Onconova Therapeutics Inc. priced its shares higher than expected in an initial public offering (IPO), and Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc., also pricing, rolled out 1 million more shares than originally targeted, to settle in the midrange of the targeted cost per share.

In Wall Street's view, the outcome of another meeting between the FDA and Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. apparently did not bring enough about the path to a new drug application (NDA) filing for eteplirsen, the exon-skipping therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

While investors wait for key data from a Phase II trial with Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s HER2 signaling inhibitor MM-121 in breast, ovarian and non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the company began a Phase II trial with its bispecific antibody, MM-111, which targets the HER2 and HER3 receptors, for advanced gastric, esophageal and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) cancers.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. followed up its earnings tally with word that the first patient has joined the 1 ,800-patient Phase III program called ASCENT with bevenopran, previously known as CB-5945, a peripherally active mu opioid receptor antagonist for chronic noncancer pain and opioid-induced constipation.

With a handful of collaborations already under way, NGM Biopharmaceuticals Inc. raised $50 million in a Series C round to advance in-house efforts in cardiometabolic diseases, including diabetes and obesity.

Investor disappointment earlier this month regarding positive – but apparently not positive enough – Phase III results with Insmed Inc.'s antibiotic candidate seemed to be turning around on word that the company is netting $58 million in a stock sale to help push Arikace to the finish line.

This week's deal between Affimed Therapeutics AG and Johnson & Johnson put the bispecific antibody space in the headlines once again, as the field took another step toward becoming as hot as antibody-drug conjugates, said Jeremy Bender, chief business officer of Sutro Biopharma Inc., which made news in December via its deal with Celgene Corp.

Firststring Research Inc.'s roll-out of positive, top-line Phase II news in three studies at the International Gap Junction Conference in Charleston, S.C., this week marks the emergence of the company from a low-profile mode.

After taking a stock hit on the ominous promise of a conference call the next morning, Rockwell Medical Inc. turned investor worries around with news that the firm had encouraging top-line data to offer from the Phase III study known as CRUISE-1, testing SFP, an iron-delivery drug for chronic kidney disease patients on dialysis.

Newly formed by the venture firm Aisling Capital, Loxo Oncology Inc. has entered a deal with Array Biopharma Inc. to advance a preclinical candidate developed by Array and to find more small-molecule drugs for oncology targets.