Advaxis Inc., of Princeton, N.J., agreed to sell approximately 2.2 million common shares at $13.50 apiece in a registered direct offering, generating gross proceeds of approximately $30 million. The offering price represented an 8.8 percent discount to the stock's (NASDAQ:ADXS) closing price of $14.81 on Monday, Aug. 15. The company did not disclose specific use of proceeds. Jefferies LLC and Barclays Capital Inc. are lead placement agents, with Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Guggenheim Securities LLC as co-placement agents. Earlier this month, Advaxis granted global rights to its preclinical cancer immunotherapy, ADXS-NEO, to Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., for up to $540 million. On Tuesday, the company's shares closed at $14.06 for a loss of 75 cents. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 3, 2016.)

Arno Therapeutics Inc., of Flemington, N.J., completed a private placement of its common shares and warrants to purchase additional shares for gross proceeds of approximately $2.8 million. Pricing was not disclosed. The financing was led by the company's existing investors, including affiliates of its chairman, Arie Belldegrun, along with Miami-based Opko Health Inc., Commercial Street Capital LLC, Pontifax, Bonderman Family Limited Partnership, Perceptive Advisors LLC and Auriga Capital Management. Arno said proceeds will fund ongoing development of lead candidate, onapristone. On Tuesday, the company's shares (OTCQB:ARNI) closed at 62 cents for a loss of 7 cents.

Oculis ehf, of Reykjavik, Iceland, closed a series A financing led by Brunnur Ventures and Silfurberg. The company did not disclose the amount of the round, designed to support continued development of its solubilizing nanoparticle drug delivery platform and drug candidates, including topical eye drops to treat diabetic macular edema. In connection with the financing, Árni Blöndal of Brunnur and Stefan Jökull Sveinsson, former global head of R&D at Actavis plc (now Allergan plc), joined the company's board.

Recro Pharma Inc., of Malvern, Pa., priced an underwritten public offering of approximately 1.99 million common shares at $7.50 apiece for gross proceeds of about $15 million. The price represented a discount of about 14.7 percent to the stock's (NASDAQ:REPH) close at $8.79 on Monday, Aug. 15. Recro said proceeds will fund the ongoing phase III pivotal trial and safety studies of injectable meloxicam. Piper Jaffray & Co. is sole book-running manager and representative of the underwriters, with Janney Montgomery Scott as co-manager. On Tuesday, the company's shares closed at $8.60, down 19 cents.

Zosano Pharma Corp., of Fremont, Calif., agreed to sell 4.8 million common shares and warrants to purchase 9.6 million additional shares at $1.57 per unit in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers, institutional accredited investors, accredited investors and certain members of the company's management and board. The financing is expected to generate gross proceeds of approximately $7.5 million from sale of the units, and Zosano is eligible to receive up to another $14.4 million upon exercise of the warrants. The company's shares (NASDAQ:ZSAN) closed Tuesday at $1.35, up 3 cents. Zosano said proceeds will advance its M207 program toward FDA registration. Guggenheim Securities LLC served as lead placement agent and Roth Capital Partners LLC served as co-placement agent.