Durham drug company BioCryst Pharmaceuticals reported a narrower loss in the first quarter as revenue more than doubled.

The company reported revenue of $12.2 million, up from $5.4 million during the first quarter of 2011.

The net loss for the quarter was $6.1 million, or 13 cents per share, compared to $13 million, or 29 cents per share during the same period a year ago.

That beat the loss of 26 cents per share that was predicted by the two analysts who cover the company.

BioCryst's increased revenue was the result of $7.8 million from forodesine-related revenues. The company has a licensing agreement with Mundipharma to develop and commercialize forodesine in the field of oncology.

Chapel Hill drug company Pozen reported a wider net loss in the first quarter as revenues totaled $1.3 million, down from $4.5 million in the first quarter of 2011.

That beat the consensus of three Wall Street analysts who cover the company, who had forecast $1.26 million.

Pozen reported a net loss of $8.4 million, or 28 cents per share, for the quarter, compared to $5.7 million, or 19 cents per share, during the same period a year ago.

The company attributed the larger loss to lower royalty payments from its Treximet, a migraine medication sold by GlaxoSmithKline. Most of Pozen's revenue comes from Treximet and its Vimovo arthritis pain reliever, sold by AstraZeneca.

Pozen also said in a statement that it continues to be optimistic about positive test results for the easier-to-stomach aspirin that it is developing.

The experimental drug, PA32540, combines aspirin and a gastrointestinal medicine. The drug is aimed at helping to prevent heart disease and stroke in patients who are susceptible to aspirin-induced ulcers.

The Food and Drug Administration has suggested Pozen also seek approval for a lower dose of the product.

Pozen shares, which opened Tuesday at $6.66, were down about 8 percent in early trading Tuesday. The stock is up 57 percent this year.

BioDelivery Sciences International announced today that it has signed a license and development agreement with Endo Pharmaceuticals for its experimental treatment for chronic pain.

The $180 million deal includes a $30 million upfront payment to Raleigh-based BioDelivery as well as $95 million in potential development milestone payments and $55 million in potential payments if the treatment reaches certain sales targets.

BioDelivery's stock more than doubled in early trading today on the news.

The deal represents a remarkable reversal of fortunes for the drug, BEMA Buprenorphine.

In September, BioDelivery's stock plummeted after it announced that the drug failed to outperform a placebo in a Phase 3 clinical trial.

The company subsequently launched a new study of the effectiveness of the drug based on some positive data collected in the latest trial.
 

Pfizer reported Friday that is has completed its acquisition of Durham-based Icagen.

Icagen is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer. Icagen's stock ceased trading on NASDAQ on Friday.

Icagen and Pfizer announced the $56 million deal in July, but some large investors complained the $6 share price was too low.

Pfizer was able to convince enough shareholders to go along with the deal after extending the deadline twice.

Icagen was founded in 1992 by P. Kay Wagoner, a former GlaxoSmithKline Plc research executive who focused on developing new ways to treat pain.

None of the company's drugs have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sale in the U.S. market.

Cempra Pharmaceuticals, a Chapel Hill company that is developing treatments for drug-resistant skin infections and pneumonia, plans to raise as much as $86.3 million in an initial public offering of stock.

The company submitted plans for an initial public offering to the Securities and Exchange Commission today.

Cempra has two antibiotics in clinical trials.

Cempra raised $46 million in venture capital in May 2009. The company has attracted $78.4 million since it was founded in 2006.

Cempra is just the latest IPO proposed by a Triangle health-care business.

The N.C. Biotechnology Center has awarded three, $30,000 loans to help small life-science companies get going.

The nonprofit, state-funded center provides low interest loans to promising companies. The goal is to provide early funding until companies can attract the attention of bigger investors.

The loans are part of the Biotech center's mission to bolster the industry and its role as a job-creation engine across the state.

The three companies each received the maximum $30,000 loan to pay for non-scientific business start-up activities.

The companies include (click "Read More"):

A Durham company that helps test medicines and other products for pharmaceutical firms, universities and other customers has raised $13.1 million in venture financing.

Metabolon will use the money to hire additional workers and to expand its business. The company is developing its own tests, including one to detect insulin resistance, which can lead to Type 2 diabetes.

Founded in 2000, Metabolon expects 2011 revenue to rise to about $20 million.

The company has raised about $45 million in venture financing, and recently was named as one of 13 candidates for an initial public offering of stock by Fortune magazine.

Pfizer, which has offered to buy Durham's Icagen for $6 per share, wants to be clear: It won't pay a dime more.

In response to pressure from Icagen investors who are unhappy with the value of the offer, Pfizer sent a letter today to Icagen's board.

With the takeover offer set to expire on Aug. 31, "we thought it appropriate to reaffirm unambiguously, as we made clear when negotiating the merger agreement with you, that $6 per share is our best and final price," the letter states. "Pfizer will not pay more."

The so-called tender offer requires that a majority of Icagen investors agree to the deal. "If a majority of shares are not tendered, however, we still will not raise our offer," wrote Douglas Giordano, Pfizer's senior vice president of worldwide business development.

Durham drug-development company Icagen approached dozens of companies during the past three years about a possible acquisition before finally announcing its takeover by Pfizer last month.

But Icagen and its investment adviser J.P. Morgan Securities were rejected repeatedly, Icagen reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the summer and fall of 2009 alone, the quest involved contacting about 40 companies "to discuss possible strategic alternatives."

The SEC filing describes Icagen's long struggle to find a larger partner that would provide money needed for further research of experimental drugs to treat epilepsy and other ailments.

In July, Icagen and Pfizer announced the deal worth $56 million, or $6 per share.

But the companies are facing pressure from several large investors who say that price is too low. 

Quintiles named a new chief medical and scientific officer this morning.

Jeffrey A. Spaeder, 43, succeeds Oren Cohen, who now leads the Durham company's Phase I clinical research business.

Spaeder is a cardiologist with a medical degree from Johns Hopkins. He recently was executive director of global medical affairs Takeda Pharmaceuticals.

Quintiles is the world's largest provider of services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It employs about 20,000 people worldwide, including 1,600 in the Triangle.

In his new role, Spaeder will oversee Quintiles' drug safety and ethical conduct in clinical drug testing.