Progen Pharmaceuticals Ltd. entered agreements for financings that together will raise about $61 million (A$73.8 million).

The Brisbane, Australia, company entered into definitive agreements with U.S. institutional and other investors to sell 6.9 million shares for $32.8 million. The $4.75 per-share price represents an 18 percent discount to a recent five-day average on Nasdaq. Those shares are being sold under a previously filed shelf registration statement.

Progen also announced a 1-for-9 non-renounceable entitlements offer to existing shareholders, which is expected to raise an additional $28.2 million through the issuance of about 5.9 million shares at the same price. The offer includes a three-year option for every two shares, exercisable at $6.95.

Progen expects that the net proceeds of these fund-raising activities will be about $56.5 million, which will be applied to Phase III clinical trials of PI-88 in post-resection liver cancer, trials of PI-88 in other indications and development of other product candidates. Money also could be used to facilitate in-licensing deals or otherwise gain additional technologies through acquisitions or other means, Progen said.

Progen recently said it was planning a multinational Phase III trial of PI-88 in liver cancer. Enrollment is expected to begin in the second half of 2007. The trial of the anti-angiogenesis agent will be designed with overall survival and disease-free survival endpoints.

Thomas Weisel Partners LLC was sole placement agent in connection with the U.S. registered-direct transaction. The entitlements offer is underwritten by Bell Potter and eG Capital. Progen's stock (NASDAQ:PGLA) fell $1.23 Thursday, or 20.4 percent, to close at $4.80.

In other financing news:

• Noxxon Pharma AG, of Berlin, raised €37 million (US$50 million) in a Series C round of financing. The company is a developing mirror-image oligonucleotide therapeutics termed Spiegelmers. Noxxon said funds will be used to move its lead compounds, NOX-E36 for the treatment of lupus nephritis and NOX-A12 for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, into the clinic and through clinical proof of concept. The main new investors in the round were TVM Capital, Sofinnova Partners and Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners. They were joined by DEWB AG as existing lead investor, FCP OP Medical BioHealth-Trends and the Dieckell Group, as well as new investors Seventure, Dow Venture Capital, IBG Beteiligungsgesellschaft Sachsen-Anhalt mbH, VC Fonds Berlin GmbH and others.

• Pharmion Corp., of Boulder, Colo., said it intends to offer 4 million registered shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The sale of 4 million shares would raise about $124 million based on Wednesday's closing price. The stock (NASDAQ:PHRM) fell 41 cents Thursday to close at $30.58. Underwriters are Banc of America Securities LLC, acting as sole book-running manager, with Cowen and Co. as co-lead manager. Co-managers are Pacific Growth Equities LLC; Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. Inc.; and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. They would have an overallotment option on up to 600,000 additional shares.

• Boston Life Sciences Inc., of Hopkinton, Mass., said it entered into an amendment with purchasers in March of a convertible promissory note. The amendment eliminated the requirement for the original purchasers to make further advances, and added an investment fund managed by Highbridge Capital Management LLC as a purchaser. BLSI issued a $6 million convertible promissory note to the investment fund managed by Highbridge. All other terms of the amended agreement remained the same as those in the original agreement.