Derma Sciences Inc., of Princeton, N.J., said patient screening started in the second of two Phase III trials testing topical drug candidate DSC127 for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers

Medicago Inc., of Quebec City, and the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) in Seattle reported interim results from a Phase I trial testing an H5N1 avian influenza virus-like particle vaccine candidate, showing that it was safe and well tolerated and induced a solid immune response exceeding the three Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use immunogenicity criteria for licensure of influenza vaccines

Bone Therapeutics SA, of Gosselies, Belgium, said its partner, the Rheumatology Department of Erasme University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, initiated a Phase IIa trial testing lead bone cell therapy product, Preob, for the treatment of severe osteoporosis patients who do not respond to pharmacological treatment

Tengion Inc., of Winston-Salem, N.C., said the firm's clinical trial application was accepted in Sweden to start a Phase I trial testing its Neo-Kidney Augment in up to five patients with advanced chronic kidney disease

CureVac GmbH, of Tubingen, Germany, said it started a Phase IIb trial testing RNActive cancer vaccine CV9104 in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer...Lightlake Therapeutics Inc., of London, said data from a Phase II trial testing opioid antagonist nasal spray for patients with binge eating disorder showed that patients in the intranasal naloxone group showed a statistically significant 75.2 percent reduction in binge eating

Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., said the data and safety monitoring board recommended that the ongoing Phase III trial testing a once-daily fixed-dose combination of nucleotide sofosbuvir and NS5A inhibitor ledipasvir with and without ribavirin for 12 weeks or 24 weeks in treatment-naïve genotype 1 hepatitis C patients continue without modification...Symbio Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Tokyo, said it started enrolling patients in its Japanese Phase I trial testing oral rigosertib in front

EGEN Inc., of Huntsville, Ala., said it started a Phase I trial testing immunotherapy agent EGEN-001 in combination with pegylated liposomal doxorubicin for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer...Pluristem Therapeutics Inc., of Haifa, Israel, said the first group of six patients has been dosed in its ongoing Phase I/II trial testing PLacental Expanded (PLX) cells in the treatment of muscle injury, without a significant adverse event related to either placebo or the PLX cell product candidate

Presidio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Francisco, said it entered a nonexclusive collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, for a Phase IIa trial testing an interferon-free, all-oral, direct-acting antiviral combination treatment for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection

Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., said the data safety monitoring board of the IMPROVE-IT trial testing cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) completed its planned review and recommended that the study continue

Bio-Path Holdings Inc., of Houston, said it started enrolling patients in the fifth dosage cohort in its Phase I trial testing BP-100-1.01 (liposomal Grb-2) as a systemic treatment for blood cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome

Oncolytics Biotech Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, said it completed patient enrollment in a Phase II trial testing intravenous administration of oncolytic virus candidate Reolysin in combination with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer with KRAS or EGFR-activated tumors...Silence Therapeutics plc, of London, said it received formal approval from German regulators for a Phase Ib/IIa combination trial testing Atu027, its anti-metastatic RNAi compound, in combination

Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Greenwood Village, Colo., said it dosed the first patient in a 505(b)(2) trial testing Optina in adults with recent onset diabetic macular edema (DME

Integrated BioTherapeutics Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said it started a Phase I trial testing the safety and immunogenicity of its staphylococcal enterotoxin B vaccine, STEBVax, in healthy adults

Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., said it completed enrollment in a Phase II trial testing CTP-499 in diabetic kidney disease

BioLineRx Ltd., of Jerusalem, said results from the interim analysis of the Phase II/III CLARITY trial testing BL-1020, an oral GABA-enhanced antipsychotic for schizophrenia, will be reported the week of March 18

Arteriocyte Inc., of Cleveland, said it received FDA approval to start a Phase I trial testing its Magellan System technology in the treatment of thermal burn wounds...VG Life Sciences Inc., of San Marino, Calif., said it completed the first stage of its Phase I trial testing one of its MDT compounds, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), in combination with Nexavar (sorafenib, Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer AG) in ovarian cancer

Medgenics Inc., of Misgav, Israel, said the first patient was enrolled in a Phase I/II trial testing its Infradure Biopump in hepatitis C virus (HCV...Mesoblast Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said it received clearance from the FDA to start a Phase II trial testing a single intravenous infusion of allogeneic mesenchymal precursor cells (MPCs) for the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis (RA

OncoPep Inc., of Boston, said it started a Phase I/IIa trial testing PVX-410, a multipeptide therapeutic cancer vaccine, in patients with smoldering multiple myeloma

Advanced Cell Technology Inc., of Marlborough, Mass., said it is amending the patient treatment protocol for the remainder of its Phase I trials testing human embryonic cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells in Stargardt's macular dystrophy and dry age-related macular degeneration to allow patients with better vision, defined as a visual acuity of 20/100 to enroll in the studies