Palatin Technologies Inc., of Cranbury, N.J., priced an underwritten public offering of approximately 25.4 million common shares and warrants to purchase approximately 12.7 million additional common shares for expected gross proceeds of $16.5 million. Each unit consisted of one common share and a series J warrant to purchase one-half of an additional share, priced at 65 cents per unit. Canaccord Genuity is sole book-running manager, with Roth Capital Partners as lead manager and Chardan Capital Markets as co-manager. The company recently reported positive phase III data with bremelanotide in premenopausal women diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder and is seeking a commercialization partner. Read More

BioWorld Today incorrectly re-published a brief news item in the Nov. 29, 2016, edition stating that Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc. signed a collaborative agreement with Merck KGaA. In fact that oncology deal was first announced in 2007 and in 2011 it was terminated. See BioWorld Today, Dec. 1, 2011, for details of the termination. Read More

Luye Pharma Group Ltd., of Hong Kong, completed its acquisition of the transdermal drug delivery systems business from Acino Pharma AG, of Aesch, Switzerland. Financial terms were not disclosed. Read More

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court has set aside the Indian government's notification to ban 344 fixed-dose combination (FDC) medicines, which include some well-known branded cough syrups, saying the Indian government acted in a "haphazard manner." Read More

Parkinson's disease (PD) has joined the list of disorders that are affected by the gut microbiome. In studies reported in the Dec. 1, 2016, issue of Cell, researchers showed that signals from the gut microbiome affected the level of neuroinflammation and the degree of motor dysfunction in an animal model of PD. Read More

With efficacy data thus far sans toxicity, "our dose escalation continues," Bluebird Bio Inc.'s chief medical officer, David Davidson, told BioWorld Today as onlookers cheered early success with the anti-BCMA chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell candidate BB2121 for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (MM), in development with Celgene Corp. Read More

In a week dotted with big news for the life science industries, the passage of 21st Century Cures legislation in the House of Representatives is perhaps the biggest. Investors and industry are understandably enthused at the development, but opponents, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), are blasting the legislation as a grab bag for industry that exposes patients to greater risk. Read More

Even as they reached across the aisle to pat each other on the back in the lead-up to Wednesday's 392-26 House vote on the 21st Century Cures Act, several lawmakers signaled that the $6.3 billion bipartisan package is just the beginning of congressional action to increase funding for medical research, ensure the U.S. regulatory scene keeps up with medical advances and take steps to make drugs and devices more affordable. Read More

Top-line data from a trial of HS-410 (vesigenurtacel-L), Heat Biologics Inc.'s experimental non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) vaccine, fell short of hitting its primary endpoint in a phase II study, robbing the Durham, N.C.-based company of a desired chance to seek an accelerate approval in phase III, but not of its hope for success, CEO and founder Jeff Wolf told BioWorld Today. Read More

LONDON – Bicycle Therapeutics Ltd. has convinced Astrazeneca plc of the attractions of its novel peptide platform, signing up the pharma in a potential $1 billion discovery and development collaboration in respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. Read More