SAN FRANCISCO – Cortendo AB, a small orphan-focused company developing a therapy for Cushing's syndrome, is raising up to $27.5 million in a private placement led by RA Capital Management, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Broadfin Capital.

SAN FRANCISCO – Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boston, said it expects 3,700 people with cystic fibrosis to be eligible to receive its therapy for the genetic disease, Kalydeco (ivacaftor), by end of 2015, supporting continued growth of the drug's global sales, which it said are likely to rise to between $560 million and $580 million as the company moves to expand its geographic reach and address the needs of more patients.

Argos Therapeutics Inc. shares (NASDAQ:ARGS) fell 32.3 percent to $6.51 Friday – dipping below the company's $8 February 2014 initial public offering price – after top-line data from a phase IIb study showed that AGS-004, the company's personalized immunotherapy for HIV, failed to reduce median viral load more than a placebo in HIV-infected patients.

Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. plans to add up to $197.2 million to its bank in an upsized follow-on offering to support development of its midstage migraine prevention candidate, ALD403, and a preclinical Cushing's syndrome therapy, ALD1613.

Vtesse Inc., a new rare disease company focused on pushing a potentially transformational lysosomal storage disease (LSD) drug into pivotal testing this year, has raised a $25 million series A round from the syndicate of life sciences investors behind Cydan Development Inc., an orphan drug accelerator building a glide-way for therapies targeting monogenic diseases.

Gilead Sciences Inc. is intensifying its efforts to tackle the growing incidence of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), buying privately held Phenex Pharmaceuticals AG's early stage farnesoid X receptor (FXR) program for up to $470 million.

Macrogenics Inc. shares (NASDAQ:MGNX) approached an all-time high Monday as Janssen Biotech Inc. agreed to pay $50 million up front for a global license to MGD011, a preclinical bispecific antibody targeting CD19 and CD3 that Janssen will test as a potential treatment for a wide range of B-cell malignancies.

Roche AG unit Genentech Inc. said top-line data from a phase III study of Kadcyla (ado-trastuzumab emtansine) failed to beat the standard of care, Herceptin (trastuzumab) and a taxane, in helping people with previously untreated advanced HER2-positive breast cancer live longer without their disease worsening.

A little more than five months after netting $95.6 million in its first follow-on offering, Bluebird Bio Inc. is leveraging its soaring share value (NASDAQ:BLUE) for a secondary offering, planning to raise $211.4 million through the sale of about 2.7 million shares priced at $85 each.