Ardea Bio in $40M placing deal

Ardea Biosciences, a US company focused on the discovery and development of small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of viral diseases, cancer and inflammatory diseases, has entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain institutional investors to raise around $40 million from the private placement of about 3.0 million newly-issued shares of its common stock at a price of $13.25 each. Subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, the financing is expected to close on or about December 21.

Ardea's most advanced clinical development programs include: RDEA806, its lead non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor for the treatment of HIV, which is expected to enter a Phase IIa clinical trial shortly; RDEA119, a mitogen-activated ERK kinase inhibitor for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases, which is in Phase I in advanced cancer patients; RDEA806 for gout, which is expected to enter a Phase II efficacy trial in the first half of 2008.

Ardea is also developing a next-generation NNRTI and MEK inhibitor, both of which are scheduled to enter first-in-human studies in early 2008.