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DEALS

Three Life Sciences Companies Go Public

A busy week for small company financings

MARIE DAGHLIAN



In a busy week for IPOs, three life sciences companies got their deals done even though they had to price at the bottom or below their target range. [See IPO story] Codexis raised $78 million through the sale of 6 million shares at $13 a share and began trading on the Nasdaq market on Thursday under the symbol CDXS. Although the company priced at the low end of its range, shares ended the week at $14, 8 percent above their initial offering price. The Redwood City, California-based biotech develops biocatalysts used in the production of pharmaceuticals and renewable fuels and chemicals. Burill & Company, the publisher of The Burrill Report, is an investor in Codexis.

During the same week, Amyris Biotechnologies, another Bay Area company in the renewable energy space, filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to go public through an initial public offering of up to $100 million of its common stock.

Alimera Sciences priced at $11 a share, 29 percent below its target range of $15 to $17, raising $72 million to begin trading on the Nasdaq market under the symbol ALIM. Shares ended the week unchanged. The Alpharetta, Georgia-based biotech's late-stage lead compound is a treatment for diabetic macular edema, which can lead to blindness.

DynaVox Technologies, a digital health company that makes speech software and devices to assist people with hearing disabilities, raised $140.6 million, selling 9.4 million shares at $15 a share, again at the bottom of its price range. Shares ended the week up 1 percent. DynaVox, which will trade on the Nasdaq under the symbol DVOX, booked $105 million in sales in 2009.

The digital health space is gaining increased interest. Sotera Wireless, a developer of patient monitoring technology, raised $10.75 million in venture capital in a series C round led by West Family Holdings with participation of existing investors Sanderling Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures and Intel Capital. Sotera will use the funds to help commercialize its cuff-less patient vital-sign monitoring system.

Catabasis Pharmaceuticals today completed a $39.6 million series A financing led by SV Life Sciences, Clarus Ventures, and MedImmune Ventures with participation by Advanced Technology Ventures. Proceeds from the financing will be used to advance the Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech's lead program targeting type 2 diabetes, and to further the development of the company's proprietary platform technology in additional inflammatory and metabolic diseases. Catabasis' pipeline of molecules amplify the beneficial effects of salicylates and omega-3 fatty acids to target the underlying etiologies of a spectrum of inflammatory and metabolic diseases.

Aragon Pharmaceuticals raised $22 million in a series B financing round that included new investor Aisling Capital and existing investors OrbiMed Advisors and The Column Group. The financing brings the total amount raised to $30 million since the company's formation in May 2009. The San Diego biotech is developing first-in-class and best-in-class drugs for hormonally driven cancers. The funds will help the company advance its lead compound ARN-509 for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer into clinical trials and continue to develop its pipeline of selective androgen receptor and selective estrogen receptor degraders for the treatment of prostate and breast cancers.

Finally, Array BioPharma entered into a $467 million early stage agreement with Swiss biopharma Novartis for the worldwide development of Array's small-molecule MEK inhibitors ARRY-162, currently in a phase 1 cancer trial, its back-up, ARRY-300, and other MEK inhibitors. MEK is a key protein kinase in the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway, which signals cancer cell proliferation and survival, and has been shown to be frequently activated in cancer, particularly in tumors that have mutations in the RAS and RAF pathways.

Under the terms of their deal, Array will initially receive $45 million in an upfront and milestone payment and is eligible to receive an additional $422 million if certain clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones are achieved. Array also plans to co-develop ARRY-162 in one or more specific indications and fund a portion of development costs. Array will get double-digit royalties on sales of approved drugs outside of the United States with a significantly higher royalty rate for U.S. sales if it meets its co-funding obligations. Array also has a co-detailing right in the United States for approved drugs.

WEEK ENDING APRIL 23, 2010 GLOBAL VENTURE FINANCINGS
Company Location Amount Raised ($M) Principal Focus
Horizon Pharma Northbrook, IL N/A Neurology
Sotera Wireless San Diego, CA 10.75 Patient monitoring
Rheonix Ithaca, NY 12.60 Analytic platform
Liquidia Technologies Research Triangle Park, NC 5.00 Vaccines
Gemin X Pharmaceuticals Malvern, PA 16.00 Oncology
Hemaquest Pharmaceuticals Seattle, WA 6.00 Genetic disorders
Catabasis Pharmaceuticals Cambridge, MA 39.60 Inflammatory, metabolic
Verifica-BG Lexington< MA 0.85 Medical devices
Aragon Pharmaceuticals San Diego, CA 22.00 Oncology
Denali Medical Plymouth, MN 4.00 Medical devices
Pluromed Woburn, MA 1.10 Medical devices
ProtAb Jerusalem, Israel 4.00 Autoimmune
TOTAL RAISED US   $117.90  
TOTAL RAISED EX-US   $4.00  
       
GRANTS AND CONTRACTS
Company Funding/Contracting Agency Amount ($M) Principal Focus
NanoImaging Services NIH National Center for Research Resources 0.20 Imaging
Protein Potential NIH SBIR 3.00 Vaccine
Genovis LMK Industri 0.08 Nanostructures
DiscoveryBioMed NIH SBIR 0.20 Chemical libraries
ZenBio NIH SBIR N/A Cell models
Bioniche Life Sciences FedDev Ontario 0.75 Vaccines
Lucigen NIH SBIR 1.70 Virus detection
Research & Diagnostic Antibodies National Institute of General Medical Sciences 2.60 Sepsis
TOTAL:   $8.53  
       
PUBLIC FINANCINGS      
Company Funding/Contracting Agency Amount ($M) Financing Type
Codexis CDXS $78.00 IPO
Alimera Sciences ALIM $72.00 IPO
DynaVox Technologies DVOX $140.60 IPO
Global Health Ventures OTC:BHLV 0.50 PIPE
Bovie Medical BVX 3.00 PIPE
Stellar Biotechnologies (Canada) TSX-V:KLH 3.20 PIPE
Pacgen Biopharmaceuticals (Canada) TSX-V:PGA 0.60 PIPE
Aeterna Zentaris (Canada) AEZS 15.00 PIPE
EntreMed ENMD 3.00 PIPE--RDO
Adherex Technologies (Canada) TSX:ADH 7.20 PIPE
Kun Run Biotechnology (China) OTC:KURU 8.00 PIPE
Exact Sciences EXAS 18.90 Follow on
NPS Pharmaceuticals NPSP 49.50 Follow on
Ablynx (Belgium) Euronext:ABLX 2.20 Follow on--overallotments
Hansen Medical HNSN 29.80 Follow on
Alphatec Holdings ATEC 42.50 Follow on
Nile Therapeutics NLTX 4.00 Follow on
Thermo Fisher Scientific TMO $750.00 Debt
TOTAL PUBLIC FINANCINGS-US $1,191.80  
Ex-US $36.20  
 
M&A
Acquirer Target Deal Value in $M Focus
Novartis (Switzerland) Oriel Therapeutics N/A Generics
Paul Capital Healthcare Dyax' royalty stream $12.00 Royalty rights
Valeant Pharmaceuticals Private Brazilian pharma $56.00 Generics
bioMerieux (France) Knome equity stake $5.00 Genomic sequencing
       
Alliances      
Company/Licensee Company/Licenser Deal Value in $M Focus
Genentech (Roche-Swiwtzerland) Seattle Genetics N/A Antibody-drug conjugate license
LabCorp Duke University Medical Center N/A Biomarker joint venture
Takeda Cambridge (UK subsidiary of Takeda Pharmaceuticals-Japan) Dimerix Bioscience (Australia) N/A Drug discovery collaboration
Clovis Oncology Ventana Medical Systems N/A Companion Diagnostics collaboration
Novartis (Switzerland) Array BioPharma $467.00 Oncology collaboration
International AIDS Vaccine Initiative Lentigen N/A AIDS vaccine development

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