BioCentury
ARTICLE | Financial News

Tengion raises $33.6 million

July 2, 2013 12:35 AM UTC

Tengion Inc. (OTCQB:TNGN) raised $33.6 million on Monday, including $15 million in cash from existing investor Celgene Corp. (NASDAQ:CELG) and $18.6 million through the sale of senior secured convertible notes and warrants. Roth Capital Partners was placement agent. The note deal included existing investors RA Capital Management; Deerfield Management; Bay City Capital; and HealthCap, as well as new investors Perceptive Life Sciences and QVT Financial.

In exchange, Tengion granted Celgene the right of first negotiation to Tengion's Neo-Kidney Augment, a bioabsorbable scaffold seeded with renal cells cultured from the patient's own healthy cells and implanted into a failing kidney. Tengion started a Phase I trial to evaluate the product in May; a second Phase I trial is slated to start in 4Q13. Celgene also received an exclusive option to acquire assets related to the development of a neo-esophageal implant. The company already has right of first negotiation to Tengion's Neo-Urinary Conduit, which is in Phase I testing. ...