The latest technology and life sciences news in WRALTechWire’s Bulldog Bulletin roundup:

  • BDSI closes stock offering

RALEIGH – BioDelivery Sciences International (NASDAQ:BDSI) has closed on its previously announced $60 million stock offering.

The lead investor in the financing was Federated Kaufmann, a family of mutual funds. Three current institutional stockholders of BDSI also participated in the financing.

BDSI said proceeds from this financing are expected to be used for sales, marketing and other commercialization and supply chain activities for the anticipated launch of opioid dependence treatment Bunavail in the second half of the year; start of =oPhase III clinical trials for Clonidine Topical Gel for the treatment of diabetic neuropathy; support of BDSI’s existing partnered products; and for potential acquisition of clinical stage or marketed products in the therapeutic areas of central nervous system, addiction and pain medicine, to complement BDSI’s current product pipeline.

  • Britain’s Rodeo Games licenses Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4

CARY – Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 technology has been licensed by British gaming studio Rodeo Games.

Rodeo said that it is using UE4 to build a new turn-based strategy game based on one of Games Workshop’s many properties, which is set for a release on mobile platforms in the second quarter of 2015. Rodeo is known for “Hunters: Episode 1” and “Hunters 2,” as well as “Warhammer Quest,” a successful mobile game that kicked off its ongoing partnership with Games Workshop.

“We’ve made it our mission to raise the bar on what players can expect to see in mobile visuals and gameplay,” Laurent Maguire, co-founder of Rodeo Games said in a statement. “In short, we want to set a new standard, and working with Unreal Engine 4 we can achieve that more efficiently and with greater impact.”

  • Tryton gets European approval

DURHAM – Medical device company Tryton Medical has received marketing clearance in Europe for its product to treat left main coronary artery disease.

With this approval for the Tryton Side Branch Stent, Durham-based Tryton becomes the first company to earn a CE Mark for this indication. Left main disease is an accumulation of plaque that narrows the base of the coronary tree. More than 75 percent of left main lesions are bifurcations. There are approximately 200,000 cardiac surgeries performed in left main annually.

The Tryton Side Branch Stent is commercially available in Europe and parts of the Middle East, is investigational in the US, and is not available in Japan.

  • Targacept narrows Q4 loss to $13.4M

WINSTON-SALEM – Targacept (NASDAQ:TRGT) reported a fourth quarter net loss of $13.4 million compared to $15.9 million net loss in the fourth quarter of 2012.

For the year, Targacept reported a net loss of $46.7 million in 2013 compared to a $7.0 million loss in 2012. Targacept does not yet have any Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs but the company has several drug candidates in phase II clinical testing. TC-5214 is being studied as a treatment for overactive bladder and TC-1734 is in trials as a possible treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The company expects to report initial results from both studies in the middle of the year.

As of Dec. 31, 2013, Targacept had cash and investments in marketable securities totaling $143.8 million.