By Brady Huggett

Staff Writer

Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc. successfully concluded its offering of common stock under its shelf registration, selling 2.6 million shares for net proceeds of about $45 million.

Guilford said it would use the proceeds to fund operating costs, capital expenditures and working capital needs, and other general purposes. It had about 24 million shares outstanding as of Jan. 3, and about $117 million in cash, cash equivalents and investments as of Sept. 30.

It has a transaction pending, scheduled to take place at some point this week, to sell an additional 411,000 shares of common stock to a small number of institutional investors for an aggregate price of approximately $7 million. Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc., of Baltimore, and Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc., of New York, acted as placement agents in connection with the sale of portions of these shares.

Guilford, of Baltimore, develops products for targeted and controlled drug delivery systems using proprietary biodegradable polymers for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. It also develops products for the treatment and prevention of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, stroke, severe head trauma, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathies and cocaine addiction.

Near the end of November, Guilford filed a shelf registration statement covering 3.5 million shares, seeking about $77 million. Following the settlement of current pending transactions, Guilford intends to file a post-effective amendment to withdraw its shelf registration statement. At the time of registration, the funds were said to be, at least in part, for the commercialization of its recently re-acquired Gliadel Wafer. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 21, 2000.)

Guilford acquired commercial rights for Gliadel Wafer, a biopolymer product for treatment of recurrent primary malignant brain cancer, from Aventis Pharma, the pharmaceutical arm of Aventis SA, of Frankfurt, Germany, in October. Gliadel Wafer is a small, white dime-sized wafer comprised of a biodegradable polymer incorporating the chemotherapeutic agent BCNU (carmustine). (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 25, 2000.)

Guilford's stock (NASDAQ:GLFD) rose $1.437 Tuesday, or about 8 percent, to close at $19.