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, said a single institutional investor has agreed to purchase, for $23 million, newly issued 15 percent convertible senior notes due in 2011, with an initial conversion price of 79-cents per share, and a warrant to purchase approximately 14.6 million shares of common stock with an exercise price of 95-cents per share. The transaction is a partial exercise of a previously granted warrant right for the investor to purchase up to $67.5 million of securities. The company said it intends to use approximately $11 million of the net proceeds from this transaction to retire upon maturity the remaining balance of its 2008 convertible notes due June 15, together with accrued interest.