Combined with existing capital, those funds are expected to enable Array to advance six wholly owned small-molecule drug programs through clinical proof-of-concept studies while continuing discovery research to expand its internal drug pipeline...Protox said it plans to use proceeds primarily to finance and accelerate its clinical activities...Regimmune Corp., of Mountain View, Calif., closed a Series B round totaling $8 million to advance its lead program, RGI-2001, into clinical trials for graft-vs

OrbiMed Advisors LLC, of New York, led the round...In fact, the "majority of the funds" will be devoted to that program, Kueppers told BioWorld Today, with the aim of achieving clinical validation of its Anticalin platform, positioning the firm to attract big pharma partners down the road

That trial, started in January, is testing TR-701 against New York-based Pfizer Inc.'s Zyvox, the only approved oxazolidinone compound, in 88 subjects with serious Gram-positive bacterial infections, including those caused by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other drug-resistant strains...The remaining $382,000 was funded in cash by Chromos and will be used to fund operations at Agrisoma.

Akela Pharma Inc., of Montreal, said that, due to GLP deviations, the six-month inhalation preclinical toxicology studies for Fentanyl Taifun were deemed invalid by the FDA...Neuro-Hitech Inc., of New York, said top-line results from a Phase II clinical trial showed that patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease receiving the high dosages of Huperzine A demonstrated a moderate improvement in cognitive function

Callisto Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, has restructured its license agreement with Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., for Atiprimod, Callisto's lead drug to treat advanced carcinoid cancer...Ltd., of Ashiya, Japan, which was triggered when JCR filed notice to start clinical trials with Prochymal in graft-vs.-host disease in Japan

LifeCycle Pharma A/S, of Horsholm, Denmark, started a Phase I trial of LCP-Siro, which contains the immunosuppressant sirolimus (Rapamune, Wyeth), in healthy volunteers...Sucampo Pharma Ltd., of Tokyo, a Japanese subsidiary of Sucampo Pharmaceuticals Inc., initiated a Phase IIb study in Japan to evaluate lubiprostone in adult chronic idiopathic constipation...Supratek Pharma Inc., of Montreal, received a special protocol assessment from the FDA for a Phase III trial to compare SP1049C plus best

7TM Pharma A/S, of Horsholm, Denmark, said data from a double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-ranging Phase I/II obesity trial showed that Obinepitide effectively inhibits food intake...clinical centers will join the more than 40 in Australia and Europe already participating in the trial, with a target of 640 patients...Manhattan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, published data from a randomized, controlled, single-blind, 73-patient clinical trial comparing Hedrin to malathion in the treatment of

MI acquired Onalta from Novartis Pharma AG, of Basel, Switzerland, in January to complement Azedra...BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., of New York, completed a second equity financing with ACCBT Corp., a company under the control of BrainStorm's President, Chaim Lebovits

IDM Pharma Inc., of Irvine, Calif., reported updated results from a Phase II trial of melanoma vaccine Uvidem, showing that the drug induced immune response and was well tolerated in patients with advanced disease...Immtech Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, completed its first exploratory malaria prevention trial of oral drug candidate pafuramidine, and said it intends to move forward with development of a prevention program

In its early stage partnership, Vitae and the big pharma firm from Ingelheim, Germany, will "pool our respective programs" targeting 11beta-HSD1 (11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase Type I), a target that "seems to have tremendous potential" in treating diabetes and might have broad applications across the metabolic disease space, Hatfield told BioWorld Today...PS178990 has completed a Phase I single-ascending dose study, and it becomes the seventh clinical-stage program in Princeton, N.J.-based

Antigenics Inc., of New York, said that the Brain Tumor Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco has initiated a Phase II clinical trial of Oncophage (vitespen), Antigenics' investigational patient-specific cancer vaccine, for the treatment of recurrent glioma...Zealand Pharma AS, of Denmark, said it received a milestone payment from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, of Collegeville, Pa., for the advancement of the first orally available gap junction modifier ZP1609 (GAP-134) into Phase

The small molecule drug discovery company "probably has as many people working on basic, research-level HCV as a lot of your big pharma" firms, said Kevin DeGeeter, analyst with Oppenheimer & Co...It's not that the disease is intractable," he said, but that groundwork has not been properly laid before starting clinical trials...Leerink Swann, A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., Merriman Curhan Ford & Co., RBC Capital Markets Inc, and Noble Financial Group served as financial advisors.

FermaVir Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, and academic collaborators from the Rega Institute for Medical Research and Cardiff University reported preclinical data for FV-100, an oral, bicyclic nucleoside analogue for herpes zoster infections...Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, and Astellas Pharma US Inc., of Deerfield, Ill., said Phase III results of telavancin in the 200-patient subset of surgical-site-associated, Gram-positive complicated skin and skin structure infections (cSSSI) showed

Pfizer Inc., of New York, initiated a global Phase III trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of sunitinib malate, in combination with erlotinib, in previously treated patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer...Zealand Pharma A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said it is advancing ZP1846 into Phase I trials in the U.S. ZP1846, a peptide that incorporates Zealand's SIP technology, is being developed as a therapy for the prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced diarrhea

In her previous position at Apax Partners, Oliva invested in ESP Pharma, a company co-founded by Weisman and later sold to PDL BioPharma Inc...NeoStem Inc., of New York, raised $6.3 million in a public offering to drive its business of collecting, processing and storing stem cells from healthy adults

Callisto Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, closed an $11.2 million private placement...Azur Pharma Ltd., of Dublin, Ireland, completed a $48 million private placement, representing 28 percent of its outstanding shares

Not the average biotech start-up, Talecris was founded in April 2005, with backing from venture capital firms New York-based Cerberus Capital Management and Wellesley, Mass.-based Ampersand Ventures, to purchase the Bayer's plasma business, which included the widely prescribed liquid IVIG product, Gamunex (immune globulin intravenous [human]), approved in the U.S...In its development pipeline, the company has started early clinical testing of Plasmin, a human plasma-derived thrombolytic...MND

Some preclinical data, being published by the New York Academy of Sciences, demonstrated that the orally bioavailable small-molecule adrenal steroid hormone produced a statistically significant reduction in disease in a rodent model of arthritis...A Phase I/II clinical trial is planned in rheumatoid arthritis patients for the fourth quarter of 2007, as is a separate multidose Phase I study of HE3286 for metabolic disorders under the company's open IND...LifeCycle Pharma A/S, of Horsholm, Denmark, said

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tustin, Calif., has submitted a clinical protocol with the drug controller general of India for a Phase II trial of bavituximab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer...Ziopharm Oncology Inc., of New York, reported positive interim data from an ongoing Phase II study of ZIO-201 (isophosphoramide mustard) in advanced sarcoma patients