• Roche and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals have signed a $50M deal for Roche’s RNAi drugs. Under the agreement, Roche will use Tekmira’s delivery technology called stable nucleic acid-lipid particles (SNALP). Tekmira gets $18.4M upfront and $32M in milestones. [Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News]

• NovImmune SA of Switzerland has raised CHF 62.5M ($56.5M USD) to re-acquire two antibodies it licensed to Merck Serono (then Serono). The main product of interest is NI-0401, which targets the epsilon chain of the T-cell CD3 receptor and has undergone a Phase 2a trial in Crohn’s disease and early stage studies in preventing transplant rejection. The company is planning a multicenter Phase 2 trial in Type I diabetes, which will start in 2Q. [Bioworld]

• Discovery Laboratories (DSCO) is raising $11M from institutional investors as it prepares to head back to the FDA with more Surfaxin data. [BizJournals]

• Hemispherx Biopharma (HEB) is also raising cash. The company said it is selling $15M in stock and up to $3.3M in warrants to two investors. HEB will use the funds to commercialize Alferon N, the company’s treatment for human papilloma virus-related genital warts. [BizJournals]

Venture Updates

• First, Trophos last week said it’s starting a pivotal efficacy study of olesoxime in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in the EU. No word on whether Trophos will be advancing olesoxime in the U.S. We profiled Trophos a few months ago and weren’t too nice on them. [Pharmalive]

• Finally, ProteoTech, a company we also profiled some time ago, said it has raised $519K in a debt offering, according to Xconomy. ProtetoTech is developing Exebryl-1, a component of Cat’s Claw, for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The company also has an earlier stage drug in development for Parkinson’s disease which is funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation. [Xconomy]

Image from bnet

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