Clinigen Group plc, of Burton-on-Trent, UK, and Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, entered an exclusive commercialization agreement in the European Union and certain other countries located in Europe for Vibativ (telavancin) in nosocomial pneumonia, including ventilator-associated pneumonia, known or suspected to be caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, when other alternatives are not suitable...Kadcyla is marketed by Roche AG unit Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco

Clinigen Group plc, of Burton-on-Trent, UK, and Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, entered an exclusive commercialization agreement in the European Union and certain other countries located in Europe for Vibativ (telavancin) in nosocomial pneumonia, including ventilator-associated pneumonia, known or suspected to be caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, when other alternatives are not suitable

Array BioPharma Inc., of Boulder, Colo., and Global Blood Therapeutics, of South San Francisco, inked a multitarget drug discovery collaboration to identify small-molecule lead compounds targeting chronic blood-based diseases...Kadcyla is marketed by Roche AG unit Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco

Aciex Therapeutics Inc., of Boston, said it entered a research agreement with Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, providing Aciex with exclusive rights to develop Portola's small-molecule dual SYK/JAK inhibitors for ophthalmic indications...Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, said the FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee is scheduled to review the firm's new drug application (NDA) for Probuphine for the maintenance treatment of adults with opioid

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., and Adynxx Inc., of San Francisco, said that they have entered into an option agreement providing Cubist the exclusive right to acquire privately held Adynxx following the data readout of its Phase II trial for lead product candidate, AYX1, as a potential treatment for the reduction of acute pain and prevention of persistent and chronic pain following surgery...Jennerex Inc., of San Francisco, and Lee's Pharmaceutical Holdings, of Hong Kong

Exelixis Inc., of South San Francisco, partnered with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi), of Stockholm, Sweden, to distribute and commercialize Cometriq (cabozantinib) for metastatic medullary thyroid cancer in the European Union and potentially other countries...Shimojani LLC, of San Francisco, licensed an invention from Nigata University that it said has potential to substantially reduce the risk of hemorrhage in acute ischemic stroke patients, including those who receive tissue plasminogen

JDRF, of New York, and the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, of San Francisco, each will contribute $3 million to develop a stem cell therapy at ViaCyte Inc., of San Diego

Jennerex Inc., of San Francisco, published a study showing that its lead cancer candidate, Pexa-Vec (JX-594), disrupted blood supply to a tumor

Six current and former female pharmaceutical sales representatives of Daiichi Sankyo, of San Francisco, a unit of Daiichi Sankyo Co

Concerns over the potential toxicity of BCX5191 also led to the termination of a proposed merger between BioCryst and Presidio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, which had been intended, in part, to combine the two companies' work in HCV. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 27, 2012, and Dec. 3, 2012...Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, and Lee's Pharmaceutical Ltd., of Hong Kong, will jointly expand the Phase III APEX trial of betrixaban into China

to test AXL1717, an oral small-molecule insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor inhibitor, in patients with malignant astrocytomas, a type of brain tumor...In other news, Novartis said the FDA approved a new use of Gleevec (imatinib) to treat children newly diagnosed with Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, part of the Roche Group, said the FDA approved Avastin (bevacizumab) for use in combination with fluoropyrimidine-irinotecan- or fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) whose disease has progressed on a first-line Avastin-containing regimen

Exelixis Inc., of South San Francisco, began selling Cometriq (cabozantinib) in the U.S...Genentech, of South San Francisco, a member of the Roche Group, said the FDA gave its go-ahead to a new use of already approved cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab) in combination with fluoropyrimidine-based irinotecan or oxaliplatin chemotherapy for people with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC

Hyperion Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco, said the FDA advised the company not to expect a final action on its new drug application (NDA) for Ravicti (glycerol phenylbutyrate) by the PDUFA date of Jan. 23...Oxigene Inc., of South San Francisco, said Nasdaq informed the company it had regained compliance with the minimum $1 bid price requirement for continued listing

Velocity Pharmaceutical Development LLC, of South San Francisco, entered a licensing agreement with EuMederis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, to pursue a drug development program using EuMederis' EuPort technology, which optimizes the pharmaceutical properties of peptide drugs...Research and further development will be funded and carried out through a special purpose development company, Spitfire Pharma Inc., of South San Francisco

Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, and GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, submitted a marketing authorization application in the European Union for UMEC-VI, for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

StemPar Sciences Inc., of San Francisco, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center entered a license agreement through which StemPar plans to develop cancer therapeutics based on compounds designed by researchers at the two universities

Under the agreement, Pepscan will use its CLIPS platform and other protein mimicry technologies to help discover new antibodies...to purchase up to 1 million shares, or about 1.06 percent of the company's outstanding stock, at a price of $161.25 per share, marking a 4.46 percent discount to the Dec. 27 closing price

Aragon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said that the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, granted summary adjudication in Aragon's favor on its Complaint in Intervention against Medivation Inc