> Cancer immunotherapy developer CEL-SCI has completed a registered direct offering under which it raised gross proceeds of $5.85 million before deducting placement agent fees and estimated offering expenses. Release
> Symetis, which is developing percutaneous valve replacement program, has raised $21 million in a new financing round co-led by Wellington Partners and Vinci Capital-Renaissance PME. Symetis release
> Lundbeck is reporting positive Phase II results of it depression drug Lu AA24530. Lundbeck release
> Axel Ullrich, Ph.D., director of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, whose discoveries have led to novel cancer therapies including Herceptin, is the winner of the 2009 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. The Johnson & Johnson award comes with a $100,000 prize. Report
Pharma News
> It's another generics-in-emerging-markets deal for GlaxoSmithKline. The drugmaker has snapped up Bristol-Myers Squibb's branded generics biz in the Middle East--Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Lybia and Yemen, to be exact. Report
> After a conference call with Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline executives Wednesday afternoon, the FDA announced that the smoking cessation drugs Chantix (varenicline) and Zyban (buproprion) will be required to have black box warnings. Report
Vaccine News
> Shares of Vical got a boost on Tuesday after the developer said its swine flu jab sailed through an animal study with positive results. Its stock shot up 20 percent on the news that the vaccine is ready for a human study--marching into the clinic in record time. Vical report
> As a bevy of vaccine makers around the world rush through into the clinic with new swine flu vaccines, epidemiologists are still puzzling out how the new flu works, and why many young people without any health complications are often hit the hardest by H1N1. Report
> Shares of Rockville, MA-based Novavax shot up more than 80 percent on Tuesday afternoon after the developer announced a licensing deal covering its use of virus-like particles in new vaccines. Report
And Finally... The USDA has approved the first new vaccine to protect dogs from the H3N8 flu virus. Report