Revance Therapeutics Inc. closed a $45 million debt financing and will use the proceeds to advance lead candidate RT001 botulinum toxin type A topical gel, currently in Phase II trials for lateral canthal lines (crow's feet wrinkles) and hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), and a preclinical injectable botulinum toxin type A product RT002.
It's a generalization – but by all accounts true – that the biotechnology industry in China today is big on low-cost services, yet lacking in innovation.
Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc. investors may have slept better following the San Diego company's announcement that Paladin Labs Inc., of Montreal, will commercialize Silenor (doxepin) for the treatment of insomnia in Canada, South America and Africa.
AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. licensed exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights to the company's preclinical antibodies targeting the RON (Recepteur d'Origine Nantais) receptor to Centocor Ortho Biotech Inc., of Horsham, Pa., a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, for $15 million up front, as much as $540 million in milestones and double-digit royalties on worldwide net sales.
Aegera Therapeutics Inc. and its clinical-stage oncology programs were acquired by generic pharmaceutical company Pharmascience Inc., both based in Montreal.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc. could gross nearly $150 million in an underwritten public offering of 16.3 million shares of common stock and an overallotment option for an additional 2.4 million shares at $8 a share, a 5.7 percent discount.
Pathway Therapeutics Inc., a San Francisco-based company built largely on research from New Zealand and funding from Australia, raised $7.5 million from two Australian venture investors and will advance its PWT33597 to a Phase I trial for treatment of patients with advanced solid tumors.
Radius Health Inc. raised $91 million – $66 million in equity financing and a $25 million term loan facility – primarily for a Phase III trial of lead candidate BA058 for the treatment of osteoporosis.
Editor's note: BioWorld Today explores the Chinese biotech market in this second of an occasional series of articles. See BioWorld Today, May 18, 2011, for the first report.
Having secured an agreement with the FDA on a special protocol assessment (SPA), Advantagene Inc. expects to initiate in mid-2011 a pivotal Phase III trial of lead candidate ProstAtak (AdV-tk) for patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer.
