Research Triangle Park, N.C. - SCYNEXIS, Inc. a premier drug discovery and development company, today announced the successful completion of a $13.5 million Series C-2 financing. The financing was led by Merial Limited, a joint venture between Merck & Co., Inc. and sanofi-aventis. SR One, GlaxoSmithKline’s independent corporate healthcare venture capital fund, also participated. (more…)

Knoxville, TN —Protein Discovery, Inc., a developer and marketer of products that simplify biological sample preparation for mass spectrometry applications, today announced that the company has closed a $10 million Series C round of equity financing. The investment was led by Santé Ventures and was joined by previous investors, including Memphis Biomed Ventures, the Southern Appalachian Fund, and the Nashville Capital Network. Protein Discovery will use the funds to boost market entry activities of its flagship product, the Passport™ 1200 Sample Prep System. (more…)

Atlanta, GA—Alimera Sciences today announced that it has closed a Series C financing round of $30 million with all five of the company’s existing venture capital firms exercising the right to participate at their full pro rata share. (more…)

Atlanta, GA–Sciele Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:SCRX) (”Sciele” or “the Company”) today announced that it has acquired from Verus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (”Verus”) the Twinject(R) epinephrine auto-injector (epinephrine injection, USP 1:1000) for the treatment of severe allergic reactions and anaphylaxis. Under the agreement, Sciele acquired Twinject and certain other related Verus products under development for $29 million. Verus may also receive additional payments resulting from the achievement of certain development milestones. Sales in the auto-injectable epinephrine market have increased by 17% per year over the past five years and totaled approximately $200 million in 2007, according to IMS Health(R) NPA data. (more…)

Research Triangle Park, N.C. and Portland, OR — AVI BioPharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVII) and privately held Ercole Biotech, Inc. today announced the execution of a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which AVI will acquire Ercole, a pioneer in developing drugs to directed alternative RNA splicing. AVI and Ercole have collaborated since December 2006 to develop drug candidates including AVI–4658, which is in clinical testing in the United Kingdom for treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). (more…)

Charleston, SC- Argolyn Bioscience Inc., a biotechnology company located in Charleston, SC, is moving its headquarters to Research Triangle Park and expanding its management team. (more…)

DURHAM, NC– Chesson Labs, a Durham-based healthcare products company, announced today it has completed a $3.3 million Series A financing. The Company plans to primarily
use the investment to fund future product development efforts and for the introduction of its products to the healthcare marketplace. (more…)

Durham, NC: Pfizer Inc today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Serenex, Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company with a Phase I clinical candidate and an extensive compound library that targets Heat Shock Protein 90 (Hsp90), an exciting target in the fight against cancer. (more…)