About two weeks after its shelf registration became effective, Vion Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to sell up to 10 million shares in a direct offering at $3.25 each to institutional investors, with net proceeds of about $30 million after placement fees and other expenses are paid. (BioWorld Today)

Protein Design Labs Inc. agreed to buy the hospital-focused pharmaceutical firm ESP Pharma Inc. for $300 million in cash and about $175 million in stock, thereby gaining marketed products, a 75-person sales force, entry into the cardiac field - and about $14 million in ESP debt. (BioWorld Today)

Building upon its ophthalmology franchise, Pfizer Inc. entered an agreement with Angiosyn Inc. to buy the privately held start-up for an up-front payment and other compensation valued at up to $527 million, not counting royalties, which also are part of the deal. (BioWorld Today)

Ambit Biosciences Inc.'s super-multi-tasking approach to kinase screening bagged the company deals with three of pharma's top players - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., GlaxoSmithKline plc and Pfizer Inc. (BioWorld Today)

Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s preclinical work with IgE receptor inhibitors in respiratory mast cells to treat allergic asthma and other diseases netted the company a collaborative research and licensing deal with Pfizer Inc. - but the arrangement does not include Rigel's Phase II rhinitis drug, R112, which the big-pharma firm might scoop up later for more money. (BioWorld Today)

SAN FRANCISCO - As a Pacific storm cleared after dumping days of rain on northern coastal California, the sun shone intermittently on the 23rd annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference here, the way the figurative sun shines intermittently on the industry itself, with winners and losers, big and small. (BioWorld Financial Watch)