Just days after starting a second pivotal trial of its melanoma candidate, Medarex Inc. turned to the public markets and raised net proceeds of $111.6 million.

The Princeton, N.J.-based company expects to use the money to continue to develop its pipeline products, including MDX-010 as a second-line treatment for metastatic melanoma.

Medarex issued 10 million shares of newly issued stock at $11.75 apiece. In addition to clinical trials, the funds will support research programs and other general corporate purposes.

The size of the offering is above the average value, $97.9 million, of all secondary offerings conducted in the first three months of this year. In the first quarter, a total of 17 conducted by biotech or specialty pharmaceutical companies raised $1.7 billion, compared to the same time period in 2005, in which 17 offerings raised $1.1 billion, an average of $64.8 million.

Goldman, Sachs & Co., of New York, acted as the sole book-running manager for Medarex's offering, while JP Morgan Securities Inc., of New York, acted as the joint lead manager and Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, of Philadelphia, served as a co-manager. The underwriters have an overallotment option to buy another 1.5 million shares.

Medarex remained in an SEC-imposed quiet period on Friday and declined to comment.

The company is focused on therapeutics to treat cancer, inflammation, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases, using its UltiMAb technology, which has advanced 31 product candidates to the clinic. Medarex expects at least 11 Phase III trials to be under way this year involving five of the most advanced product candidates. The company has an economic interest in all of the candidates through co-promotion and profit-sharing agreements, as well as royalty and equity ownership interests.

Medarex began a second pivotal trial of MDX-010 for metastatic melanoma last week and has hopes of filing a biologics license application next year. The fully human antibody, which is partnered with New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., also is in early clinical testing for ovarian, prostate, breast, pancreatic and lymphoma cancer types. (See BioWorld Today, April 3, 2006.)

Two other UltiMAb technology Phase III products, CNTO 148 (golimumab) for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, and CNTO 1275 for psoriasis, are under development by Centocor Inc., a subsidiary of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson.

And Copenhagen, Denmark-based Genmab A/S is developing HuMax-CD4 (zanolimumab) in a Phase III trial to treat T-cell lymphoma.

The fifth product candidate at the Phase III stage is ticilimumab (CP-675,206), developed by New York-based Pfizer Inc. to treat metastatic melanoma. Medarex is entitled to double-digit royalties if the product reaches the market.

A number of other products based on Medarex's technology are in earlier clinical and preclinical development being conducted internally or with partners such as Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Amgen Inc. and Gaithersburg, Md.-based MedImmune Inc., as well as several others.

Medarex's stock (NASDAQ:MEDX) fell 53 cents Friday to close at $11.75.

In other financings:

• Acusphere Inc., of Watertown, Mass., entered definitive agreements with institutional investors to raise $37.7 million in net proceeds in a registered direct offering of common stock and warrants. The company agreed to sell about 5.8 million units, each consisting of one share and one warrant to buy 0.3 shares of common stock at $7.97 per share, for a total purchase price of $6.97 per unit. Cowen & Co. LLC acted as exclusive placement agent for the offering. The company's stock (NASDAQ:ACUS) fell 51 cents Friday to close at $6.47.

• Allergan Inc., of Irvine, Calif., priced two private placements, one for $700 million in 1.5 percent convertible senior notes due 2026, and the other for $800 million in 5.75 percent senior notes due 2016. The company estimated the net proceeds would be about $1.48 billion, or $1.53 billion if an overallotment option is exercised in full. Allergan plans to use some of the proceeds to repay about $825 million outstanding under the bridge credit facility it entered into in connection with its acquisition of Inamed Corp., of Santa Barbara, Calif., in March.

• Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Waltham, Mass., entered definitive agreements with institutional and other accredited investors for the private placement of 18 million shares at $1.93 apiece for a total of $35 million. Investors will receive warrants to buy 9 million additional shares at $2.22 per share. The warrants are exercisable for a period of five years from closing. Oscient is developing the Phase III product Ramoplanin to treat Clostridium difficile-associated disease. Its stock (NASDAQ:OSCI) fell 10 cents Friday to close at $1.79.

• Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, of Tustin, Calif., signed a definitive agreement to sell 4 million shares to one institutional investor in exchange for net proceeds of $4.9 million. The financing is part of a shelf-registration statement. Proceeds will be used to strengthen the company's financial position and to expand clinical trials. Peregrine is pursuing three clinical trials in cancer and antiviral indications with its lead product candidates, Tarvacin and Cotara.

• StemCells Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., closed the sale of 11.75 million shares of common stock to a limited number of institutional investors at $3.05 per share, for gross proceeds of $35.8 million. The shares were drawn from a shelf-registration statement. StemCells expects net proceeds of $33.2 million, which will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital, product development and capital expenditures, as well as for other strategic purposes. Over the next several years, StemCells expects to complete its Phase I trial for HuCNS-SC in Batten disease, and to start clinical trials in additional neural indications and with its candidate liver stem cell.

• ViRexx Medical Corp., of Edmonton, Alberta, closed a private placement of 800,000 units for gross proceeds of $1 million. Each unit consists of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. Each common share purchase warrant entitles the holder to buy one common share of ViRexx at $1.75 for two years from the date of issuance. Montex Exploration Ltd. acted as the broker for the transaction.