Akcea Therapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it closed its IPO of 17.96 million shares of common stock at $8 per share, including 2.34 million shares issued upon full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares. The gross proceeds from the offering were $143.8 million. In addition, Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG purchased $50 million of Akcea's common stock in a separate private placement concurrent with the completion of the IPO. The company's therapeutic candidates – volanesorsen, AKCEA-APO(a)-LRx, AKCEA-APOCIII-LRx and AKCEA-ANGPTL3-LRx – are based on antisense technology developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif. Akcea's common stock is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol AKCA. (See BioWorld, July 17, 2017.)

Aspyrian Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, said it closed on $15.1 million as part of a series B-1 financing round, which is expected to reach about $19 million. The financing will support clinical development of antibody conjugate RM-1929 in recurrent head and neck cancer as well as other cancer areas. Development activities include initiating phase I trials in Japan this year, completion of the ongoing phase II study in the U.S., initiation of a global registration clinical trial in the first half of 2018, and CMC manufacturing processes to support the launch and commercialization of RM-1929, a conjugate of cetuximab and IRDye 700DX, which targets the epidermal growth factor receptor.

Contrafect Corp., of Yonkers, N.Y., said it priced its underwritten public offering of 32 million shares of common stock and related warrants to purchase 16 million shares of common stock with an exercise price of $1.55 per share at a combined public offering price of $1.25 per share and related warrant. The gross proceeds from the offering will be $40 million. Shares of Contrafect (NASDAQ:CFRX) closed Thursday at $1.35, down 10 cents.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., said it priced an underwritten public offering of 12.5 million shares of its common stock at $6 per share for gross proceeds of $75 million. In addition, the company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.875 million additional shares of its common stock on the same terms and conditions. The net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes. Shares of Inovio (NASDAQ:INO) fell 77 cents, or 11.4 percent, to close Thursday at $6.01.

Kala Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, Mass., said it priced its IPO of 6 million shares of common stock at $15 per share, for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $90 million. In addition, the company granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 900,000 additional shares of common stock at the public offering price. The company is focused on the development and commercialization of two phase III product candidates, KPI-121 1 percent for the treatment of inflammation and pain following ocular surgery and KPI-121 0.25 percent for the temporary relief of the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease using its mucus-penetrating particle technology. Kala's common stock began trading on Nasdaq under the symbol KALA and closed Thursday at $18.49.

Marinomed Biotech AG, of Vienna, said it raised €7 million (US$8.1 million) by issuing a convertible bond on the Vienna Stock Exchange. The company plans to use the funds to validate its Marinosolv technology platform in a clinical setting. Marinosolv enables the production of stable aqueous solutions from poorly soluble organic molecules like corticosteroids. That means that those active components can be made available to the body faster and more efficiently for therapeutic use. The convertible bond is scheduled to mature in 2021 and the company will pay a coupon of 4 percent. In the event of a public offering by the company, the investors will have the right to convert the bond to shares.

Neurovia Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it closed a series A financing round of $14 million co-led by Novartis Venture Fund and Sanofi-Genzyme Bioventures and included investments from Biomed Ventures and Enso Ventures. The funding will support the advance of the company's lead candidate, NV-1205, into a clinical proof-of-concept development program in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy, or X-ALD, which is characterized by elevated levels of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) in various tissues due to any of a number of loss-of-function mutations in the ABCD1 gene. NV-1205 has showed the ability to reduce levels of VLCFAs in brain, adrenal tissue and blood of mice lacking a functioning ABCD1 gene.

Promis Neurosciences Inc., of Toronto, said it entered an agreement with Mackie Research Capital Corp. to offer, on a private placement basis, up to 12 million units at C25 cents per unit for proceeds of up to C$3 million ($2.38 million). Each unit will consist of one common share of the company and one-half of one share purchase warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one share at an exercise price of C30 cents. Net proceeds from the offering are intended to be used for working capital and general corporate purposes.

Regulus Therapeutics Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., said it priced an underwritten public offering of 44 million shares of its common stock at 91 cents each. The company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 6.6 million shares of common stock. The net proceeds, excluding any exercise by the underwriters of their 30-day option to purchase additional shares, are expected to be approximately $37.3 million, which Regulus intends to use to fund clinical development of RG-012 and RGLS-4326, development of its earlier microRNA development candidates and programs, for the identification and validation of additional microRNA targets, and for capital expenditures, working capital and general corporate purposes. Shares of Regulus (NASDAQ:RGLS) closed Thursday at 88 cents, down 8 cents.