Three months after announcing a restructuring plan to focus only on molecular diagnostics and proteomics, Celera Genomics Group sold several small-molecule drug candidates to Pharmacyclics Inc. in a deal worth up to $150 million in up-front, equity and milestone payments.

"We just had a lot of things that were going on," said David Speechly, Celera's senior director of investor relations and corporate communications, who added that the company was happy with the progress of each program but wanted to focus on "our highest-growth opportunities."

In January, Rockville, Md.-based Celera made the decision to sell its therapeutic products.

The deal with Pharmacyclics, of Sunnyvale, Calif., includes an HDAC inhibitor in Phase I trials for refractory solid tumors; an HDAC-8 selective inhibitor in preclinical development to treat cancer; a Factor VIIa inhibitor targeting a tumor signaling pathway involved in angiogenesis, tumor cell growth and metastases, and with potential applications in anticoagulation and cardiology; and B-cell-associated tyrosine kinase inhibitors that could be used in lymphoma and autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Pharmacyclics made the acquisition "to acquire a deep pipeline of novel oncology products," said Geoff Cooper, the company's senior vice president of business development.

Terms of the agreement include a $2 million up-front cash payment and an equity payment of between 500,000 shares and 1 million shares of Pharmacyclics, worth between $2.3 million and $4.6 million. The company's stock (NASDAQ:PCYC) rose 11 cents on Monday, to close at $4.61.

Celera's stock (NYSE:CRA) gained 2 cents, to close at $11.14.

Milestone payments of up to $144 million also could come to Celera based on certain development achievements and regulatory approval in key markets.

"Each of the programs would have to succeed to achieve all of the milestones," Cooper told BioWorld Today.

In addition, Celera will be entitled to mid- to high-single-digit royalties based on annual sales of any drugs commercialized from the programs, which do not encompass Celera's entire therapeutics portfolio.

"We have a number of others," including a Phase I program for psoriasis, "that are in ongoing [discussions] in terms of either being partnered or sold," Speechly said.

The new products at Pharmacyclics will augment the company's oncology portfolio, which already consists of Xcytrin, a product that has completed a Phase III program to treat lung cancer patients with brain metastases. It failed in its second Phase III trial in December, missing its primary endpoint. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 20, 2005.)

The company currently is meeting with the FDA to determine a path forward, and further data will be presented in June at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting. Xcytrin also is in several Phase I and Phase II trials in a range of cancers.

Pharmacyclics has one other pipeline product for which it is seeking a partner. Antrin (motexafin lutetium) is in Phase II trials for coronary artery disease.

Isis Raises $75M For Cholesterol Drug

Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., secured a $75 million financing to fund development of its cholesterol-lowering drug, ISIS 301012, as well as two other drugs from its metabolic disease program.

The money comes from Symphony Capital Partners LP, of New York, and a group of co-investors. It will support development of ISIS 301012 through the completion of pivotal studies in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia and through Phase IIb trials in patients with high cholesterol.

It also will cover development of two diabetes drugs through initial proof-of-concept trials.

Under terms of the deal with Symphony, Isis has granted a license to the intellectual property for the three programs to the newly formed Symphony GenIsis Inc., but retains the exclusive right to reacquire the IP through a buyout of GenIsis.

The arrangement "represents an attractive alternative to partnering," said Isis' executive vice president and chief financial officer Lynne Parshall. It allows the company to keep control over the drugs and provides for the opportunity to re-acquire the IP rights "without residual royalty obligations."

He said he believes the financing "is less dilutive than any alternatives available to us."

Isis' stock (NASDAQ:ISIS) dropped 75 cents on Monday, to close at $7.88.

Perlegen Files For $115M IPO

Filing the largest initial public offering this year, Perlegen Sciences Inc. said it plans to raise $115 million to develop its targeted medicine candidates and to acquire other products.

The company expects to list its stock on the Nasdaq National Market under the symbol "PERL." Underwriters include Lehman Brothers Inc. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., both of New York, and Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray & Co., along with Allen & Co. LLC.

In its SEC filing, Mountain View, Calif.-based Perlegen said it would spend about $65 million on its existing candidates and use $25 million of the proceeds to acquire and develop other drugs. The balance would be used for genetics research and development, working capital and other general corporate purposes.

As of Dec. 31, the company had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $106.8 million. With a successful IPO, it should have enough money to carry it through the next two to three years.

Perlegen develops genetically targeted medicines for metabolic, cardiovascular, central nervous system and inflammatory diseases by screening millions of single nucleotide polymorphisms across the entire genome to match specific patterns with drug response. Its pipeline consists of candidates addressing Type II diabetes and dyslipidemia. Each has demonstrated safety and efficacy in Phase II or later clinical trials.

The company has entered into collaborations with eight pharmaceutical companies, including New York-based Pfizer Inc. and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly & Co., as well as academic and governmental organizations. The collaborations had generated about $69 million in revenue to Perlegen through Dec. 31.

With Perlegen's filing, there are currently 13 pending IPOs. Replidyne Inc., of Louisville, Colo., filed earlier this month for a $100 million IPO, making it the second highest one pending after Perlegen.

In other news:

• Adventrx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of SD Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif. Adventrx will issue about 2.1 million shares, currently worth about $10 million. The merger has been approved by boards of both companies and by the stockholders of SD Pharma. Andrew Chen, a co-founder of SD Pharma, will continue to collaborate with Adventrx as a consultant. The merger would give Adventrx worldwide intellectual property rights to eight oncology and infectious disease product candidates, including ex-U.S. rights to SDP-012 (ANX-530, vinorelbine emulsion). Adventrx licensed U.S. development and marketing rights to the product from SD Pharma last October. Other candidates are based on a nano-emulsion technology, developed by Chen, for both soluble and insoluble parenteral drugs. The technology is designed to enable the delivery of vein-irritating or difficult-to-dissolve drugs without excipient-induced adverse effects.

• Affitech A/S, of Oslo, Norway, raised NOK86 million (US$13 million) in a private placement to cover preclinical development of several oncology therapeutic antibody candidates and to accelerate selection of some of them for clinical studies. The company discovered the candidates with its Cell Based Antibody Selection technology. Participants in the round included Teknoinvest, Ferd Venture, Four Seasons Venture, Braganza A/S and Arendals Fossekompani. Separately, Affitech said it renewed an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with DKFZ (German Cancer Research Center) of Heidelberg, Germany, for the antibody library display patents known as the "Breitling" intellectual property family.

• Allergy Therapeutics plc, of Worthing, UK, said it placed £19 million (US$33 million) worth of ordinary shares to fund the Phase III development of its lead allergy vaccine, Pollinex Quattro. The product is a group of ultra-short course allergy vaccinations to treat allergies to grass, tree and ragweed pollens and Japanese cedar.