* LXR Biotechnology Inc., of Richmond, Calif., raised $2.8 million in a final phase of a private placement of stock at $2 per share. The placement generated a total of $10.4 million in gross proceeds.

* Matrix Pharmaceutical Inc., of Fremont, Calif., began selling Accusite Injectable Gel in the U.K. for external genital warts. In late December 1996, the company received a non-approvable letter from the FDA for the product in the U.S. Matrix said it will meet with the FDA to discuss questions raised in the new drug application. Accusite is a biodegradable gel containing fluorouracil, a chemotherapeutic agent.

* Neoprobe Corp., of Dublin, Ohio, received approval in South Korea for RIGScan CR49, a radioactive monoclonal antibody, designed to assist surgeons in detecting cancer sites. The product will be marketed in South Korea for metastatic colorectal cancer.

* Oxis International Inc., of Portland, Ore., filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA to begin clinical trials of an oral form of BXT-51072, which is targeted for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. The drug is a molecule that mimics the natural antioxidant enzyme, glutathione peroxidase, which controls levels in cells of potentially damaging free radicals and reactive oxygen species.

* Paracelsian Inc., of Ithaca, N.Y., entered a cooperative research and development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Institutes of Health, of Bethesda, Md. The CRADA extends work being done by Paracelsian and the NIH's National Cancer Institute on screening extracts from traditional Chinese medicinal herbs for compounds that modulate cell signaling pathways involved in HIV and cancer.

* SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., received FDA approval to begin clinical trials of its cystic fibrosis treatment, CPX, which was licensed from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. The drug, 8-cyclopentyl-1, 3-dipropylxanthine, is designed to correct improper transport of sodium and chloride across epithelial cells, which is the source of the lung disease.

* TheraTech Inc., of Salt Lake City, entered a collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, for development of peptides using TheraTech's oral transmucosal delivery system. Financial terms were not disclosed.

* Tularik Inc., of South San Francisco, extended its collaboration with Merck & Co., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., on development of antiviral drugs against HIV and hepatitis C. The companies said their partnership was extended another three years. Financial terms were not disclosed.

* Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said its partner, Glaxo Wellcome plc, of London, began a Phase II trial of the former's HIV protease inhibitor, VX-478, in combination with other protease inhibitors. Three groups of patients in the open-label study will receive the Vertex drug together with Invirase (saquinavir), Crixivan (indinavir) or Viracept (nelfinavir), which are made by Roche Holding Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, Merck & Co., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., and Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., respectively. A fourth group will take VX-478 with Glaxo Wellcome's two reverse transcriptase inhibitors, Retrovir (AZT) and Epivir (3TC).