NEREUS PHARMACEUTICALS CLOSES FIRST TRANCHE OF $42.6 MILLION FINANCING

Nereus Pharmaceuticals, a pioneer in drug discovery and development from marine microbial sources, has announced a $42.6 million private placement of its Series D preferred stock to be received in two tranches. The first tranche that has closed amounted to $24.3 million and the second tranche will be $18.3 million upon the completion of certain ongoing development milestones. New investors HBM BioVentures (Cayman) and HBM BioCapital led the round.

Yahoo News (http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050104/45104_1.html)