• Advaxis Inc., of North Brunswick, N.J., closed a $9.4 million equity private placement of common stock and warrants. Part of the proceeds will be used to eliminate the company's convertible debentures and warrants associated with its 2006 Cornell Capital raise. Funds also will support the continued advancement of Advaxis' Lovaxin C product into Phase II trials targeting cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and for development of new Listeria platforms against prostate, breast and other cancers into late 2008 or early 2009. Under the terms, investors purchased common equity priced at 15 cents per share and received warrants equal to 75 percent of the shares which they purchased, with a strike price of 20 cents each. Carter Securities LLC acted as placement agent. In separate news, Advaxis signed a deal with UK-based Cobra Biomanufacturing plc to manufacture Lovaxin C for Phase II trials.

• BioTime Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., amended its revolving line of credit agreement to increase the amount of the credit line to $1 million and extends the maturity date to April 30, 2008. The company intends to use the line of credit for working capital purposes. In consideration for making the new line of credit available, BioTime issued to the investors a total of 200,000 common shares. The firm also said it plans to seek up to $5 million in new funding to finance its operations and its entry into the stem cells field, though it has not yet determined the amount or terms of any securities that might be offered in connection with such a financing. BioTime recently entered the field of regenerative medicine and plans to develop medical and research products using embryonic stem cell technology.

• Direvo Biotech AG, of Cologne, Germany, completed a €12 million (US$16.8 million) Series C round to fund further product development in the field of industrial biotechnology, as well as to support its collaboration and research programs in therapeutic proteases and antibodies and to enhance its technical capabilities in production process development and biodiversity. In addition to the offering, certain Series C investors acquired all common shares held by the company's founders, such as Hamburg, Germany-based Evotec AG and former management. Bankhaus Wolbern, Hamburg and TVM Capital, Munich, jointly led the financing round, which included new investor NRW.BANK in Dusseldorf, Germany. Existing investors also participated, including Danisco Venture A/S, S-Equity Partner, Mulligan BioCapital and funds managed by Signet Healthcare Partners, an affiliate of Sanders Morris Harris, as well as private investors, such as Nobel laureate Manfred Eigen, Detlef Riesner, Heinrich Schulte, Ruthild Winkler-Oswatitsch and company management.