Financings

Aclaris Therapeutics Inc. priced its underwritten public offering with gross proceeds expected to be $75 million.

Agex Therapeutics Inc., a subsidiary of Biotime Inc., said it closed its round of equity financing, raising net proceeds of $10 million.

Altimmune Inc. entered into a securities purchase agreement with new and existing investors to sell an aggregate of 15,656 shares of series B convertible preferred stock and warrants for gross proceeds of approximately $14.7 million.

Atreca Inc. said it completed a $35 million series B round of financing.

Aytu Bioscience Inc. closed a private placement of equity units, in which it raised gross proceeds of $11.8 million.

Causeway Therapeutics Ltd. has raised £1 million (US$1.3 million) in seed funding to advance a microRNA therapy for treating tendinopathy.

Dynavax Technologies Corp. completed an underwritten public offering, with net proceeds of $80.8 million.

Fibrogen Inc. priced an underwritten follow-on offering expected to raise gross proceeds of about $326 million.

Fluidigm Corp. sold 9 million shares of its common stock for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $30 million.

Intec Pharma Ltd. priced an underwritten public offering with gross proceeds expected to be about $50 million.

Kura Oncology Inc. priced an underwritten public offering with gross proceeds expected to be approximately $50.1 million.

Myokardia Inc. closed its underwritten public offering with estimated net proceeds to be approximately $133.8 million.

Omeros Corp. priced an underwritten public offering for expected gross proceeds of $68.25 million.

Deals

Applied Genetics Technology Corp. is partnering with the Foundation Fighting Blindness to advance gene therapy research in inherited retinal diseases.

Cancer Genetics Inc. will acquire Vivopharm Pty. Ltd. for approximately $12 million to strengthen its position in oncology discovery, in vivo and in vitro drug development and early clinical testing.

Cellact Pharma GmbH has sealed a $250 million plus royalties deal with Mundipharma International Ltd. for its phase II anticancer prodrug, Cap7.1.

Champions Oncology Inc. is teaming up with the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute and the ROS1ders for a preclinical study that will develop new models of cancers expressing a ROS1 gene rearrangement.

Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. signed a collaborating agreement with the National Cancer Center of Japan to join forces in developing rare cancer cures and genomic medicines.

Fortress Biotech Inc. has launched a new subsidiary, Aevitas Therapeutics Inc. to develop gene therapy approaches for complement-mediated diseases using technology licensed from a leading university.

Leidos Holdings Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with Biosortia Pharmaceuticals Inc. to explore creating a new business relationship focused on identifying and advancing immuno-oncology and other immunotherapeutic opportunities.

Metacrine Inc. is collaborating with Novo Nordisk A/S to develop Fibroblast Growth Factor 1 variants for glucose lowering and insulin sensitization.

Oxford Biomedica plc entered a collaboration agreement with a consortium of partners to work on a two-year project focused on gene and cell therapy manufacturing.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. reduced its workforce by 60 employees, or 20 percent, to cut costs and move towards overall profitability while it pursues strategic options for its research and development assets.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding Co. Ltd. have confirmed bids for a stake in Arbor Pharmaceuticals LLC in a deal that could be worth upward of $2 billion.

Vectura Group plc signed a global agreement with Dynavax Technologies Corp. to develop Vectura's smart nebulizer technology to deliver Dynavax's toll-like receptor 9 agonist, VR347, for lung cancer patients.

. . . And more

Amicus Therapeutics Inc. said the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved Galafold (migalastat) for long-term treatment of adults and adolescents 16 years and older with a confirmed diagnosis of Fabry disease and who have an amenable mutation.

Gilead Sciences Inc. said the FDA granted priority review to its NDA for the fixed-dose combination of bictegravir, an integrase strand transfer inhibitor, and emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide, a dual-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors backbone, for HIV-1 infection treatment.

Pfizer Inc. said the FDA approved CD22-directed antibody-drug conjugate Besponsa (inotuzumab ozogamicin) for adults with relapsed or refractory B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The Center for Data Driven Discovery in Biomedicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia said it will lead a new, collaborative effort funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund to discover the causes of pediatric cancer and structural birth defects through the use of big data.

The FDA has removed a clinical hold on Cel-Sci Corp.'s primary clinical program, a global phase III test of its immunotherapy candidate Multikine (leukocyte interleukin injection) in advanced primary head and neck cancer.

VBI Vaccines Inc. said the FDA accepted the company's investigational new drug application for VBI-1901, an immunotherapy targeting glioblastoma multiforme.