Medicure licensed Aggrastat, which is approved for acute coronary syndrome, from MGI Pharma Inc., of Bloomington, Minn. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 10, 2006...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...Vical Inc., of San Diego, has begun enrollment of the 20th hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient in

However, founding CEO Tim Sharpington said that after reaching clinical proof of principle in the new indication, the aim will be to chemically modify compounds to produce novel chemical entities...Some we would expect to out-license at Phase II because they are big pharma plays, which a company like us would struggle to take to registration," Sharpington said...The company also appointed Lebovits as its president.

In May NicOx halted the development of another drug candidate, NCX 1000, which was undergoing a Phase IIa clinical trial for the treatment of portal hypertension and was being co-developed with Axcan Pharma, of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec...StemCells Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., said the Phase I clinical trial of its proprietary HuCNS-SC product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) has completed enrollment of the low-dose cohort and will proceed to the high-dose cohort

Osiris, which develops therapeutics based on human mesenchymal stem cells derived from donor adult bone marrow, has one product on the market, Osteocel, for regenerating bone in orthopedic indications...7TM Pharma A/S, of Horsholm, Denmark, raised DKK123 million (US$22.2 million) in a financing round led by SR One Ltd., with support from existing investors

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., presented data at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago showing that a therapeutic regimen that employs Velcade (bortezomib) for newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients, called Total Therapy 3 (TT3), generated a complete response and near-complete response rate of 84 percent when used prior to and as maintenance following stem cell transplantation, compared to 68 percent for previously reported results from Total

Cardiome Pharma Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said underwriters of its cross-border public offering of 8 million shares exercised in full their overallotment option to purchase an additional 1.2 million shares priced at $10.50 each...Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., of Calgary, Alberta, proposed a C$2 million (US$1.7 million) unit offering, with each C20-cent unit to be comprised of one common share and one half of one common share purchase warrant exercisable for 24 months at a price of C25

The study has been open since June, with the first cohort of patients receiving intra-coronary artery infusions of a specified number of stem cells...The revised clinical development plan also includes a Phase II study to evaluate CPP-109 in methamphetamine addition...MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, said results from its Phase II study evaluating three low dose regimens of Dacogen (decitabine) for injection in myelodysplastic syndromes and chronic myelomonocytic leukemia showed a 73 percent objective

The company has a clinical pipeline full of immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory compounds, as well as kinase- and ligase-inhibitor programs and a placental-derived stem cell program in development...Subsidiaries of SR Pharma include Berlin-based Atugen AG, which specializes in RNAi therapeutics, and London-based Stanford Rook Ltd., which is seeking to license its clinical-stage Mycobacterium vaccae-based technology and related products for asthma, cancer and tuberculosis. #kicker123

The product was in-licensed from Tokyo-based Asahi Kasei Pharma Corp. (AKP), which has developed the product in Asian territories and recently submitted a new drug application in Japan...Leading up to the Series A round, AKP and NGN "worked to refine a clinical development plan and business plan," said Jeff Wager, president and CEO of Artisan...Medior was spun-out of Trellis Bioscience Inc., of South San Francisco.

Clinical trials are expected to begin later this year...MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, said the European Medicines Agency has granted Dacogen (decitabine) for Injection orphan designation in acute myeloid leukemia...Dacogen is being co-developed by MGI Pharma and Janssen-Cilag, a unit of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson

Acceleron Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., initiated a Phase I trial of ACE-011, a regenerative therapeutic for bone loss disease, particularly osteoporosis...Celtic Pharma Holdings LP, of New York, reported preliminary results of two Phase II studies of TA-CD, an immunotherapy vaccine for cocaine addiction, including data from a Phase IIa study in volunteers who reported a substantial reduction in the amount of cocaine used after developing good levels of anti-cocaine antibodies in their blood

Net proceeds will be used to fund the preclinical and clinical development of the company’s product candidates and for capital and general corporate purposes...Chemokine focuses on developing drugs that harness the therapeutic potential of stem cells through chemokine pathways

All of the shares are outstanding, and most were sold by Endo's largest shareholder, Endo Pharma LLC, which now holds about 17 percent of Endo's outstanding common stock...The company said it expects to use proceeds to fund clinical development and other research and development activities, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes...Proceeds from the offering are expected to be used for clinical development of TH-070 in symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia, glucosfamide for

The Actinomycetes have been pharma's favorite microbe for decades," Farnet observed, "but there has been a suspicion that maybe the well had run dry...Their article is titled: "Hematopoietic stem cells retain long-term repopulating activity and multipotency in the absence of stem-cell leukemia SCL/tal-1 gene

once active leads identified, Immunex will elect whether to continue preclinical development with ArQule or to exclusively license leads to ArQule for clinical and commercial development (in exchange for milestones and royalties