Awaiting results from the final of four pivotal studies of its iron replacement therapeutic ferumoxytol, Cambridge, Mass.-based Advanced Magnetics Inc. is raising $162.9 million.

The company agreed to sell 2.5 million shares - a half-million more than it originally planned - priced at $65.14 each. Underwriters have the option to purchase an additional 375,000 shares to cover overallotments, which could increase the total gross proceeds to $187.3 million. Shares of Advanced Magnetics (NASDAQ:AMAG) closed at $64.91 Wednesday, down 23 cents.

In its prospectus, the company said it would put those funds toward general corporate purposes, which include working capital, research and development expenditures and sales and marketing efforts such as building out its commercial operations infrastructure. Money also could be used to support the development of new indications for ferumoxytol and for pursuing foreign approvals of the product, which is in late-stage testing as an intravenous iron replacement therapeutic for iron deficiency anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients.

To date, Advanced Magnetics has reported positive results from three Phase III studies. The fourth trial finished enrolling 230 hemodialysis-dependent CKD patients in March, and results of that study, which is testing 510 mg of ferumoxytol vs. oral iron, is expected later this year. Pending successful results from that final trial, the company anticipates filing a new drug application in the fourth quarter.

In the meantime, the firm is aiming for final regulatory approval of another product, Combidex, a molecular imaging agent consisting of iron oxide nanoparticles for use in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging to help differentiate cancerous from normal lymph nodes. The FDA deemed Combidex approvable in March 2005, and Advanced Magnetics expects to provide the agency with additional Phase III data. A marketing authorization application, submitted by European marketing partner Guerbet SA, of Roissy, France, is pending in the European Union.

Earlier this year, Advanced Magnetics reacquired the U.S. marketing rights to Combidex in a settlement with Princeton, N.J.-based Cytogen Corp. Both companies agreed to terminate the 10-year licensing agreement signed in August 2000, and all rights returned to Advanced Magnetics in exchange for a $4 million payment to Cytogen and the release of 50,000 Cytogen shares.

Advanced Magnetics, which reported a net loss of 10.2 million, or 72 cents per share, for the first three months of 2007, had about $145 million in cash, as of March 31.

Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering, with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. serving as the joint lead manager and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., Jefferies & Co. Inc. and ThinkEquity Partners LLC serving as co-managers.

Following the offering, expected to close on or about May 29, the company will have about 16.7 million shares outstanding.

In other financings news:

• 23andMe Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., closed an undisclosed Series A funding round, which included investments from South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc., Google Inc., MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures and New Enterprise Associates. The company focuses on providing individuals access to better understand their genetic information, making use of recent advances in DNA analysis technologies and web-based software tools. The company, co-founded by Linda Avey and Anne Wojcicki, expects to launch at the end of the year.

• Aeolus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Laguna Niguel, Calif., raised $2 million through the sale of 2.7 million shares of common stock to institutional investors, along with five-year warrants to purchase up to 2 million shares of stock for 75 cents per share, which could yield up to an additional $1.5 million in proceeds. Funds from the financing will be used to advance the development of AEOL 10150, a small-molecule catalytic antioxidant, and for general administrative expenses and working capital. Rodman & Renshaw LLC served as placement agent for the transaction. In separate news, Aeolus said that researchers at the National Jewish Medical & Research Center and the University of Colorado Health Sciences in Denver were awarded a five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats Research Network to support the development of compounds to protect and treat lung and skin injury associated with mustard gas exposure. AEOL 10150 will be one of the lead compounds tested in the studies. Shares of Aeolus (OTC BB:AOLS) gained 1 cent Wednesday to close at 82 cents.

• Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., said it intends to offer senior notes due 2017, senior notes due 2037 and senior floating notes due 2008 and will use net proceeds from those offerings to purchase about $3 billion worth of shares of its common stock. Any remaining proceeds will be added to the company's working capital and will be used for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures, other working capital needs and other business initiatives such as acquisitions and licensing activities. Analyst Christopher Raymond, of Robert W. Baird & Co., reiterated a "neutral" rating on the company and said the deal renders Amgen "more leveraged, but not overleveraged," and provides about $1 billion in additional cash, "which we speculate may signal the higher potential for another midsized acquisition." Shares of Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) closed at $54.74 Wednesday, up 78 cents.

• ArQule Inc., of Woburn, Mass., filed a universal shelf registration statement to sell periodically up to $100 million of its securities in one or more offerings. Proceeds from any sale will be used for purposes described at the time of the offering. ArQule focuses on developing small-molecule cancer drugs, with lead drugs generated from its Cancer Survival Protein modulation platform and its Activated Checkpoint Therapy platform. The company's stock (NASDAQ:ARQL) closed at $9.05 Wednesday, down 53 cents.

• BioMS Medical Corp., of Edmonton, Alberta, completed its underwritten public offering of 16.1 million units priced at $2.75 per unit for gross proceeds of $44.3 million. Each unit consists of one Class A common share and one-half of one Class A common share purchase warrant. BioMS will use the proceeds - about C$38.5 million (US$35 million) - to expand its clinical trial programs and for general corporate purposes. The underwriting syndicate was led by Orion Securities Inc. and Desjardin's Securities Inc., and included Versant Partners Inc. Jefferies & Co. Inc. and Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acted as U.S. placement agents.

• Discovery Laboratories Inc., of Warrington, Pa., entered a $12.5 million secured credit facility with Merrill Lynch Capital to finance capital expenditures and pay off existing equipment financing indebtedness. Under the terms, $9 million is available immediately to the company, with an additional $3.5 million available as Discovery Labs raises new capital. With that facility, the company plans to finance key capital expenditure programs as it prepares for potential FDA approval of Surfaxin in 2008. Surfaxin received an approvable latter in April 2006 for the prevention of respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants, with the agency requesting additional information regarding the chemistry, manufacturing and controls section of the new drug application. Shares of Discovery Labs (NASDAQ:DSCO) closed at $3.55 Wednesday, down 2 cents.

• Tempo Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., closed a $12.1 million Series A financing to accelerate development of its preclinical pipeline of multicompartmental, nanoparticle-based drugs aimed at improving the efficacy and safety of existing and new therapeutics. Venrock, of New York, and Polaris Venture Partners, of Waltham, Mass., co-led the funding round, with participation from Lux Capital, of New York, and William Rastetter, former executive chairman at Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen Idec Inc. and a partner at Venrock. Tempo was co-founded and seed-funded by Polaris. Funding is expected to advanced preclinical candidates toward human testing and to support the generation of data to enable partnerships.