Financings

Aridis Pharmaceuticals Inc. priced an IPO of 2 million shares at $13, raising $26 million.

Blueberry Therapeutics Ltd. completed a £10 million (US$12.7 million) series B fundraising.

Ironshore Pharmaceuticals & Development Inc., a subsidiary of Highland Therapeutics Inc., is raising about $143 million in a private placement of senior secured notes.

Lacerta Therapeutics Inc. closed a $30 million investment round wholly funded by Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.

Magnolia Neurosciences Corp. launched with a $31 million series A financing.

Orchard Therapeutics Ltd. closed an oversubscribed $150 million series C round.

Regenxbio Inc. closed its public offering with gross proceeds expected to be about $201.8 million.

Deals

Biontech AG signed a potential $425 million plus royalties collaboration agreement with Pfizer Inc.

Cleveland Biolabs Inc. created Genome Protection Inc., a new joint venture formed with Everon Biosciences Inc. to develop and commercialize drugs for anti-aging applications.

Emalex Biosciences Inc. acquired Psyadon Pharmaceuticals Inc., gaining exclusive rights to develop, register and market ecopipam, a new chemical entity with orphan drug designation for the treatment of pediatric Tourette syndrome.

Evotec AG and Haplogen GmbH signed a multiyear drug discovery and development collaboration with Bayer AG to identify new therapeutics with applications in pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals’ Sucampo AG subsidiary obtained exclusive North American commercialization rights to its lead candidate, CPP-1X/sul, in exchange for a $5 million license fee and up to $170 million in milestones.

Leadiant Biosciences Inc. entered a license agreement and cooperative research and development agreement with the NIH to develop oral N-acetyl-D-mannosamine for the potential treatment of individuals with GNE myopathy, a rare genetic disorder that causes progressive skeletal muscle atrophy.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is collaborating with Profectus Biosciences Inc. and Emergent Biosolutions Inc. under which they will receive up to $36 million to advance the development and manufacture of a vaccine against the Lassa virus.

Sutro Biopharma Inc. and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society are partnering to develop STRO-001, Sutro’s CD74-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, to treat relapsed and/or refractory multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

. . . And More

Amicus Therapeutics Inc. set an initial U.S. list price of $315,000 for newly FDA-approved oral Fabry disease drug Galafold (migalastat).

The FDA accepted for filing Motif Bio plc’s NDA for gram-positive antibiotic iclaprim, setting a PDUFA date of Feb. 13, 2019.

Pain Therapeutics Inc. said the NIH awarded the company a $3.2 million clinical research grant to support a phase II study with PTI-125, the company’s drug candidate to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Realm Therapeutics plc said top-line data from its phase II trial in atopic dermatitis showed PR-022 performed no different than placebo, compared to baseline.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. received an FDA complete response letter to its supplemental BLA seeking a modified, 12-week dosing schedule for Eylea (aflibercept).

SAB Biotherapeutics Inc. said its Ebola immunotherapy, SAB-139, provided 100 percent protection against a lethal dose of the Ebola virus in a recent animal study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. gained FDA approval for the first generic version of Epipen and Epipen Jr (epinephrine) auto-injector for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions.

The EMA said it expects to lose a third of its 890 staff when it relocates from London to Amsterdam, which will force the agency to scale back and suspend operations to safeguard core activities.