Targanta Therapeutics is netting nearly $60 million through an initial public offering, which is less than it hoped for but still more than many biotech companies have garnered.

The Cambridge, Mass-based company priced 5.75M shares of its common stock at $10 each, below the anticipated $12 to $14 per share it initially had hoped for when it filed to go public in May. Underwriters were granted a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 862,500 shares of common stock at the initial offering price. If fully exercised, Targenta's take would be $59.9 million.

Credit Suisse is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering, and Cowen and Co., Lazard Capital Markets and Leerink Swann are acting as co-managers.

Proceeds are to be used to advance development of oritavancin, the intravenous, semi-synthetic glycopeptide antibiotic for serious Gram-positive bacterial infections that was developed by Eli Lilly and Co., licensed to InterMune Inc., and eventually acquired by Targanta. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 28, 2005.)

Once considered a replacement for vancomycin, Targanta has pointed to advantages the compound has over its competition because of its faster bactericidal activity, its potency and lower incidence of some adverse events found in Phase III trials.

A potential stumbling block for FDA approval is a 15 percent noninferiority delta in its Phase III trials - the FDA's accepted noninferiority delta is 10 percent. (See BioWorld Today, May 15, 2007.)

Targanta plans to manage U.S. commercialization through its own hospital-directed sales force, and evaluate partnering or licensing opportunities for approval and launch in other countries. It also intends to pursue approvals in other indications, and has initiated a Phase II studies in complicated skin and skin structure infections. A Phase III study in bacteremia is slated for 2008 based on successful Phase II trials.

Targanta shares (NASDAQ:TARG) began trading Wednesday and were down 60 cents, or 6 percent, to close at $9.40.

Key shareholders include Brookside Capital Partners Fund, with 2.7 million shares (13.2 percent), Skyline Ventures, 2.3 million shares (11 percent) and OrbiMed Advisors, with 1.8 million shares, or 9 percent.

According to BioWorld Snapshots, Targanta's IPO is the 31st during 2007, and the average gross has been $50.9 million.

In other financial news:

• Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Houston, was awarded $1.45 million by the Texas Emerging Technology Fund and received seed financing of $2.3 million. The combined investment will be used to develop its lead product candidate, BP-GMAX-CD1 for advanced, androgen independent prostate cancer. The financing will allow the completion of preclinical development.

• EpiCept Corp., of Tarrytown, N.Y., priced a public offering of approximately 4.26 million shares of its common stock at $1.88 per share and five-year warrants to purchase up to approximately 2.13 million shares at an exercise price of $1.88 per share. EpiCept will receive about $7.3 million in net proceeds from the offering. Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group Inc. acted as lead placement agent, and BMO Capital Markets Corp. acted as co-placement agent. EpiCept intends to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes.

• Genetic Immunity LLC, of New York, has completed a $2 million bridge financing. Terms of the financing were not disclosed. The funds will be used to launch an additional Phase II proof-of-concept trial for the DermaVir Patch, the company's product for reconstituting the viral load in HIV-positive people.

• MacroChem Corp., of Wellesley Hill, Mass., said all the holders of its Series C Preferred Stock have converted their shares into 12,571,850 shares of common stock. Warrants to purchase 8,648,102 shares of common stock previously issued with the Series C Preferred Stock have been reset to purchase 17,885,848 shares with an exercise price of 60 cents per share. The company also closed a private placement of $3.5 million in gross proceeds, issuing 5,891,667 shares of common stock and five-year warrants to purchase 1,767,500 shares of common stock exercisable at 60 cents per share. Griffin Securities Inc. acted as placement agent in connection with the private placement. The company said the money would be used to advance its EcoNail product through Phase II and initiate development work on pexiganan, acquired recently from Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based Genaera Corp., which already completed two Phase III trials. Shares of MacroChem (OTCBB:MACM) lost 15 cents, or 19 percent, to close at 65 cents.