On March 31, 2016 Following its announcement on 22 February 2016, Fastnet reported that it published an Admission Document detailing its conditional agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Amryt Pharmaceuticals DAC ("Amryt") for a consideration of £29.6 million to be satisfied by the issue of the Consideration Shares, (the "Acquisition"). The Company is also proposing to raise £10.0 million (before expenses) through a conditional placing of 41,673,402 New Ordinary Shares at the placing price of 24 pence per new Ordinary Share (equivalent to 3 pence per share before the Capital Reorganisation) and the issue of Placing Warrants on the basis of one Placing Warrant for every two Placing Shares subscribed.

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Joe Wiley, Proposed CEO of Amryt Pharma plc, commented:

"Today’s announcement is an important step towards realising the Company’s vision of building a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on best in class treatments for Orphan Diseases. We are focused on building a portfolio of differentiated medicines, in therapeutic areas where there is large unmet medical need and which offer significant commercial potential.

"Importantly, the £10 million in new funds will enable us to accelerate the development of Episalvan as a treatment for epidermolysis bullosa, a rare, debilitating, genetic skin disorder and orphan condition that typically affects young children and for which there is currently no approved therapy. We believe the recent European approval of Episalvan for the treatment of Partial Thickness Wounds in adults and a successfully completed phase IIa trial in epidermolysis bullosa itself meaningfully de-risks the probability of approval in this indication."

The Acquisition constitutes a reverse takeover in accordance with Rule 14 of the AIM Rules for Companies and Rule 14 of the ESM Rules for Companies. Fastnet is seeking Shareholder approval for the Proposals at the General Meeting. Subject to approval of the Proposals, the Company will change its name to Amryt Pharma plc and begin trading under the new tickers "AMYT" (AIM) and "AYP" (ESM).

Amryt was incorporated in August 2015 as a platform to acquire, build, develop and subsequently monetise a pipeline of patent protected, commercially attractive, proprietary drug candidates targeting best in class performance chosen to meet the Orphan Drug Designation criteria. Where appropriate, the Enlarged Group will commercialise the drugs it successfully develops through its own salesforce. In line with this strategy, Amryt has entered into agreements, conditional, inter alia, on Admission to acquire both Birken AG ("Birken") and SomPharmaceuticals ("Som"). Birken is a revenue generating pharmaceutical development and manufacturing company based in Germany that has developed a recently approved drug for partial thickness wounds and promising potential orphan drug candidate for epidermolysis bullosa ("EB"). Som is a Swiss/US based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel somatostatin analogue peptide medicines for patients with rare neuroendocrine diseases with high unmet need, principally focused on additional orphan drug candidates to address acromegaly and Cushing’s disease.

The New Board intends to use the net proceeds of the Placing to initiate a Phase III clinical trial of Episalvan with a view to obtaining a label extension for Episalvan to include approval for the treatment of EB in Europe and seek regulatory approval in the US.

Highlights

The New Board believes that following completion of the Acquisition, the Enlarged Group will have the following key strengths:

An approved drug – Birken’s lead drug, Episalvan, is a potential treatment for the orphan condition epidermolysis bullosa ("EB"), already approved in Europe as a treatment in adults for accelerated healing of partial thickness wounds ("PTWs") following three successful phase III studies.

· EB is a rare and distressing genetic skin disorder typically affecting young children, where there is currently no approved treatment.

o EB leads to mechanical fragility of skin, characterised by the presence of recurrent PTWs and blisters as a result of mutations in structural proteins.

· Episalvan has been awarded Orphan Drug Designation ("ODD") in the US and EU for EB.

· The drug has successfully completed a Phase IIa study in ten EB patients (data from 12 wounds).

o Episalvan demonstrated significantly faster healing over 14 days of treatment for recent wounds and 28 days of treatment for chronic wounds compared with standard of care therapy.

· The global EB market is estimated to be worth approximately US$1.5 billion per annum.

· The drug received formal marketing approval from the European Commission on 14 January 2016 for the treatment in adults for accelerated healing of PTWs.

o PTWs involve loss of the epidermis and basement layers of skin extending into the dermis layer below.

o Episalvan effectively represents a new category of advanced wound care. management in PTWs and is targeting a market which the New Board assesses to be worth in excess of €150 million.

· The Company intends to seek approval for Episalvan in EB in Europe and the US and will embark on a phase III study in H2 2016 in this indication.

A highly experienced management team – The New Board and senior management is comprised of experienced industry participants including:

· Harry Stratford, Chairman, is the founder of Shire plc, now a FTSE 100 biopharmaceutical company, and ProStrakan Group plc

· Joseph Wiley, CEO, has over 20 years’ experience in healthcare investment and pharmaceutical operational roles

· Rory Nealon, CFO and COO, has spent the last 13 years as both CFO and then COO of Trinity Biotech PLC, a NASDAQ listed company

· Michele Bellandi, CCO, is the former Head of Commercial Europe for Shire AG International and has held senior marketing roles at Serono and Eli Lilly

· Ray Stafford, a Non-Executive Director, previously EVP of Global Marketing for Forest Laboratories which was listed on NYSE prior to being acquired for approximately US$28 billion

· James Culverwell, a Non-Executive Director, previously head of European pharmaceutical equity research at Merrill Lynch in London until 2005.

An attractive potential opportunity in Acromegaly/Cushing’s disease

· The Company estimates the Acromegaly and Cushing’s disease markets to be in excess of US$1.15 billion per annum in aggregate

A business model that offers an attractive risk/reward profile

· Recent approval of Episalvan together with Birken’s existing Imlan product line should appreciably lower the risk profile of the Company, whereas the opportunity in the EB and Acromegaly/Cushing’s disease markets offers significant upside potential

· The risks associated with obtaining regulatory approval in EB have been reduced following the European approval of Episalvan in PTWs in adults in Europe

Orphan Drug market represents a significant opportunity

· Worldwide orphan drug sales are forecast to total US$176bn (CAGR 2014 – 2020:+10.5%)

· Orphan Drugs are set to be 19.1% of worldwide prescription sales by 2020

· Currently there are 7,000 orphan diseases with 1 in 10 of the world’s population suffering from an orphan disease

Use of proceeds from the transaction include:

· Satisfying certain of the milestone payments now due as payable under the Birken SPA

· Fund the clinical trial costs associated with seeking approval of Epislavan as a treatment for EB
· Satisfy certain liabilities of Som under the Som SPAs; and

· For general working capital purposes for the Enlarged Group.

Unless the context otherwise requires, defined terms shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Admission Document. The Admission Document is available on the Company’s website www.fastnetequity.com

On February 22, 2016 PDL BioPharma, Inc. (PDL) (NASDAQ: PDLI) reported financial results for the fourth quarter and twelve months ended December 31, 2015 (Press release, PDL BioPharma, FEB 22, 2016, View Source [SID:1234509142]).

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Total revenues in 2015 increased two percent to $590.4 million from $581.2 million in 2014. Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2015 included $485.2 million in royalties from PDL’s licensees to the Queen et al. patents, $68.4 million in net royalty payments from acquired royalty rights and a change in fair value of the royalty rights assets, which included approximately $43.4 million in net cash royalty payments, $36.2 million in interest revenue from notes receivable debt financings to late-stage healthcare companies, and $0.7 million in realized gains from the sale of PDL’s investment in AxoGen Inc. common stock. During the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, our Queen et al. royalty revenues consisted of royalties and maintenance fees earned on sales of products under license agreements associated with our Queen et al. patents. During the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, royalty rights – change in fair value consisted of revenues associated with the change in estimated fair value of our royalty right assets, primarily Depomed, Inc., The Regents of the University of Michigan, Viscogliosi Brothers, LLC, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals Inc. and AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The full year 2015 revenue growth over the full year 2014 is driven by increased sales of Perjeta, Xolair, and Kadcyla by PDL’s licensees, an increase in the estimated fair value of the acquired royalty rights from the Company’s purchase of Depomed’s diabetes-related royalties, as well as a foreign exchange gain and lower rebate paid to Novartis AG for Lucentis , partially offset by decreased interest revenues due to the early payoff of the AxoGen and Durata Therapeutics, Inc. notes receivables.

Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2015 increased 52 percent, to $178.1 million from $117.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Revenues for the fourth quarter of 2015 included $121.2 million in royalty payments from PDL’s licensees to the Queen et al. patents, $49.1 million in net royalty payments from acquired royalty rights and a change in fair value of the royalty rights assets, which included approximately $34.4 million in net cash royalty payments, $7.6 million in interest revenue from notes receivable debt financings to late-stage healthcare companies, and $0.1 million in realized gains from the sale of PDL’s investment in AxoGen common stock. The fourth quarter of 2015 revenue growth over the fourth quarter of 2014 is driven by the change in estimated fair value of our royalty right assets, primarily Depomed, Inc.

Operating expenses in 2015 were $40.1 million, compared with $34.9 million in 2014. Operating expenses in the fourth quarter of 2014 were $16.5 million, compared with $17.7 million in 2014. The increase in operating expenses for the year ended December 31, 2015, when compared to the year ended December 31, 2014, was a result of total restructuring costs of $7.9 million in connection with the LENSAR notes receivable extinguishment, which is comprised of a loss on extinguishment of notes receivable of $4.0 million primarily related to a lower estimated fair value of the ALPHAEON Class A common stock, and additional general and administrative expenses of $3.9 million for closing and legal fees related to the LENSAR notes receivable restructuring, and other legal expenses mostly related to $1.2 million in funding the ongoing operation management of Wellstat Diagnostics, partially offset by a decrease in professional services from asset acquisition expenses. The decrease in operating expenses for the quarter ended December 31, 2015, when compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2014, was a result of a decrease in professional services from asset acquisition expenses and a decrease in compensation related expenses, partially offset by the LENSAR restructuring loss and other closing fees, and an increase for legal expenses mostly related to Wellstat ongoing operation management.

Net income in 2015 was $332.8 million, or $2.03 per diluted share as compared with net income in 2014 of $322.2 million, or $1.86 per diluted share. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $100.6 million, or $0.61 per diluted share, as compared with net income of $55.1 million in the same period of 2014, or $0.32 per diluted share.

Net cash provided by operating activities in 2015 was $301.5 million, compared with $292.3 million in the same period in 2014. PDL had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments of $220.4 million and $293.7 million at December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. The decrease was primarily attributable to the extinguishment of convertible notes of $220.4 million, purchase of royalty rights at fair value of $115.0 million, payment of dividends of $98.3 million, repayment of a portion of the March 2015 Term Loan of $75.0 million, purchase of notes receivable of $35.2 million, and payment of debt issuance costs related to the February 2018 Note issuance of $0.6 million, partially offset by proceeds from the March 2015 Term Loan of $100.0 million, proceeds from royalty rights of $43.4 million, repayment of notes receivables of $25.2 million, sale of investments of $1.9 million, and cash generated by operating activities of $301.5 million.

Recent Developments

In December 2015, Lion Buyer, a wholly owned subsidiary of ALPHAEON assumed $42.0 million in loans as part of the borrowings under PDL’s prior credit agreement with LENSAR and changed its name to LENSAR, LLC in connection with ALPHAEON’s acquisition of substantially all of the assets of LENSAR. In addition, ALPHAEON issued 1.7 million shares of its Class A common stock to PDL for an estimated fair value of $3.84 per share.

In December 2015 and January 2016, PDL and Direct Flow Medical modified the existing credit agreement. PDL funded an additional $5.0 million to Direct Flow Medical in the form of a short-term secured promissory note that we expect will be converted into a loan under the credit agreement with substantially the same interest and payment terms as the existing loans.
PDL’s $100.0 million term loan entered into on March 20, 2015 with the Royalty Bank of Canada was repaid with the final principal payment of $25.0 million plus accrued interest paid on February 12, 2016.

On February 18, 2016, PDL was advised that Sanofi and kaléo will terminate their license and development agreement later this year. At that time, all U.S. and Canadian commercial and manufacturing rights to Auvi-Q will be returned to kaléo, and they intend to evaluate the timing and options for bringing Auvi-Q back to the market. PDL entered into a secured note purchase agreement with Accel 300, a wholly-owned subsidiary of kaléo, which as of December 31, 2015, had a principal balance of $144.8 million due to PDL. An interest reserve account previously set up as part of the note agreement will substantially cover interest payments due to PDL through the end of the second quarter of 2016, and kaléo has indicated that it intends to make payments due to PDL under the note agreement until Auvi-Q is returned to the market.

2016 Dividends
On January 26, 2016, our board of directors declared a quarterly dividend to be paid to our stockholders in the first quarter of 2016 of $0.05 per share of common stock, payable on March 11, 2016 to stockholders of record on March 4, 2016, the record date of the dividend payment. At the same time our board of directors elected to announce its future dividend plans on a quarter by quarter basis, rather than for the full year as was the previous practice, to allow greater flexibility and focus on long term growth. Our board of directors evaluates the financial condition of the Company and considers the economic outlook, profitability, corporate cash flow, the Company’s liquidity needs and the health and stability of credit markets when determining the dividend.

On February 22, 2016 Cleveland BioLabs, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBLI) reported financial results and development progress for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2015 (Press release, Cleveland BioLabs, FEB 22, 2016, View Source [SID:1234509135]).

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Cleveland BioLabs reported a net loss, excluding minority interests, of $(1.4) million for the fourth quarter of 2015, or $(0.13) per share, compared to net income of $11.3 million, or $3.95 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2014. Net loss, excluding minority interests, for full year 2015 was $(12.6) million, or $(1.79) per share, compared to a net income of $1.6 million, or $0.60 per share, for full year 2014. The 2014 periods reported net income due to a $14.2 million gain on the deconsolidation of the Company’s joint venture, Incuron LLC. Excluding the gain on the deconsolidation of Incuron, net loss per share for the fourth quarter of 2014 was $(1.02) and net loss per share for full year 2014 was $(4.66).

As of December 31, 2015, the Company had $19.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, which, based on the Company’s current operational plan, is expected to fund the Company’s operating requirements beyond one year.

Yakov Kogan, Ph.D., MBA, Chief Executive Officer, stated, "The past year was one of significant momentum and accomplishment for CBLI. We strengthened our financial resources through the addition of a $25 million strategic investor and the award of $15.8 million in funding from the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs for continued development of entolimod’s biodefense indication. We streamlined our corporate structure with the sale of Incuron, while retaining a royalty on Incuron’s future success. We achieved several major milestones with our development programs, including the submission of a pre-Emergency Use Authorization (pre-EUA) dossier for entolimod as a radiation countermeasure and presentation of clinical oncology data for entolimod at the 2015 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (Free ASCO Whitepaper). And, we commenced or continued clinical studies designed to further substantiate the potential of our Toll-like receptor agonists, entolimod, CBLB612 and Mobilan."

"The pursuit of commercialization for entolimod as a radiation countermeasure remains our top priority," continued Dr. Kogan. "We continue to work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to facilitate the review of our pre-EUA dossier. Products with pre-EUA status may be purchased by certain US government stakeholders for stockpiling in the event of a disaster and we believe achievement of this status may also increase interest from foreign governments. We recently initiated a regulatory process with the European Medicines Agency, which has granted entolimod orphan drug designation for the treatment of acute radiation syndrome, and we continue to evaluate other foreign markets."

Other Recent Operational Highlights

Studies elucidating immunotherapeutic mechanisms through which entolimod suppresses metastasis were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). The studies presented in the PNAS publication decipher the cascade of cell-signaling events that are triggered by entolimod activation of the TLR5 pathway in the liver. (View Source )

Dosing commenced in a Phase 2 clinical study of the safety and tolerability of entolimod as a neo-adjuvant therapy in treatment-naïve patients with primary colorectal cancer who are recommended for surgery. This study is being conducted in the Russian Federation.

A Phase 2 clinical study of CBLB612 as myelosuppressive prophylaxis in patients with breast cancer receiving doxorubicin-cyclophosphamide chemotherapy started dosing in the Russian Federation.

Panacela Labs continued dosing in a Phase 1 study with Mobilan evaluating single injections administered directly into the prostate of patients with prostate cancer. This study is being conducted in the Russian Federation.

All of the studies being conducted in the Russian Federation are supported by development contracts with the Russian Federation Ministry of Industry and Trade, or MPT.

Further Financial Results

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2015 was $1.3 million compared to $1.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2014. Revenue for full year 2015 was $2.7 million compared to $3.7 million for full year 2014. These decreases are primarily due to the completion of an Incuron research contract with the Skolkovo Foundation in 2014. Other offsetting variances include new revenue from recently awarded Department of Defense contracts, offset by reduced revenue from MPT contracts due largely to variations in the foreign currency exchange rate.

Research and development costs for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $1.9 million compared to $2.8 million for the fourth quarter of 2014. Research and development costs for full year 2015 decreased to $7.1 million compared to $9.7 million for full year 2014. These decreases primarily resulted from the deconsolidation of Incuron and nonrecurring drug production costs for Mobilan, both occurring in 2014. Somewhat offsetting were reductions in entolimod’s biodefense program due to the completion and subsequent submission of the pre-EUA dossier in the second quarter of 2015, offset by increases in entolimod’s oncology development largely due to the clinical activities commenced in the Russian Federation.

General and administrative costs for the fourth quarter of 2015 were $1.2 million compared to $2.0 million for the fourth quarter of 2014. General and administrative costs for full year 2015 decreased to $6.4 million compared to $8.5 million for full year 2014. Approximately 40% of this net decrease was attributable to the deconsolidation of Incuron, with the remainder primarily attributable to reductions in personnel and outside professional costs.

At December 31, 2015 the Company had approximately 11 million shares of common stock outstanding. In addition, the Company has 343,643 shares of common stock reserved for issuance pursuant to outstanding stock options with a weighted average exercise price of $46.60 and 2.2 million shares of common stock reserved for issuance pursuant to outstanding warrants exercisable at a weighted average price of $13.98.