BioWorld International articles from March 2005

BioWorld International archives from March 2005

Biogen Idec, Elan plummet on withdrawal of Tysabri.
March 2, 2005... Two serious adverse events--one ending in death--was enough for Biogen Idec Inc. and Elan Corp. plc to suspend marketing of their multiple sclerosis drug, Tysabri, just three months after FDA approval. The drug was once pegged a potential...

Vernalis getting 30m [pounds sterling] with plans to build sales force.
March 2, 2005... LONDON -- Vernalis plc is raising 30.3 million [pounds sterling] (US$57.9 million) to set up a U.S. sales force for its migraine drug, frovatriptan, and ensure there is enough cash to last until mid-2007, when it expects to receive a $40...

Novel monoclonal technology might bring raft of therapies.
March 2, 2005... LONDON -- More than 12 products based on monoclonal antibodies are available as drugs in the clinic, and more than 200 are in clinical trials. But a small biotech company in the UK now has developed a technology that could make it possible to...

With partner re-evaluating, Phytopharm pulls funding.
March 2, 2005... LONDON -- Phytopharm plc was forced to pull a 23.9 [pounds sterling] (US$43.9 million) fund raising at the eleventh hour, when its partner Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. said it likely was to cancel the licensing agreement for Phytopharm's...

Stirling Medical Solutions gets funding from ITI, IMI.
March 2, 2005... LONDON -- ITI Life Sciences is investing 30 million [pounds sterling] (US$57 million) of public money in the 97.5 million [pounds sterling] formation of Stirling Medical Solutions Ltd., a new company that will use novel biomarkers as the basis...

Actelion Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Actelion Ltd., of Allschwil, Switzerland, aims to achieve CHF1 billion (US$858 million) in global sales of its two marketed products, Tracleer in pulmonary arterial hypertension and Zavesca in Type I Gaucher's disease, by 2009. The former...

Argonaut Technologies Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., entered an agreement to sell stock and certain assets of its consumables and flash chromatography business to Uppsala, Sweden-based Biotage AB for about $20 million in cash, subject to approval by Argonaut's stockholders.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Argonaut Technologies Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., entered an agreement to sell stock and certain assets of its consumables and flash chromatography business to Uppsala, Sweden-based Biotage AB for about $20 million in cash, subject to...

Atugen AG.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Atugen AG, of Berlin, appointed Steven St. Peter to the company's supervisory board. St. Peter is a partner in MPM Capital, one of Atugen's investors, and his professional background combines medical practice and investment banking.

Australian Cancer Technology.(Other News To Note)
March 2, 2005... * Australian Cancer Technology, of Sydney, Australia, said that Phase I studies using the company's lead vaccine immunostimulant GPI-0100 demonstrated enhanced immune response in patients with relapsed prostate cancer. The results of the study...

Opsona raises 6.25m [euro] for anti-inflammatory products.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... DUBLIN, Ireland -- Opsona Therapeutics Ltd. snagged one of the hottest names in biotechnology as part of its Series A investment. The firm, based here, secured the participation of Genentech Inc. in a 6.25 million [euro] (US$8.3 million)...

Bavarian Nordic A/S.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Bavarian Nordic A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, intends to extend production for its Imvamune smallpox vaccine program, and expects to initiate several clinical trials this year, including three Phase II studies to test the vaccine in more than...

BioInvent International AB.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * BioInvent International AB, of Lund, Sweden, presented results of in vitro tests of its HIV candidate at the 12th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston, which included the drug's ability to keep resistance from...

Biotica Technology plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Biotica Technology plc, of Cambridge, UK, was awarded a government grant of 280,000 [pounds sterling] (US$538,000) for a three-year program of research to develop production processes for novel polyketide drugs. Biotica will invest 510,000...

Cambridge Biostability Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Cambridge Biostability Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, received a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in support of the company's vaccine technology designed to create a defense against botulism....

Cenix BioScience GmbH, of Dresden, Germany, and Schering AG, of Berlin, signed research service agreements to accelerate the latter's target discovery and validation efforts in several human disease programs.(Other News To Note)
March 2, 2005... * Cenix BioScience GmbH, of Dresden, Germany, and Schering AG, of Berlin, signed research service agreements to accelerate the latter's target discovery and validation efforts in several human disease programs. Both projects, which started in...

ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, achieved a research milestone in its depression target discovery program with Vernalis plc, of London, that will result in a payment of A$720,000 (US$568,000).(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, achieved a research milestone in its depression target discovery program with Vernalis plc, of London, that will result in a payment of A$720,000 (US$568,000). The research agreement...

Cryptome Pharmaceuticals Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Cryptome Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, signed an agreement with the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, giving the company sole option to an exclusive license on a class of protein-derived compounds with...

Eiffel Technologies Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Eiffel Technologies Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, signed a second asthma feasibility study in three months with the same unnamed U.S.-based pharmaceutical company to evaluate the potential of Eiffel's re-engineering technologies to achieve a...

Elan Corp. plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, said the European Commission granted marketing approval for the orphan drug Prialt (ziconotide) to treat severe, chronic pain in patients who require intrathecal analgesia. The approval follows a positive...

Evolutec Group plc, of Oxford, UK, signed an agreement with Cambrex Bio Science Baltimore Inc. for the manufacture of Evolutec's rEV131 for Phase III trials and marketing.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Evolutec Group plc, of Oxford, UK, signed an agreement with Cambrex Bio Science Baltimore Inc. for the manufacture of Evolutec's rEV131 for Phase III trials and marketing. The deal covers development work to optimize yield and scale-up the...

Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany, will support Mitsubishi Pharma Corp., of Osaka, Japan, in its medicinal chemistry programs.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany, will support Mitsubishi Pharma Corp., of Osaka, Japan, in its medicinal chemistry programs. Using its computational chemistry, parallel synthesis and medicinal chemistry expertise, Evotec OAI will support...

Galenica, of Athens, Greece, and Helsinn Healthcare SA, of Lugano, Switzerland, signed an agreement granting Galenica the exclusive license and distribution rights for Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) in Greece.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Galenica, of Athens, Greece, and Helsinn Healthcare SA, of Lugano, Switzerland, signed an agreement granting Galenica the exclusive license and distribution rights for Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) in Greece. Aloxi is the second...

Geneva Bioinformatics SA.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Geneva Bioinformatics SA, of Geneva, released its protein identification platform, Phenyx, which incorporates the mxData standard and improves the results comparison functionality for all versions of Phenyx. The functionality permits...

GPC Biotech AG.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, published in the peer-reviewed journal Oncology a 50-patient randomized trial evaluating satraplatin as first-line chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with hormonerefractory prostate cancer....

GW Pharmaceuticals plc, of Salisbury, UK, engaged the services of the Apjohn Group LLC, of Kalamazoo, Mich., to advance its U.S. market entry.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * GW Pharmaceuticals plc, of Salisbury, UK, engaged the services of the Apjohn Group LLC, of Kalamazoo, Mich., to advance its U.S. market entry. In a preliminary statement Jan. 19, the company said it would begin a U.S. regulatory program for...

Ionix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, signed a deal with Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare (RBH) for Ionix's lead product, IX-1003, a nasally delivered formulation of RBH's buprenorphine, for post-operative pain.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Ionix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, signed a deal with Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare (RBH) for Ionix's lead product, IX-1003, a nasally delivered formulation of RBH's buprenorphine, for post-operative pain. Ionix and RBH (a...

Karolinksa Institute.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Karolinksa Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, initiated discussions with prospective partners in the U.S., Singapore, the UK and Norway on a large-scale international project that would seek to match advances in biological understanding with...

Nautilus Biotech, of Paris, reached the first milestone in its collaboration with Serono SA, of Geneva, to develop a next-generation human growth hormone with an improved pharmacological profile.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Nautilus Biotech, of Paris, reached the first milestone in its collaboration with Serono SA, of Geneva, to develop a next-generation human growth hormone with an improved pharmacological profile. Nautilus has designed, generated and tested in...

Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA, of Milan, Italy, raised 30 million [euro] (US$39.6 million), out of which 23 million [euro] closed Feb. 21. The remaining 7 million [euro] will remain open to additional interested parties for a few weeks. Newron...

NicOx SA, of Sophia-Antipolis, France, said that its partner, Stockholm, Sweden-based Biolipox AB, reported that a new clinical study of NCX 1510, in development for the treatment of rhinitis, demonstrated an onset of action of only five to 10 minutes.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * NicOx SA, of Sophia-Antipolis, France, said that its partner, Stockholm, Sweden-based Biolipox AB, reported that a new clinical study of NCX 1510, in development for the treatment of rhinitis, demonstrated an onset of action of only five to...

Ocimum Biosolutions, of Hyderabad, India, signed a letter of intent to acquire core assets, specifically the microarray business, of MWG Biotech AG, of Ebersberg, Germany.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Ocimum Biosolutions, of Hyderabad, India, signed a letter of intent to acquire core assets, specifically the microarray business, of MWG Biotech AG, of Ebersberg, Germany. Ocimum will take over the microarray expertise and assets of the...

Onyvax Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Onyvax Ltd., of London, was part of a research consortium that was awarded a 4.2 million [euro] (US$5.6 million) European Community grant to identify biomarkers in the blood and tissue of patients with ovarian, breast or prostate cancer that...

Orexo AB.(Other News To Note; OX22 )(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Orexo AB, of Uppsala, Sweden, completed an efficacy study for OX22 with positive results. OX22 is designed to treat temporary insomnia. Negotiations with potential partners for commercialization of OX22 have been initiated.

Pharmagene plc.(Other News To Note)(compound failed in a Phase IIa trial in cystic fibrosis)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Pharmagene plc, of Royston, UK, decided there is no "compelling" case for taking PGN0052 forward in respiratory diseases. That follows the announcement in December that the compound failed in a Phase IIa trial in cystic fibrosis, causing...

Pharmaxis Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Pharmaxis Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said the FDA granted orphan drug status for the company's Bronchitol product for the treatment of bronchiectasis, an incurable, degenerative and chronic inflammatory condition of the lungs. Late last...

Provalis plc.(Other News To Note)(planing to terminate American depository receipt (ADR) program)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Provalis plc, of Deeside, UK, intends to terminate its American depository receipt (ADR) program and Nasdaq listing and suspend the company's registration and reporting obligations to the SEC. Provalis said the decision was reached after...

Sosei Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, in-licensed the urology compound OPC-51803 (SOU-003) from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of London, which already has completed Phase I studies.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Sosei Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, in-licensed the urology compound OPC-51803 (SOU-003) from Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of London, which already has completed Phase I studies. Sosei has been granted the rights to develop and commercialize the...

Stem Cell Network.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Stem Cell Network is being formed by academics, clinicians and companies in the east of England as a focus for collaboration in the region. The network aims to promote innovation in stem cell research and establish the area around Cambridge...

Syngenta Ltd., part of Syngenta AG, of Basel, Switzerland, licensed from Icoria Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., exclusive rights to commercially develop 30 Icoria compounds believed to be active fungal inhibitors.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Syngenta Ltd., part of Syngenta AG, of Basel, Switzerland, licensed from Icoria Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., exclusive rights to commercially develop 30 Icoria compounds believed to be active fungal inhibitors. Syngenta will...

Transgene SA.(Other News To Note)(MVAMuclIL2 therapeutic vaccine )(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Transgene SA, of Strasbourg, France, said its MVAMuclIL2 therapeutic vaccine met the primary endpoint in a Phase II trial for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer. The trial is evaluating the efficacy of the up-front association of...

VASTox plc.(Other News To Note)(signed a contract with an unnamed European biotechnology company)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * VASTox plc, of Oxford, UK, signed a contract with an unnamed European biotechnology company to work on targeting drugs to specific organs and cell types using its carbohydrate-linker technology.

Xantos Biomedicine AG.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * Xantos Biomedicine AG, of Munich, Germany, was awarded a grant for 6 million [euro] (US$7.9 million) from the European Commission's Sixth Research Framework program to discover and validate new targets and pathways involved in tumor-induced...

YM BioSciences Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, was advised by its European partner, Oncoscience AG, of Wedel, Germany, that a Phase II trial in children with brain cancer using the EGF receptor monoclonal antibody TheraCIM h-R3 (called Theraloc in Europe) as a monotherapy achieved a response rate of 35.3 percent.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... * YM BioSciences Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, was advised by its European partner, Oncoscience AG, of Wedel, Germany, that a Phase II trial in children with brain cancer using the EGF receptor monoclonal antibody TheraCIM h-R3 (called...

Tysabri withdrawal clouds future for recovering Elan.
March 9, 2005... DUBLIN, Ireland -- Confirmation of a second case of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) among the 1,171 multiple sclerosis patients receiving Tysabri (natalizumab) in combination with Avonex (interferon beta-1a) sent shares of Elan...

Stem cell community meets to discuss hurdles, growth.(Stem cell 2005: progress to therapy? conference)
March 9, 2005... EDINBURGH, UK -- The devil is in the detail, and never more so than in the complex thickets of biological, clinical, regulatory and manufacturing issues that must be resolved if the promise of stem cells is to be fulfilled. That complexity...

Danish researchers pursue new testicular cancer test.
March 9, 2005... LONDON -- A screening test to detect early testicular cancer by analyzing a semen sample could be available soon. Researchers in Denmark have shown that the new test makes it possible to diagnose the disease before it has spread outside the...

Flamel technologies terminates licensing agreement for Genvir.
March 9, 2005... PARIS -- Flamel Technologies SA terminated its license agreement with Biovail Corp. for its long-acting acyclovir formulation, Genvir. The agreement was signed in February 2003 and granted Toronto-based Biovail a license for the U.S. and...

Evotec raises fresh financing, buys back neurosciences firm.(reacquires Evotec Neurosciences)
March 9, 2005... MUNICH, Germany -- Evotec OAI AG reacquired Evotec Neurosciences, which it had founded in 1999, by buying back the 78 percent it did not already own. Evotec also attracted new investors who committed to buying 10 million new Evotec shares at...

Speedel moving SPP301 forward to diabetic nephropathy Phase III.
March 9, 2005... Speedel Group AG plans to move its once-daily oral endothelin A receptor antagonist SPP301 into a Phase III trial in diabetic nephropathy in the second half of this year, following favorable Phase IIb results. The company, which had not...

Oxford BioMedica reports strong response with TroVax In Phase II.
March 9, 2005... LONDON -- Oxford BioMedica plc released data from three ongoing Phase II trials of its cancer gene therapy product, TroVax, in metastatic colorectal cancer, showing all 33 patients mounted an immune response, while in the two most advanced...

Ardana plc.(Other News To Note)(completes initial public offering)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Ardana plc, of Edinburgh, UK, completed its initial public offering on the main market in London, but was forced to drop the price from 1.53 [pounds sterling] per share to 1.28 [pounds sterling]. That left the reproductive health specialist...

Avidex Ltd., of Oxford, UK, published data that for the first time demonstrate that soluble, high-affinity human monoclonal T-cell receptors can be selected using phage display technology.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Avidex Ltd., of Oxford, UK, published data that for the first time demonstrate that soluble, high-affinity human monoclonal T-cell receptors can be selected using phage display technology. The discovery paves the way for the development of...

BioAlliance Pharma SA.(Other News To Noten)(SQLs might offer way to overcome HIV resistance)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, said data presented at the 12th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Boston suggested that styrlquinolines (SQLs), a family of integrase binding inhibitors, might offer a way to overcome...

BioFocus plc, of Cambridge, UK, announced a brace of deals with partners little and large.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * BioFocus plc, of Cambridge, UK, announced a brace of deals with partners little and large. The first with fellow biotech Senexis Ltd., also of Cambridge, is a collaboration to find beta-sheet breakers, with the aim of inhibiting amyloidosis,...

Biokine Therapeutics Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Biokine Therapeutics Ltd., of Rehovot, Israel, purchased all rights to T-140, a CXCR4 chemokine receptor antagonist, from Nobutaka Fujii of the University of Kyoto in Japan. Financial terms were not disclosed. Biokine is considering...

European biotech firms bid for better orphan guidelines.(European Union Roundup)
March 9, 2005... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- As patient representatives met at the European Medicines Agency in London on March 4 to discuss how the European Union's orphan medicine rules are functioning, the European biotechnology industry revealed ideas as to how...

Bionomics Ltd., of Adelaide, Australia, completed the acquisition of the French central nervous system business Neurofit for 1.25 million [euro] (US$1.6 million) in cash and shares.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Bionomics Ltd., of Adelaide, Australia, completed the acquisition of the French central nervous system business Neurofit for 1.25 million [euro] (US$1.6 million) in cash and shares. The acquisition includes intellectual property rights to...

CepTor Corp., of Hunt Valley, Md., granted an exclusive 15-year license to JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of Ashiya, Japan, to develop and commercialize its muscular dystrophy product, Myodur, in the Pacific Rim, which includes Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan and Singapore.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * CepTor Corp., of Hunt Valley, Md., granted an exclusive 15-year license to JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of Ashiya, Japan, to develop and commercialize its muscular dystrophy product, Myodur, in the Pacific Rim, which includes Japan, South...

Cobra Biomanufacturing plc, of Keele, UK, signed an agreement with Hawaii Biotech Inc., of Aiea, Hawaii, to manufacture Hawaii's dengue fever and West Nile virus vaccines for clinical trials.(Other News To Note)
March 9, 2005... * Cobra Biomanufacturing plc, of Keele, UK, signed an agreement with Hawaii Biotech Inc., of Aiea, Hawaii, to manufacture Hawaii's dengue fever and West Nile virus vaccines for clinical trials. The vaccines are based on proprietary genetically...

ComGenex Inc., of Budapest, Hungary, extended its exclusive chemistry deal with Bayer Healthcare, a unit of Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer AG, for a seventh year.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * ComGenex Inc., of Budapest, Hungary, extended its exclusive chemistry deal with Bayer Healthcare, a unit of Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer AG, for a seventh year. ComGenex will continue to provide chemistry services by applying its...

Corixa Corp., of Seattle, announced a joint collaboration with Lorantis Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, to continue the development of a therapeutic hepatitis B vaccine, containing Corixa's RC-529 adjuvant, as well as Lorantis' CV-1831 hepatitis B core antigen, previously owned by San Diego-based Apovia Inc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Corixa Corp., of Seattle, announced a joint collaboration with Lorantis Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, to continue the development of a therapeutic hepatitis B vaccine, containing Corixa's RC-529 adjuvant, as well as Lorantis' CV-1831 hepatitis B...

Cresset BioMolecular Discovery Ltd., of Hertfordshire, UK, agreed to collaborate with Royston, UK-based Pharmagene plc to find leads against one of Pharmagene's drug discovery targets.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Cresset BioMolecular Discovery Ltd., of Hertfordshire, UK, agreed to collaborate with Royston, UKbased Pharmagene plc to find leads against one of Pharmagene's drug discovery targets. Cresset will use its computational field technology to...

Debiopharm SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, purchased all the outstanding shares of H3 Pharma from Montreal-based Soceite Generale de Financement (SGF), of Quebec City.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Debiopharm SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, purchased all the outstanding shares of H3 Pharma from Montreal-based Soceite Generale de Financement (SGF), of Quebec City. H3 Pharma was created in 2001 as an equal partnership between SGF and the...

Geneva Bioinformatics (GeneBio) SA, of Geneva, announced a joint venture with London-based Current Science Group to form a company called Current BioData Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Geneva Bioinformatics (GeneBio) SA, of Geneva, announced a joint venture with London-based Current Science Group to form a company called Current BioData Ltd., which will focus on the further development, promotion and distribution of...

Genome Express, of Grenoble, France, and BioMerieux, of Lyon, France, signed a collaboration agreement providing for Genome Express to carry out a series of bacterial analyses for BioMerieux, which focuses on in vitro diagnostics for medical and industrial applications.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Genome Express, of Grenoble, France, and BioMerieux, of Lyon, France, signed a collaboration agreement providing for Genome Express to carry out a series of bacterial analyses for BioMerieux, which focuses on in vitro diagnostics for medical...

German Ministry of Education and Research.(Other News To Note)(funds for University of Potsdam and the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Technology for medical research )(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * The German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) awarded 950,000 [euro] (US$1.3 million) to the University of Potsdam and the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Technology. The funds will be used to develop a DNA chip for tumor...

Icon Genetics, of Munich, Germany, and Large Scale Biology Corp., of Vacaville, Calif., entered a collaboration to co-develop a biopharmaceutical product under undisclosed terms.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Icon Genetics, of Munich, Germany, and Large Scale Biology Corp., of Vacaville, Calif., entered a collaboration to co-develop a biopharmaceutical product under undisclosed terms. The alliance centers on the synergistic application of each...

Jurilab.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Jurilab, of Kuopio, Finland, completed a genomewide scan in hypertension in the East Finland Founder population. The DNA samples used in the study were collected in the 1980s from a genetically homogeneous population that can be traced back...

LEO Pharma A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, and PFC Therapeutics LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., of San Diego, agreed to modify their exclusivity agreement related to the development and marketing of Oxygent in Europe and Canada.(Other News To Note)
March 9, 2005... * LEO Pharma A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, and PFC Therapeutics LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., of San Diego, agreed to modify their exclusivity agreement related to the development and marketing of Oxygent in...

Medical Marketing International Group plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Medical Marketing International Group plc, of Cambridge, UK, licensed technology for treating autoimmune diseases from its academic partners and King's College London and Queen Mary College London. The technology will be subsumed into Viratis...

MediGene AG.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, has been added to TecDAX, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's index of Germany's most significant mid-cap technology companies. MediGene will join the 30-company index March 18.

Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Auckland, New Zealand, and Metabolic Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, agreed to co-develop Neuren's class of neuro-regenerative peptides for the treatment of degenerative conditions such as peripheral neuropathy, motor neuron disease and repairing the brain or nerves after injuries.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Auckland, New Zealand, and Metabolic Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, agreed to co-develop Neuren's class of neuro-regenerative peptides for the treatment of degenerative conditions such as...

NicOx SA.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * NicOx SA, of Sophia-Antipolis, France, reported results from a Phase IIa study showing that NCX 4016 is more effective than aspirin and placebo at preventing platelet activation induced by acute hyperglycemia in diabetic patients. NCX 4016 is...

Pluristem Life Systems Inc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Pluristem Life Systems Inc., of Haifa, Israel, completed private placements totaling $3.2 million, part of which was reported in January, to further its development efforts, expand the company's infrastructure and for working capital. The...

Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Raleigh, N.C., entered a co-promotion agreement with Altana Pharma U.S., a subsidiary of Konstanz, Germany-based Altana AG's pharmaceutical division, to promote Xifaxan (rifaximin) tablets to treat noninvasive E. coli strains.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Raleigh, N.C., entered a co-promotion agreement with Altana Pharma U.S., a subsidiary of Konstanz, Germany-based Altana AG's pharmaceutical division, to promote Xifaxan (rifaximin) tablets to treat noninvasive...

Sinovac Biotech Ltd.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Sinovac Biotech Ltd., of Beijing, extended the expiration date of warrants issued in the private placement that closed Feb. 24 until April 30, in order to raise additional capital. The exercise price of the warrants, starting at $1.70 per...

Solexa Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and Lynx Therapeutics Inc., of Hayward, Calif., completed their $56 million merger.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Solexa Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and Lynx Therapeutics Inc., of Hayward, Calif., completed their $56 million merger. The entity will be called Solexa Inc., with Solexa Ltd. becoming a wholly owned UK subsidiary. The company has listed on the...

TopoTarget A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, acquired G2M Cancer Drugs AG, of Frankfurt, Germany, to strengthen its position in the area of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * TopoTarget A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, acquired G2M Cancer Drugs AG, of Frankfurt, Germany, to strengthen its position in the area of histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. G2M, which was founded in March 2001, has two therapies in clinical...

UCB Group SA, of Brussels, Belgium, and ChemBridge Corp., of San Diego, agreed to a collaboration that will advance UCB's drug discovery efforts, based on multiple discovery chemistry projects by ChemBridge scientists funded by UCB.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * UCB Group SA, of Brussels, Belgium, and ChemBridge Corp., of San Diego, agreed to a collaboration that will advance UCB's drug discovery efforts, based on multiple discovery chemistry projects by ChemBridge scientists funded by UCB. UCB said...

UK government.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * The UK government announced a large increase in the science budget that will see the amount spent on biotechnology rise from 287 million [pounds sterling] (US$549.3 million) in the current year to 381 million [pounds sterling] per year by...

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, of Costa Mesa, Calif., received approval from the European Medicines Agency to market Tasmar (tolcapone) in the European Union.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, of Costa Mesa, Calif., received approval from the European Medicines Agency to market Tasmar (tolcapone) in the European Union. The company acquired the product from Basel, Switzerland-based F....

Xenova Group plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Xenova Group plc, of Slough, UK, reported preliminary 12-month findings from the second Phase I trial of TANIC, the company's therapeutic vaccine being developed for the treatment of nicotine addiction. A total of 60 subjects who smoked...

Zealand Pharmaceuticals A/S, of Glostrup, Denmark, gained a "significant" milestone payment from Sanofi-Aventis Group, of Paris, following the completion of a Phase IIa trial of AVE0010, a glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist it licensed to Sanofi-Aventis as a treatment for Type II diabetes.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
March 9, 2005... * Zealand Pharmaceuticals A/S, of Glostrup, Denmark, gained a "significant" milestone payment from Sanofi-Aventis Group, of Paris, following the completion of a Phase IIa trial of AVE0010, a glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist it licensed to...

Boehringer Ingelheim terminates MIV-310 plans; Medivir shares fall.
March 16, 2005... Shares in Medivir AB dropped by 21.25 percent Tuesday on news that partner Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH opted to discontinue development of the HIV drug MIV-310 (alovudine) following a Phase IIa trial in which the compound failed to attain a...