Uluru stock jumps 11% on $44.65 million placement; Acusphere to seal $25.46 million direct stock sale

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Dec. 7 - Biotech companies ruled PIPE headlines on Thursday, led by Uluru Inc., which wrapped a $44.65 million private placement of stock.

"The quality of the companies out there right now is probably not very high, if you ask me," said one sellside market source. "I'm seeing a lot of smaller [issuers], no-name companies that need a capital boost and have had to wait until the end of the year to get it. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Even small companies need capital and sometimes it can really boost their stock."

In fact, Uluru's stock got a boost on Thursday after announcing its deal. The stock gained 11%, or 10 cents, to close at $1.01. Volume was also higher than usual with 9,190 shares traded compared with the average of 383 shares.

In the placement, the company issued 47 million shares at $0.95 each. Some of the shares issued were used to cancel $6.2 million in existing secured convertible debentures. The price per share is a 4.4% premium to the company's $0.91 closing stock price Wednesday.

Upon completion of the deal, Uluru retired all of its existing secured convertible debentures with $13 million in cash and the $6.2 million in shares.

Blue Trading Inc. was the placement agent for the offering.

Proceeds will be used for the company's commercialization strategy, including the launch of its first wound-care dressing.

"This funding gives the company the necessary financial resources to execute our business plan," said Kerry Gray, the company's chief executive officer, in a statement. "It is anticipated that this transaction will enable the company to generate positive cash flow in 2007. We have an exciting product development pipeline in wound care, oral care and aesthetic augmentation, which we now expect to be able to rapidly advance through development to the market."

Uluru, based in Addison, Texas, develops wound management, plastic surgery and oral care products.

Acusphere to close $25.46 million deal

In other biotech news, Acusphere, Inc. is getting ready to complete a registered direct placement of its units for $25,462,948 early next week.

A group of institutional investors will buy 9,259,254 units of one share and one warrant for four-tenths of a share at $2.75 each. Each whole warrant is exercisable at $3.11 through Dec. 12, 2011. The deal is set to close Dec. 12.

The unit price represents only a 1.1% premium to the company's $2.72 closing stock price on Wednesday.

The shares will be issued under the company's shelf registration.

Cowen & Co., LLC was the placement agent.

Located in Watertown, Mass., Acusphere develops treatments for asthma, cardiovascular disease and cancer using a porous microparticle technology.

Also in the biotech sector, ImmuneRegen Biosciences, Inc. closed a $5.5 million private placement of 220 units.

The units, of 156,250 shares and warrants for 78,125 shares, were sold at $25,000 each.

Each of the warrants is exercisable at $0.50 each through Dec. 6, 2011.

Proceeds will be used for product development.

Joseph Stevens & Co., Inc. was the placement agent.

On Thursday, the company's stock gained 11.11%, or 2 cents, to close at $0.20 (OTCBB: IRBO).

ImmuneRegen, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is a subsidiary of IR Biosciences Holdings, Inc. and develops treatments for radiation exposure.

Cerus stock slips

A day after Cerus Corp. settled a direct placement for $26,078,400, the company's stock ended the day off by more than 2%.

The stock gave up 14 cents to close at $6.66 Thursday (Nasdaq: CERS). The company's stock fell 8.36%, or 62 cents, to close at $6.80 on Wednesday when the deal closed.

In the placement, a group of institutional investors agreed to buy shares at $6.68 each, a 10% discount to the company's $7.42 closing stock price Tuesday.

Banc of America Securities LLC was the lead agent.

The shares will be sold under the company's shelf registration.

Concord, Calif.-based Cerus is a biopharmaceutical company focused on treatments for cancer and infectious diseases.

Bear Ridge plans C$24 million PIPE

Moving to Canadian oil offerings, Bear Ridge Resources Ltd. negotiated a C$24 million private placement of Canadian exploration expenses and Canadian development expenses flow-through shares.

The offering includes up to 2 million CEE flow-through shares at C$5.40 each and up to 3 million CDE flow-through shares at C$4.40 each.

The investors will also receive warrants for another 2 million CEE flow-through shares, exercisable at C$5.50 each, and another 3 million CDE flow-through shares, exercisable at C$4.50 each.

The offering comes as oil prices gained 30 cents on the day to close at $62.49 per barrel Thursday. On Wednesday, oil prices slipped by 24 cents to close at $62.19 per barrel.

Proceeds will be used for exploration on the company's properties.

The deal is slated to close Dec. 15.

On Thursday, the company's stock gained 3.45%, or 13 cents, to close at C$3.90 (Toronto: BER).

Calgary, Alta.-based Bear Ridge is an oil and natural gas exploration company.

Pacific Energy stock climbs

In secondary market action, Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. watched its stock move up a day after the company settled a $63,874,985 private placement of units and subscription receipts.

The company's stock gained 4 cents, or 2.58%, to close at C$1.59 (Toronto: PFE). The stock gained 5 cents, or 3.33%, to close at C$1.55 on Wednesday.

The company sold units and subscription receipts exchangeable for units to Canadian and U.S. investors. The units include one share and one half-share warrant. The full terms of the deal could not be determined Thursday.

Of the total proceeds raised, $51,348,735 was placed to Canadian investors through agents D&D Securities Co. and Octagon Capital Corp. The rest - $12,526,250 - was placed to U.S. investors through agent Energy Capital Solutions.

Based in Long Beach, Calif., Pacific Energy Resources is an oil and natural gas exploration and development company.

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