• Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, priced its offering of $850 million aggregate principal amount of 6.25 percent senior notes due 2021 by its wholly owned subsidiaries, Elan Finance public limited co. and Elan Finance Corp. Net proceeds of the offering, set to close May 31, will be deposited into escrow pending the closing of Elan's previously announced royalty participation transaction with South San Francisco-based Theravance Inc. Earlier this month, Elan offered $1 billion in cash to buy a 21 percent stake in Theravance's future royalty stream from the respiratory disease franchise it shares with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London. Upon release of the proceeds, Elan intends to use the funds for general corporate purposes, including working capital requirements, capital expenditures, acquisitions and share repurchases. In related news, Royalty Pharma announced acceptance levels from its original offer for Elan – the offer was revised May 23 to $12.50 per share, which Elan's board continued to reject. As of 8 p.m. ET on May 23, Royalty Pharma had received valid acceptances of the offer in respect of 67,814 shares, representing about 0.01 percent of the maximum Elan shares affected and about 0.01 percent of the issued share capital of Elan. (See BioWorld Today, May 22, 2013.)

• PledPharma AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said its rights issue was oversubscribed by 38 percent, and the firm will receive about SEK18.6 million (US$2.8 million) before issue costs. The rights issue was subscribed to about 95 percent with preferential rights, while the remaining 5 percent were subscribed without preferential rights. Proceeds will be used to expand the PLIANT study testing PledOx (calmangafodipir), a compound designed to prevent the side effects of chemotherapy and position the firm for partnering discussions.