BioWorld International articles from August 2007

BioWorld International archives from August 2007

Allergy trial hits snafu; expensive delay expected.
August 1, 2007... BioWorld International Correspondent Allergy Therapeutics plc will have to conduct a new U.S. trial of its hay fever allergy vaccine at an additional cost of 10 million [pounds sterling] (US$20.3 million) after one subject suffered an...

GPC Biotech withdraws satraplatin NDA--for now.
August 1, 2007... Responding to last week's rebuff by the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC), GPC Biotech AG withdrew its NDA for accelerated approval of satraplatin in hormone refractory prostate cancer. The Martinsried, Germany-based firm...

Novel TB target raises hopes for rational drug design.
August 1, 2007... LONDON -- Detailed pictures of the structure of an enzyme that is crucial to the survival of the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis inside the host cell may help scientists to design a new generation of drugs to treat tuberculosis. Work...

BioAlliance raises 40m [euro] for launch of Loramyc.
August 1, 2007... PARIS -- BioAlliance Pharma SA raised 40 million [euro] in a private placement under the authorization granted by the shareholders' meeting held April 24. The Paris-based company, which has been listed on the Eurolist market of the...

Fusion raises $2.4m to build antibody development pipeline.(Company overview)
August 1, 2007... Fusion Antibodies Ltd. raised another $2.4 million to fund preclinical development of a pipeline of monoclonal antibodies in development for cancer applications, adding to the $2.5 million it banked last year. In addition to the new...

Acambis plc, of Cambridge, UK, reached a global settlement with Bavarian Nordic A/S, of Kvistgard, Denmark, regarding smallpox vaccines based on the Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Acambis plc, of Cambridge, UK, reached a global settlement with Bavarian Nordic A/S, of Kvistgard, Denmark, regarding smallpox vaccines based on the Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus. Bavarian Nordic will grant Acambis a license to some of...

BioWorld's new report looks at biofuels market.
August 1, 2007... The publishers of BioWorld have released The BioWorld Biofuels Report 2007: Market Realities, Perspectives and Challenges. By including insight into the history, statistics and forecasts of the biofuels market, this report provides a...

ReNeuron acquiring AmCyte for encapsulation technology.
August 1, 2007... LONDON -- ReNeuron Group plc is acquiring fellow cell therapy specialist AmCyte Inc. in a $4 million all-share deal, and raising $3.1 million in a placing to fund development of the company's encapsulated islet cell therapy for Type 1 diabetes...

Study: northern Europe leads south in biotech performance.
August 1, 2007... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Measured in terms of scientific and commercialization performance, Europe's leading countries for biotechnology are Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, according to a new study of 30 European countries. A second...

Active Biotech AB.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Active Biotech AB, of Lund, Sweden, said its cancer immunotherapeutic Anyara has been granted orphan drug status by the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency. The designation provides a variety of incentives,...

Ark Therapeutics Group plc.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Ark Therapeutics Group plc, of London, said the independent data and safety monitoring board found no safety issues with the Phase III trial of its lead product, Cerepro, a gene therapy treatment for high-grade glioma, following a review of the...

Can-Fite Biopharma.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Can-Fite Biopharma, of Jerusalem, said pre-clinical studies showed that the excipients used in the placebo and in the CF-101 drug during the Phase IIb RA study enhanced the anti-inflammatory effect of methotrexate. The excipient is an oil...

Targacept NNR platform lands in billion-dollar GSK alliance.(Deal Includes $35M Up Front)
August 1, 2007... Targacept Inc. got an impressive stock boost Friday, jumping 20 percent on an early stage deal with GlaxoSmithKline plc to develop drugs targeting neuronal nicotinic receptors for pain and other disorders. The alliance is accompanied by a...

Cobra Biomanufacturing.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Cobra Biomanufacturing, of Keele, UK, is going into space. The company will carry out sterility testing for the atmospheric, oceanic and planetary physics department of Oxford University as part of the ExoMars mission that is scheduled to land...

Corcept Therapeutics, of Menlo Park, Calif., and Xceleron, of York, UK, are combining for a human micro-dosing study of one of Corcept's new chemical entities, a selective GR-II antagonist, using Xceleron's Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technology.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Corcept Therapeutics, of Menlo Park, Calif., and Xceleron, of York, UK, are combining for a human micro-dosing study of one of Corcept's new chemical entities, a selective GR-II antagonist, using Xceleron's Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS)...

Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, has entered into a co-exclusive license agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, of Collegeville, Pa., for PER.C6 and Advac technology.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, has entered into a co-exclusive license agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, of Collegeville, Pa., for PER.C6 and Advac technology. Crucell will receive an up-front payment, milestones, annual...

DSM Biologics, of Sittard, the Netherlands, has reached a nonexclusive research licensing agreement with LFB Biotechnologies, of Paris, allowing LFB to use its technology to develop undisclosed antibodies.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... DSM Biologics, of Sittard, the Netherlands, has reached a nonexclusive research licensing agreement with LFB Biotechnologies, of Paris, allowing LFB to use its technology to develop undisclosed antibodies. No financial details were disclosed....

Eden Biodesign Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Eden Biodesign Ltd., of Liverpool, UK, said it was selected by the University of Birmingham in the UK to develop and produce vOX2:Fc, a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid...

Elan Corp., of Dublin, Ireland, and Biogen Idec Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., saw their shares fall Friday after FDA briefing documents released prior to Tuesday's joint meeting of the Gastrointestinal Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management advisory committees suggested that the multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri (natalizumab) might not be effective enough against Crohn's disease to outweigh potential risks.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Elan Corp., of Dublin, Ireland, and Biogen Idec Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., saw their shares fall Friday after FDA briefing documents released prior to Tuesday's joint meeting of the Gastrointestinal Drugs and Drug Safety and Risk Management...

Evogene Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Evogene Ltd., of Rehovot, Israel, and the French scientific organization CIRAD expanded their collaboration from 2004. They plan to introduce Evogene's EVO133 gene into cotton and to validate its use for drought tolerance. The EVO133 gene has...

Galapagos.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Galapagos, of Belgium, has received $1 million as its second milestone payment in its antibody collaboration with Novartis. The first milestone payment, which was related to intellectual property, was announced last December. Since then the...

MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said it was informed by partner CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newtown, Mass., that the European marketing authorization for Oracea in rosacea has been postponed after the committee of the nine countries involved failed to reach a unanimous decision.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said it was informed by partner CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newtown, Mass., that the European marketing authorization for Oracea in rosacea has been postponed after the committee of the nine...

NicOx SA, of Sophia-Antipolis, France, reported a sharply reduced net loss of 6.6 million [euro] for the first quarter of 2007, down from 14.7 million [euro] in the corresponding period last year.(Other News To Note)(Financial report)
August 1, 2007... NicOx SA, of Sophia-Antipolis, France, reported a sharply reduced net loss of 6.6 million [euro] for the first quarter of 2007, down from 14.7 million [euro] in the corresponding period last year. That was due to a trebling of revenues to 11.2...

Novogen Ltd.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Novogen Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said an investigational anti-inflammatory drug developed using its phenolic technology platform produced promising results in animal studies as an arthritis control therapy. A group of eight rats given the...

Organon Bioscience NV.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Organon Bioscience NV, of Oss, the Netherlands, signed a collaboration with MRC Technology, of London, to develop a humanized antibody for the treatment of certain, unspecified, cancers. The Therapeutic Antibody Group at MRCT will use its...

Oxford Biomedica plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
August 1, 2007... Oxford BioMedica plc, of Oxford, UK, said the independent data safety monitoring board for the Phase III study of its gene therapy, TroVax, in renal cancer has concluded that the trial should continue as planned without modification. The board...

Progen Pharmaceuticals Ltd.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Progen Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Brisbane, Australia, said warrants issued in connection with the company's recently closed entitlements offering have been approved for listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The warrants will begin trading today...

Silence Therapeutics plc.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Silence Therapeutics plc, of London, appointed Jeffery Vick CEO. He has worked in the health care industry in both Europe and the U.S., and spent time as a business analyst and biotechnology venture capitalist. Silence Therapeutics is...

Siemens AG.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Siemens AG, of Munich, Germany, said its Siemens Medical Solutions division received FDA clearance to begin a Phase I trial evaluating [F-18] 3'-fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine (FLT) as a biomarker of cancer cell proliferation. The trial will be...

Summit Corp. plc, of Oxford, UK (formerly Vastox plc), and Evolva Biotech SA, of Basel, Switzerland, entered a three-year agreement to develop drugs for infectious diseases.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Summit Corp. plc, of Oxford, UK (formerly Vastox plc), and Evolva Biotech SA, of Basel, Switzerland, entered a three-year agreement to develop drugs for infectious diseases. The collaboration covers Summit's immunomodulator drug candidate...

Vivalis, of Nantes, France, and MAT BioPharma, of Evry, France, said they will enter a new phase of their collaboration to produce preclinical products.(Other News To Note)
August 1, 2007... Vivalis, of Nantes, France, and MAT BioPharma, of Evry, France, said they will enter a new phase of their collaboration to produce preclinical products. The move followed promising data from the deal under which MAT is evaluating Vivalis' EBx...

Santhera, Takeda extend pact for idebenone in DMD.
August 8, 2007... Santhera Pharmaceuticals AG licensed European rights to idebenone in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., in return for an up-front payment of 2 million [euro], another 18 million [euro] (US$24.6 million) in...

SkyePharma shares take dip on possible flutiform delay.
August 8, 2007... LONDON -- Shares in SkyePharma plc fell by 11 percent to 19 pence early on Monday after the company disclosed that the FDA has raised "unexpected" concerns about the Phase III trial design for flutiform, a combined asthma treatment. Frank...

Genome study kick-starts new understanding of restless legs.
August 8, 2007... LONDON -- The discovery of genetic variants that increase the risk of suffering from restless legs syndrome (RLS) has opened the way to a better understanding of this mysterious condition with, eventually, the prospect of new therapies to treat...

Rheoscience, Dr. Reddy's move balaglitazone into Phase III trial.
August 8, 2007... Rheoscience A/S and its development partner Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., moved balaglitazone, a partial agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma, into a Phase III clinical trial in patients with Type II diabetes. ...

UK bio group critical of new pricing system.
August 8, 2007... LONDON -- The UK government has opened negotiations with the industry to change the system for pricing drugs that has been in force for the past 50 years. The immediate aim is to cut 500 million [pounds sterling] off the 11 billion [pounds...

Micromill invests $13.8m in biofuels start-up Eirzyme.
August 8, 2007... Micromill System Inc., a Canadian developer of mobile logging and processing equipment, is investing 10 million [euro] (US$13.8 million) in a newly formed joint venture with the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, to commercialize...

EMA plans to clarify biotech vaccine development.
August 8, 2007... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Medicines Agency has admitted that there are serious gaps in its approach to biotechnology-derived vaccines, and it plans to act in coming months to remedy the deficiency. The EMA said in a late-July...

Antisoma plc.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Antisoma plc, of London, said it has started a randomized Phase II trial of AS1411 in addition to standard therapy in acute myeloid leukemia, which will recruit around 70 patients in the U.S. AS1411 was the first anti-cancer aptamer to start...

Astion Pharma A/S.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Astion Pharma A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products has recommended its drug candidate ASF-1096 for orphan drug status for the treatment of cutaneous lupus erythematosus, a chronic and...

Biota Holdings Ltd.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Biota Holdings Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, increased its estimated damages in its lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London. The suit alleges GSK failed to properly develop and promote the licensed influenza drug Relenza. Biota said an...

CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc, of Cambridge, UK, said it granted Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, exclusive rights in Japan to develop and commercialize CNS-705 as a general anesthetic and short-acting sedative.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc, of Cambridge, UK, said it granted Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, exclusive rights in Japan to develop and commercialize CNS-705 as a general anesthetic and short-acting sedative. Under this agreement,...

Curidium Medica plc.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Curidium Medica plc, of London, a specialist in pharmacogenomics of psychiatric disorders, said it has joined the U.S.-based Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), an independent, non-profit group that promotes understanding that will lead to...

Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, regained all rights to the HuMax-TAC antibody following a portfolio review by its partner, Geneva-based Merck Serono SA. The company previously licensed rights to Merck Serono in May 2005. The news comes a...

GNI Ltd.(Other News To Note)(gets listed in Tokyo Stock Exchange )(Brief article)
August 8, 2007... GNI Ltd., of Tokyo, said it received approval from the Tokyo Stock Exchange Inc. to list its shares on the Mothers market of the exchange. The target date for GNI's shares to be listed is Aug. 31, once the price for the offering of the...

ITI Life Sciences.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... ITI Life Sciences, of Dundee, UK, said Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh has joined its 9.5 million [pounds sterling] (US$19.3 million) stem cell technologies program, which started in January 2007. Heriot-Watt joins Glasgow and Dundee...

Kreatech Biotechnology BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and BioMicro Systems Inc., of Salt Lake City, have formed a partnership in which BioMicro Systems will distribute the Kreatech Universal Linkage System (ULS) microarrays to laboratories in the U.S. and Canada.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Kreatech Biotechnology BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and BioMicro Systems Inc., of Salt Lake City, have formed a partnership in which BioMicro Systems will distribute the Kreatech Universal Linkage System (ULS) microarrays to laboratories...

Living Cell Technologies Ltd.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Living Cell Technologies Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said data on the enhanced longevity of its biocapsule formula, currently being tested in a Phase I/IIa clinical trial in Type I diabetes, was highlighted in a study published by the...

Medical Research Council Technology, of London, and Intellect Neurosciences Inc., of New York, entered an agreement under which MRCT will humanize Intellect's beta-amyloid-specific monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Medical Research Council Technology, of London, and Intellect Neurosciences Inc., of New York, entered an agreement under which MRCT will humanize Intellect's beta-amyloid-specific monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease....

Modern Biosciences plc.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Modern Biosciences plc, of London, and the University of Dundee have entered into an agreement to develop a new treatment for cancer, rimcazole. Under the terms of the agreement, the university will grant an exclusive worldwide license to...

Orexo, of Stockholm, Sweden, has entered into a joint venture agreement with ProStrakan Group plc, of Galashiels, UK, in the Nordic territories, establishing a sales operation, which will be owned equally.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
August 8, 2007... Orexo, of Stockholm, Sweden, has entered into a joint venture agreement with ProStrakan Group plc, of Galashiels, UK, in the Nordic territories, establishing a sales operation, which will be owned equally. The new entity will have Nordic sales...

Proteome Sciences plc.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Proteome Sciences plc, of Cobham, UK, said it received a notice of allowance for its U.S. patent application in isobaric mass labelling for its tandem mass tags. This follows grants of the corresponding cases in Australia, New Zealand, Canada...

Proximagen Neuroscience plc, of London, and Migenix Corp., of San Diego, both received funding from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, as part of $1.2 million in total awards under the MJFF Novel Approaches to Drug Discovery for Parkinson's Disease program.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Proximagen Neuroscience plc, of London, and Migenix Corp., of San Diego, both received funding from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, as part of $1.2 million in total awards under the MJFF Novel Approaches to Drug...

Qiagen NV, of Venlo, the Netherlands, said it completed its $1.6 billion acquisition of Digene Corp.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Qiagen NV, of Venlo, the Netherlands, said it completed its $1.6 billion acquisition of Digene Corp., of Gaithersburg, Md. Digene now is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qiagen affiliate company Qiagen North American Holdings Inc. Trading in Digene...

Rosetta Genomics.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Rosetta Genomics, of Rehovot, Israel, has signed a collaboration agreement with Ben Gurion University for development of microRNA-based therapeutic applications for several key viruses, including the Epstein-Barr virus and herpes simplex...

Selexis SA, of Genevaof Geneva, executed a license-renewal agreement with Diosynth RTP Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., allowing for Diasynth's continued access to the SURE technology platform.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
August 8, 2007... Selexis SA, of Geneva, executed a license-renewal agreement with Diosynth RTP Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., allowing for Diasynth's continued access to the SURE technology platform, including the Selexis Genetic Elements. Under the...

Silence Therapeutics plc, of London, expanded its technology license agreement with Fremont, Calif.-based Quark Pharmaceuticals Inc. to provide Quark with options to nonexclusive licenses to develop additional molecules against three specific targets using Silence's AtuRNAi technology.(Other News To Note)
August 8, 2007... Silence Therapeutics plc, of London, expanded its technology license agreement with Fremont, Calif.-based Quark Pharmaceuticals Inc. to provide Quark with options to nonexclusive licenses to develop additional molecules against three specific...

French GM crop war heats up: raids, suicide, recriminations.
August 15, 2007... PARIS -- Opponents of genetically-modified organisms in France have mounted their usual summer offensive against farmers growing GM crops, carrying out nighttime and daytime raids to cut down fields of GM corn or other crops. The...

LifeCycle Pharma receives FDA approval for fenofibrate.
August 15, 2007... LifeCycle Pharma A/S gained FDA approval at the first time of asking for its formulation of fenofibrate, based on the company's proprietary MeltDose delivery technology, for treating hyperlipidemia and hypertriglyceridemia. The Horsholm,...

Growth factor discovery offers hope for degenerative diseases.
August 15, 2007... LONDON -- A newly identified growth factor found in the brains of mammals has the capacity to protect the type of neurons that degenerate and die in Parkinson's disease. The growth factor may be able to restore the function of damaged...

Molecular partners gets $15m for multiuse DARPin proteins.
August 15, 2007... Molecular Partners AG raised CHF18.5 million (US$15.3 million) in a heavily oversubscribed Series A round to progress its preclinical portfolio of Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins (DARPins), which have multiple therapeutic and diagnostic...

Pevion Biotech brings in $29m for vaccine pipeline.
August 15, 2007... Pevion Biotech AG raised CHF35 million (US$29.3 million) in a Series A round to take forward a pipeline of virosome-based vaccine candidates for infectious disease and cancer. The Bern, Switzerland-based company, which was established as a...

Aquapharm raises $8m for marine anti-infective.
August 15, 2007... LONDON -- Aquapharm BioDiscovery Ltd. raised 4 million [pounds sterling] (US$8 million) in its first venture capital round, allowing it to advance its lead compound, a novel peptide that is effective against drug-resistant infections including...

Phoqus plans U.S. Phase II trial for Chronocort in CAH.
August 15, 2007... LONDON -- Phoqus plc expects to start a U.S. Phase II study of its lead product Chronocort in treating congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) later this month, following the recent filing of an investigational new drug application. This...

Abcam plc, of Cambridge, UK, and Open Biosystems Inc., of Huntsville, Ala., entered an agreement for Open Biosystems to sell Abcam's primary antibodies alongside its libraries of cDNA, ORF and shRNA clones to expand its resource for gene function analysis.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Abcam plc, of Cambridge, UK, and Open Biosystems Inc., of Huntsville, Ala., entered an agreement for Open Biosystems to sell Abcam's primary antibodies alongside its libraries of cDNA, ORF and shRNA clones to expand its resource for gene...

Active Biotech AB.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Active Biotech AB, of Lund, Sweden, said the FDA cleared its investigational new drug application for a Phase II trial of prostate cancer drug TASQ (ABR-215050). The company plans to initiate a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled,...

Ardana plc.(Other News To Note)(prodect development)(Brief article)
August 15, 2007... Ardana plc, of Edinburgh, Scotland, said the first patient has been enrolled in a U.S. registration Phase III study of its oral growth hormone secretagogue (GHS) ARD-07, in the diagnosis of growth hormone deficiency in adults. Results are...

European scientists seek easier conditions on stem cell work.
August 15, 2007... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Stem cell researchers across Europe are increasing the pressure on regulatory authorities to ease limits imposed on their work, with Italy and Germany particularly in the firing line. Italy's current funding policies...

Arpida Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, closed its acquisition of TLT Medical Ltd., of Reinach, Switzerland.(Other News To Note)(Brief article)
August 15, 2007... Arpida Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, closed its acquisition of TLT Medical Ltd., of Reinach, Switzerland. The deal entails an up-front payment to TLT as well as potential milestone payments that together could total up to CHF57 million (US$47.3...

Biovitrum AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, entered a new agreement with Wyeth, of Madison, N.J., to co-promote BeneFIX, a coagulation factor IX for hemophilia B, in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Biovitrum AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, entered a new agreement with Wyeth, of Madison, N.J., to co-promote BeneFIX, a coagulation factor IX for hemophilia B, in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Wyeth markets...

EiRx Therapeutics plc.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... EiRx Therapeutics plc, of Cork, Ireland, obtained a grant of 362,000 [euro] (US$491,262) from the economic development agency Enterprise Ireland to fund the establishment of a medicinal chemistry team at University College Cork (UCC). The...

EvoGenix Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said its shareholders approved the proposed merger with Peptech Ltd., also of Sydney.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... EvoGenix Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said its shareholders approved the proposed merger with Peptech Ltd., also of Sydney. Peptech will pay 15 cents cash and 0.5055 Peptech shares for each share of EvoGenix. The deal is expected to be ratified...

Flamel Technologies SA.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Flamel Technologies SA, of Lyon, France, posted a net loss of $22.7 million in the first half of 2007, up from $19.1 million the year before. The deterioration was due largely to a 37.2 percent increase in total costs, with research and...

Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, said its service division, BioFocus DPI, entered a drug discovery collaboration with AstraZeneca plc, of London, that builds on earlier deals.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, said its service division, BioFocus DPI, entered a drug discovery collaboration with AstraZeneca plc, of London, that builds on earlier deals. The new arrangement involves BioFocus performing medicinal...

GammaCan International Inc.(Other News To Note)(product development)(Brief article)
August 15, 2007... GammaCan International Inc., of Kiryat Ono, Israel, said its lead cancer immunotherapy, VitiGam, received orphan drug designation from the FDA for Stage IIb to Stage IV metastatic melanoma. That would give the drug seven years of marketing...

Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said partner F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA for a Genmab antibody developed under the companies' 2001 collaboration.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said partner F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA for a Genmab antibody developed under the companies' 2001 collaboration. That filing...

GW Pharmaceuticals plc, of Porton Down, UK, and Bayer Inc., a Toronto-based subsidiary of Bayer AG, said Health Canada approved a new indication for Sativex, a cannabis-derived product delivered through an oral spray.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... GW Pharmaceuticals plc, of Porton Down, UK, and Bayer Inc., a Toronto-based subsidiary of Bayer AG, said Health Canada approved a new indication for Sativex, a cannabis-derived product delivered through an oral spray. The product was approved...

Phosphagenics Ltd.(Other News To Note)(TPM technology used for insulin delivery to blood stream)(Brief article)
August 15, 2007... Phosphagenics Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said a Phase Ib trial demonstrated the ability of its TPM technology to deliver insulin into the bloodstream in a noninvasive manner. The trial in Australia showed the needle-free TPM/Insulin...

Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc.(Other News To Note)(product development)(Brief article)
August 15, 2007... Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc., of Carmiel, Israel, licensed rights to develop a plant cell-based acetyl-cholinesterase and its molecular variants for use in several therapeutic and prophylactic indications, including a biodefense program. The...

Regimmune Corp.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Regimmune Corp., of Tokyo, received a one-time grant from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to help fund development of cedar allergy drugs using the company's immune-regulating reVax (reverse vaccination) technology....

Sinobiomed Inc.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Sinobiomed Inc., of Shanghai, China, said its 82 percent-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Wanxing Bio-pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., signed a formally equity transfer contract to acquire a 90 percent interest in pharmaceutical distribution firm Suzhou...

Sloning BioTechnology GmbH, of Puchheim, Germany, said it will carry out a feasibility study with bioMerieux, of Paris, to generate gene variants of an essential enzyme to be used in diagnostic applications.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Sloning BioTechnology GmbH, of Puchheim, Germany, said it will carry out a feasibility study with bioMerieux, of Paris, to generate gene variants of an essential enzyme to be used in diagnostic applications. Sloning will use its Slonomics...

Sosei Group Corp., of Tokyo, and Vectura Group plc, of Chippenham, UK, announced the start of a U.S. Phase II clinical study by Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, of NVA237, in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).(Other News To Note)(Clinical report)
August 15, 2007... Sosei Group Corp., of Tokyo, and Vectura Group plc, of Chippenham, UK, announced the start of a U.S. Phase II clinical study by Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, of NVA237, in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The...

Summit Corp. plc.(Other News To Note)
August 15, 2007... Summit Corp. plc, of Oxford, UK (formerly Vastox plc), said data generated by its zebrafish screening platform were used by an undisclosed biotechnology company to obtain regulatory clearance to begin Phase I clinical trials in the UK. The...