Frank Vinlaun

Cytomedix‘s (OTC:CMXI) Aldagen acquisition signaled the company’s intention to establish a strong presence in regenerative medicine therapies and the deal fills needs for both companies. Aldagen, who had tried twice to go public only to withdraw both times amid poor market conditions, gets a partner interested in developing its stem cell treatments. Cytomedix gains prospective regenerative medicine therapies for its pipeline. But for Aldagen and its investors such as Intersouth Partners and Aurora Funds, the acquisition announced Wednesday is not quite an exit. It’s more like another door that allows the company to continue moving forward with its stem cell...

Regenerative medicine company Cytomedix (OTC:CMXI) has acquired North Carolina stem cell technology company Aldagen in a $16 million stock deal that broadens the firm’s regenerative therapies pipeline. Another $25 million in Cytomedix shares also could be awarded to Aldagen investors based on milestones of a clinical trial involving an Aldagen treatment candidate. Cytomedix shares closed at $1.40 on Wednesday. Maryland-based Cytomedix develops biologically active regenerative therapies for wound care, inflammation and blood vessel development. The company has been diversifying to build its regenerative medicine capabilities. Aldagen’s proprietary ALDH bright cell technology is being used to develop regenerative cell therapies...

An HIV/AIDS treatment developed by GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) is now being studied with Siemens (NYSE:SI) to develop companion diagnostics that doctors can use to select patients appropriate for the treatment. The partnership with ViiV Healthcare, GSK’s AIDS drug joint venture with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), will study the drug Selzentry in a phase 3 study comparing it to another drug. The partners also plan to develop tests to help doctors make treatment decisions about the drug. Selzentry defends T-cells against the R5 form of HIV. It works by keeping R5 from entering T-cells. The drug generated $177 million in 2011 sales for...

Triangle Capital Corporation (NYSE:TCAP) has launched a stock offering expected to net $67 million that the specialty finance company will use to make more investments in businesses. The offering of 3.7 million shares was priced at $19 per share. Underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to 555,000 additional shares to cover any overallotments. The offering is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close on February 13. Raleigh-based Triangle Capital focuses on lower middle market companies, which the firm defines as companies with revenues between $10 million and $100 million and earnings between $3 and...

GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) released fourth-quarter 2011 and full-year financial results Tuesday, which happens to be Charles Dickens’ birthday. Somehow I think it’s fitting that Britain’s largest pharmaceutical company discussed its finances on the same day that one of its greatest writers was born. GSK’s results and outlook mark a strong contrast to Britain’s second-largest pharma company, AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN). With apologies and all due respect to Dickens, call it “A Tale of Two Pharmas.” The AstraZeneca Story Let’s start with AstraZeneca, which released its results last week. The company announced a restructuring that would result in the slashing of 7,000 workers...

AIDS patients who frequently suffer from diarrhea may now finally see some light at the end of the tunnel for a new drug developed to help them. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted priority review for Salix Pharmaceuticals‘ (Nasdaq: SLXP) crofelemer and an approval decision on the drug candidate could come by June 5. That would be almost 18 months after Salix reported positive phase 3 clinical trial results on the drug candidate that the FDA recognized could fill an unmet medical need. Besides the priority review for the crofelemer, the agency had previously placed the compound...

Durham-based biotechnology company Chimerix reported positive phase 2 results for a broad spectrum antiviral agent expected to have applications fighting infections faced by bone marrow transplant patients. Chimerix now plans to start phase 3 clinical trials on CMX001 later this year. The company is studying the compound for the prevention of cytomegalovirus diseases, or CMV, in patients who have had hematopoietic stem cell transplants. The venture capital-backed firm said that compared to a placebo, CMX001 had a statistically significant benefit in preventing CMV from entering the bloodstream or from causing CMV disease 13 weeks after a transplant. The data...

Antibiotics developer Cempra (NASDAQ:CEMP) is now a public company with an initial public offering raising close to $50 million. But to pull off an IPO, the Chapel Hill-based pharmaceutical company needed to cut the targeted share price in half and sell more shares than it intended. Friday’s offering of 8.4 million shares was priced at $6 per share. The company had initially planned to sell 6 million shares priced in the range of $11 to $13 per share, which could have raised up to $78 million. Cempra has two clinical-stage drug candidates aimed at treating drug-resistant bacteria. CEM-101, also...