In brief: Coley; Arpida; Lion Bio; Danisco; Genencor; Genmab

Coley Pharmaceutical has filed with regulators to raise up to US$115 million in an initial public offering of common stock.

Coley, discovers and develops drugs to treat cancers, infectious diseases and respiratory disorders.

Pfizer has agreed to buy up to $10 million of Coley's common stock in a private placement concurrent with the IPO. Coley has a license agreement with Pfizer for the development and commercialisation of Coley's lead product candidate, a cancer treatment called ProMune.

Arpida sets IPO for up to $300m price

Swiss antibiotic-developer Arpida expects its initial public offering to value the biotechnology group at up to 360 million Swiss francs (AUD$394 million), but dealers said the indicated price for the issue was lower than expected.

Lion Bio puts most of itself up for sale

German biotech software company Lion Bioscience plans to sell the biggest part of its operations and has put a proposal for a management buyout on hold.

Chief Executive Thure Etzold will also resign from the board in the near future, Lion said in a statement. It said that its management and supervisory board had decided to conduct a tender for the bioinformatics business.

Denmark's Danisco concludes bid for Genencor

Danish sugar and ingredients group Danisco has announced it controls 98.2 per cent of the shares in Genencor, satisfying a condition of its offer for the US biotech firm.

Genmab gets FDA approval for cancer study

Shares in Danish biotech firm Genmab has reached an agreement with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over a study of its cancer drug, HuMax-CD4.

Genmab said the FDA had approved its request for a special protocol assessment (SPA) relating to a pivotal study for the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).