Mountain View, Calif.-based Vivus Inc. priced a registered direct offering of 6.9 million shares at $6.65 each for gross proceeds of $45.8 million to boost its balance sheet and support ongoing work with obesity drug Qnexa (phentermine/topiramate), including the resubmission of a new drug application (NDA) expected next quarter. Read More
On Tuesday, Fibrocell Science Inc. appeared to swim against the tide of nervous capital markets, raising $22.8 million through a private placement of 41,409,458 shares of common stock at a purchase price of 55 cents per share. Read More
The road to developing Alzheimer's drugs has been littered with disappointments. But this week, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis published data suggesting that another class of drugs may be useful in preventing the formation of amyloid plaques: antidepressants that work via selective serotonin reuptake inhibition (SSRI). Read More
Six-month follow-up data from ThromboGenics NV's Phase III program for its ophthalmology drug Ocriplasmin (microplasmin) confirm top-line data it reported last year and keep the drug on track for a regulatory filing in the coming weeks. Read More
• Cel-Sci Corp., of Vienna, Va., inked a sales, marketing and distribution agreement granting IDC-GP Pharm LLC an exclusive license to cancer therapy Multikine (leukocyte interleukin injection) in Argentina and Venezuela. IDC-GP is a joint venture between two pharmaceutical entrepreneurs with expertise in registration and commercialization in South America. Under the terms, IDC-GP will be responsible for seeking regulatory approval of Multikine and commercializing the drug in its territories, with revenues split 50-50 with Cel-Sci after payment for manufacturing costs. Specific terms were not disclosed. Read More
• PharmaNeuroBoost NV, of Alken, Belgium, received clearance from a U.S.-based institutional review board to begin a Phase III trial with PNB01 for major depression. PNB01 is a combination of the antidepressant citalopram and a low dose of the neuroleptic agent pipamperone. Read More
