Illumina Inc., of San Diego, urged stockholders to reject acquisition efforts by Basel, Switzerland-based Roche AG, and to vote for Illumina's slate of director nominees at the 2012 annual stockholders' meeting April 18

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, is facing a complaint filed by shareholder and activist investor Carl Icahn seeking an extension of the deadline permitting shareholders to nominate directors to the company's board...AnaptysBio Inc., of San Diego, said it inked a partnership with Summit, N.J.-based Celgene Corp

In his letter to Amylin's board, Icahn said the firm has the potential to be sold at a significant premium and alleged that the company lacks sufficient scale "to achieve the optimal benefit from its products...EpiCept retains commercial rights to F573/EP1013 in other markets...A year ago, the biotech closed a $4 million financing to help it negotiate partnerships for its biosimilar human insulin, cardiovascular candidate Apo AIMilano and other biosimilar products

Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said in an SEC filing that partner Procter & Gamble Co., of Cincinnati, elected not to exercise its option to negotiate for rights to an over-the-counter (OTC) version of insomnia drug Silenor (doxepin), under the terms of the companies' 2010 agreement

In other news, AMT reported that shareholders have approved all the resolutions proposed for a corporate restructuring and financing transaction, which will result in the assets and certain liabilities being acquired by a newly formed private company, uniQure BV...Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, and Vical Inc., of San Diego, finalized the design for a pivotal Phase III trial of TransVax cytomegalovirus vaccine for transplant recipients, triggering a $10 million milestone payment to Vical

It plans to file the draft registration submission in June for the repurposed medication designed to treat premature ejaculation...Illumina Inc., of San Diego, said its board has unanimously rejected Basel, Switzerland-based Roche AG's revised offer to acquire Illumina for $51 per share in cash and has urged stockholders not to tender shares. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 26, 2012

Optimer Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, will grant inducement stock options for 27,000 shares of common stock to seven new employees...Protox Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, and Vancouver, British Columbia, changed its name to Sophiris Bio Inc...Vical Inc., of San Diego, and Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, finalized the design for a pivotal Phase III trial of TransVax cytomegalo vaccine for transplant recipients, triggering a $10 million milestone payment to Vical

Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said it increased its offer to buy San Diego-based tools firm Illumina Inc...Illumina urged shareholders to defer taking action on the latest bid. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 26, 2012

to discover and develop therapeutics designed to modulate beta-cell regeneration for the treatment of diabetes...Those and other data are expected to be presented at the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Chicago...Zogenix Inc., of San Diego, said it finalized its agreement with R&D group Battelle to advance out-licensing opportunities and development of Zogenix's DosePro drug delivery technology

Allena Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newton, Mass., licensed exclusive worldwide rights to San Diego-based Althea Technologies Inc.'s broad hyperoxaluria portfolio, including Phase I compound ALTU-237...Vical Inc., of San Diego, said researchers at Ehime University in Japan developed a Vaxfectin-formulated DNA vaccine candidate with the potential to prevent transmission of malaria

Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said the Michael J. Fox Foundation awarded it a grant worth $322,000 for further development of Nurr1-RXT selective agonists for Parkinson's disease...Terms called for Lee to pay $400,000 up front plus aggregate potential milestone payments of up to $3.6 million and royalties ranging from low double digits to high single digits on commercial sales...Lee's also will pay for development costs associated with each product candidate, while RegeneRx will provide

In other news, Addex reported top-line data showing that a Phase IIa trial testing dipraglurant, a small-molecule allosteric modulator, in Parkinson's disease patients suffering from debilitating levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) met its primary endpoint, with the drug exhibiting a good safety and tolerability profile...In other news, AstraZeneca said subanalysis data from its VOYAGER study suggested that achieving an LDL-C goal of less than 70 mg/dL or a greater than 50 percent reduction in LDL-C

Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said it will extend its $5.7 billion offer to acquire tools firm Illumina Inc., of San Diego, to April 20

Verenium Corp., of San Diego, said it completed a transaction with DSM Food Specialties BV, a group of Royal DSM NV, of Sittard, the Netherlands, selling its oilseed processing business, licensing enzymes for use in the food and beverage markets and providing access to gene libraries to be developed by Verenium

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, and Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, gained the European Commission's approval to expand marketing of Byetta (exenatide twice-daily) as an adjunctive therapy to basal insulin, with or without metformin and/or Actos (pioglitazone, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.), for the treatment of Type II diabetes...Enodcyte plans to file for European approval based on a Phase II trial that failed to hit statistical significance for progression-free survival in the

Addex Pharmaceuticals SA, of Geneva, changed its name to Addex Therapeutics, reflecting its focus on small molecule-based therapeutics...VistaGen Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco, entered a collaboration with Vala Sciences Inc., of San Diego, to advance drug safety screening methods in clinically relevant human in vitro bioassay systems

His lab will continue to elaborate on the molecular immunologic mechanisms by which live, attenuated strains of Listeria monocytogenes can effect therapeutic changes in cancer and other diseases...Aegerion seeks to market the drug as an adjunct to a low-fat diet and lipid-lowering therapies in patients with the condition

Under the terms, Flamel issued a $12 million senior note to Eclat Holdings LLC and agreed to pay Eclat Holdings an earnout payment of 20 percent of the gross profit generated by the Eclat launch products...In other news, Medivir said it will file an application in Europe to start Phase I trials of MIV-711, a cathepsin K inhibitor aimed at treating bone disorders such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis or bone metastases

Illumina Inc., of San Diego, said its board sent a letter urging stockholders to reject the unsolicited bid by Basel, Switzerland-based Roche AG