Aeterna Zentaris Inc., of Charleston, S.C., said it entered a new at-the-market (ATM) sales agreement related to sales and distributions of up to a maximum of 2.24 million common shares through ATM issuances on Nasdaq, up to an aggregate amount of $6.94 million. Wainwright will act as sales agent for any sales made under the new ATM program, and shares will be sold at market prices prevailing at the time of the sale. The specialty pharma firm recently completed phase III studies. Shares of Aeterna (NASDAQ:AEZS) closed Friday at $3.35, up 30 cents.

Cerecor Inc., of Baltimore, said it closed a $5 million private placement of common stock, series A preferred stock and warrants pursuant to a securities purchase agreement between the company and Armistice Capital. Net proceeds are expected to help prepare for the start of clinical trials for CERC-501 and CERC-611, and for general corporate working capital purposes. Cerecor expects the net proceeds from the offering along with its existing cash resources to last through 2017.

Cormedix Inc., of Bedminster, N.J., said due to demand, the underwriter agreed to increase the size of the offering by 21 percent and purchase 16.2 million shares of common stock, together with tranche 1 warrants to purchase about 12.1 million shares of common stock and tranche 2 warrants to purchase 12.1 million shares of common stock, at a price of 75 cents per share and accompanying warrants. Gross proceeds are expected to total about $12.1 million and will be used for general corporate purposes, such as developing Neutrolin, specifically the LOCK-IT-100 and LOCK-IT-200 clinical trials, and working capital and capital expenditures. H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as sole book-running manager. The company granted the underwriter a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2.4 million shares of common stock and/or warrants to purchase 3.6 million shares of common stock, for potentially additional aggregate gross proceeds of up to about $1.8 million. Shares of Cormedix (NYSE MKT:CRMD) fell 38.5 percent, to close Friday at 64 cents.

Cytrx Corp., of Los Angeles, priced a public offering of about 30 million shares at 50 cents apiece for gross proceeds of roughly $15 million. Net proceeds are anticipated to be about $13.8 million and will be used for working capital and general corporate purposes, including clinical and regulatory activities, new drug discovery activities and possible future strategic transactions. H.C. Wainwright & Co. is acting as exclusive placement agent for the offering, expected to close on or about May 2. Shares of Cytrx (NASDAQ:CYTR) closed Friday at 51 cents, down 18 cents.

Helix Biopharma Corp., of Toronto, said it closed a private placement financing for aggregate gross proceeds of about C$820,000 (US$600,035). Terms call for purchase of units at C$1.20 each. One unit comprises one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Helix plans to use net proceeds for working capital and R&D activities.

Opthea Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said it completed its A$45 million (US$33.7 million) capital raising. Proceeds will enable the acceleration and diversification of the company's clinical development strategy for OPT-302, its VEGF-C/D Trap therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic macular edema. (See BioWorld Today, April 12, 2017.)

Prometic Life Sciences Inc., of Laval, Quebec, said it closed the follow-on investment from Structured Alpha LP, an affiliate of Thomvest Asset Management Inc., consisting of a $25 million loan. Prometic is developing small-molecule drugs targeting fibrosis, cancer and autoimmune diseases and inflammation.

Zymeworks Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, priced its IPO of 4.5 million shares at $13 per share, at the low end of its proposed range, to raise gross proceeds of $58.5 million. The company granted underwriters a 30-day overallotment option to purchase up to an additional 675,000 common shares, which could add another $8.8 million. Zymeworks expects to use the net proceeds to further develop and advance its pipeline of product candidates and to increase its liquidity. The company's lead product, ZW-25, is a bispecific antibody in phase I testing. Citigroup Global Markets Canada Inc., Barclays Capital Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are acting as joint book-running managers, while Canaccord Genuity Corp. is acting as lead manager and Cormark Securities Inc. is acting as co-manager. Shares of Zymeworks (NASDAQ:ZYME) debuted Friday at $13.50 and closed at $13.