On February 4, 2021 DURECT Corporation (Nasdaq: DRRX) ("DURECT"), a biopharmaceutical company committed to transforming the treatment of acute organ injury and chronic liver diseases by advancing novel and potentially lifesaving therapies based on its endogenous epigenetic regulator program, reported the pricing of its underwritten public offering of 17,708,333 shares of its common stock (the "Offering") for gross proceeds of approximately $42,500,000, before deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and other estimated offering expenses payable by DURECT (Press release, DURECT, FEB 4, 2021, https://investors.durect.com/news-releases/news-release-details/durect-corporation-announces-pricing-425-million-public-offering [SID1234574630]). The offering is expected to close on or about February 8, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. In addition, DURECT has granted the underwriter for the Offering a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 2,656,249 shares of its common stock.

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Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. is acting as the sole book running manager for the Offering.

The underwriter may offer the shares from time to time for sale in one or more transactions on the Nasdaq Capital Market, in the over-the-counter market, through negotiated transactions or otherwise at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, at prices related to prevailing market prices or at negotiated prices. On February 3, 2021, the last sale price of the shares as reported on the Nasdaq Capital Market was $2.87 per share.

DURECT intends to use the net proceeds of the Offering for general corporate purposes, which may include clinical trials, research and development activities, capital expenditures, selling, general and administrative costs, facilities expansion, and to meet working capital needs.

The Offering is being made pursuant to a "shelf" registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-226518) previously filed by DURECT with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on September 28, 2019 and declared effective by the SEC on October 9, 2018. The Offering is being made only by means of a prospectus, including a prospectus supplement, forming a part of the effective registration statement. A preliminary prospectus supplement describing the terms of the Offering and the accompanying prospectus have been filed with the SEC. Before you invest, you should read the registration statement, the preliminary prospectus, the documents that DURECT has filed with the SEC that are incorporated by reference into the registration statement, and the other documents DURECT has filed with the SEC for more complete information about DURECT and the Offering. You may get these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, copies of the final prospectus and the accompanying prospectus relating to the Offering can be obtained, when available, from Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Attn: Capital Markets, 499 Park Avenue, 6th floor, New York, NY 10022; Email: [email protected]. The final terms of the offering will be disclosed in a final prospectus supplement to be filed with the SEC.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

On February 4, 2021 Precigen, Inc. (Nasdaq: PGEN), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of innovative gene and cell therapies to improve the lives of patients, reported Helen Sabzevari, PhD, President and CEO of Precigen, will participate in a virtual fireside chat at the Guggenheim Healthcare Talks Oncology Day on Friday, February 12, 2021 at 11:30 AM ET (Press release, Precigen, FEB 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234574647]).

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Participants may access the live webcast of the virtual event through Precigen’s website in the Events & Presentations section at investors.precigen.com/events-presentations.

On February 4, 2021 Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) reported that it will host a conference call on Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 5:00 pm eastern time to discuss the financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2020, recent business developments, financial outlook for full year 2021, and revenue guidance for the first quarter of 2021 (Press release, Emergent BioSolutions, FEB 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234574668]).

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Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

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This conference call can be accessed live by telephone or by webcast:

Webcast Information:
Visit View Source for the live webcast.
A replay of the call can be accessed from the Emergent website.

On February 4, 2021 Bayer AG reported a $2 billion deal to resolve future legal claims that its widely used weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, the German company said on Wednesday (Press release, Bayer, FEB 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234574704]).

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Bayer has been struggling to finalize the settlement of claims that Roundup and other glyphosate-based herbicides cause non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer. Bayer inherited the business and the litigation as part of a $63 billion acquisition of Monsanto in 2018.

The company has said that decades of studies have shown Roundup and glyphosate are safe for human use.

Wednesday’s settlement would cover future claims brought by individuals who have been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and were exposed to Roundup before their diagnosis. The settlement also includes benefits for people who were exposed to Roundup and develop the cancer in the future.

Roundup, which Monsanto first brought to the market in 1974, is widely used by farmers across the United States and Brazil, alongside crops that are genetically engineered to withstand the its herbicidal effect.

Glyphosate will remain on the market. Bayer agreed to seek permission from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to provide a reference link on labels so consumers can find scientific studies on the weedkiller.

Under the proposed plan, Bayer will provide $2 billion for a four-year period as compensation and to cover outreach and diagnostic assistance. Future claimants could receive up to $200,000 under the deal.

The parties can agree to extend the settlement period.

The company said the settlement amount was disclosed last year.

The agreement must be approved by U.S. District Court Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco.

Chhabria in June questioned the legality of a prior settlement plan that Bayer proposed, which envisioned creating a panel of scientists who would rule on the viability of claims.

Under the revised deal, anyone who does not make a claim during the four-year period would then be able to sue in court, according Elizabeth Cabraser, an attorney for the proposed class. She also said anyone diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma who does not like their compensation offer under the class plan can go to the court system and try for a better result.

In June, Bayer reached a wider $9.6 billion settlement that would resolve the bulk of the more than 100,000 U.S. lawsuits that were already filed over Roundup.

Bayer’s stock has been battered by the litigation, but also by billions of euros in writedowns, and a bleaker profit outlook, in large part related to the $63 billion Monsanto takeover.

The group last year announced 9.25 billion euros in impairment charges on agricultural assets and shocked markets by predicting a slight decline in core earnings per share in 2021 on weaker demand by farmers.

On February 4, 2021 Quanterix Corporation (Nasdaq: QTRX), a company digitizing biomarker analysis to advance the science of precision health, reported the pricing of its previously announced underwritten public offering of 3,571,428 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $70.00 per share (Press release, Quanterix, FEB 4, 2021, View Source [SID1234574614]). All of the shares in the offering will be sold by Quanterix. Gross proceeds from the sale of the shares, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and offering expenses, are expected to be approximately $235.0 million. Quanterix has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 535,714 shares of common stock on the same terms and conditions.

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The offering is expected to close on or about February 8, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, SVB Leerink LLC and Cowen and Company, LLC are acting as joint bookrunning managers for the offering. Canaccord Genuity LLC is acting as lead manager for the offering.

The public offering is being made pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (File No. 333-249925) previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on November 6, 2020, which automatically became effective upon filing. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus relating to and describing the terms of the offering has been filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC’s website located at View Source Copies of the final prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to this offering, when available, can be obtained from Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, Attention: Prospectus Department, by telephone at (866) 471-2526 or by e-mail at [email protected], from SVB Leerink LLC, Attention: Syndicate Department, One Federal Street, 37th Floor, Boston, MA, 02110, by telephone at (800) 808-7525, ext. 6105 or by e-mail at [email protected], or Cowen and Company, LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, Attention: Prospectus Department, by telephone at (833) 297-2926 or by email at [email protected].

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.