Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals Inc. secured the option to access up to $60 million over the next three years through a committed equity financing facility with Kingsbridge Capital Ltd.

Any funding drawn down will supplement the $68.5 million in cash, equivalents and marketable securities Cyclacel reported at the end of the third quarter. With operating expenses recently running around $6.5 million per quarter, the company already had about two and a half years worth of runway, but plans for multiple clinical trials with its three cancer drug candidates in 2008 could drive up costs.

Seliciclib, an oral cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor, is the subject of two ongoing Phase II trials in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer, and Cyclacel plans to evaluate the drug in combination studies beginning next year.

Sapacitabine, an oral nucleoside analogue, is undergoing a Phase II trial for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma and recently completed a Phase I trial for refractory acute myelogenous leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. The Phase I data indicated a favorable safety profile and anti-leukemic activity, prompting the company to plan for a Phase II trial in hematological malignancies in 2008 as well as possible combination studies or additional single-agent studies.

CYC116, an oral inhibitor of Aurora kinases A and B and VEGFR2, is in a Phase I solid tumor trial and is slated to begin a Phase I hematological cancer trial next year.

In addition to development of its internal candidates, Cyclacel recently acquired Cary, N.C.-based Align Pharmaceuticals LLC in a potential $3.8 million cash deal, gaining access to three marketed cancer products. Yet Cyclacel told BioWorld Today at the time that the deal would be "self-funding" and wouldn't distract from clinical development plans. Instead, it was designed to increase Cyclacel's "negotiating leverage" in potential partnering deals, particularly relating to sapacitabine. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 9, 2007.)

Cyclacel reserves the right to determine the timing and amount of any funding in the Kingsbridge deal, and the company is not obligated to access the funds. Funds accessed will be provided through Kingsbridge's purchase of newly issued shares of Cyclacel's common stock. The money can be drawn down in tranches according to prearranged terms, and each tranche would be issued and priced over an eight-day period, with Kingsbridge purchasing the shares at discounts ranging from 6 percent to 10 percent.

In connection with the financing, Cyclacel issued Kingsbridge five-year warrants to purchase up to 175,000 shares of common stock at $7.17 per share, a 30 percent premium over the average of recent closing prices.

Shares of Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based Cyclacel (NASDAQ:CYCC) rose a penny to close at $5.53 on Tuesday.

In other financing news:

• Advanced Life Sciences Holdings Inc., of Chicago, is raising $20 million through the private placement of 10.2 million shares of common stock priced at $1.90 per share (the company's Monday closing price) and five-year warrants to purchase an additional 5.1 million shares at $2.15 per share. Lazard Freres & Co. LLC acted as the lead placement agent for the deal, with Susquehanna Financial Group and CRT Capital Group LLC acting as co-placement agents. Advanced Life Sciences reported positive Phase III data last month with its antibiotic cethromycin and has earlier-stage programs for cancer and inflammation. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 16, 2007.)

• Carigent Therapeutics Inc., of New Haven, Conn., secured $2 million in Series A financing from Saint Simeon Marketing and Investments Lda. Founded on technology licensed from Yale University, Carigent is developing ligand-targeted, biodegradable nanoparticles that can be used to encapsulate drugs or diagnostics for delivery to a target tissue. Proceeds of the financing will be used to develop the nanotechnology platform, improve production and advance therapeutic applications through preclinical studies.