The companies have agreed to collaborate in China on the development and commercialization of the subcutaneous formulation of BMS' Orencia (abatacept), for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis...Costs related to the reorganization are not expected to have a material effect on the group's finances

As part of that process Royalty Pharma, of New York, will be invited to participate...According to Royalty, a "sufficient number of these ADSs" voted against Elan's proposed $1 billion cash acquisition of a royalty stream from South San Francisco-based Theravance Inc...related to its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drug collaboration with London-based Glaxosmithkline plc, as well as Elan's proposed buyout of Vienna, Austria-based AOP Pharmaceuticals AG for €263.5 million (US$348.8 million) in

Astrazeneca will have first rights to the molecules discovered through the agreement and can choose further development in exchange for royalty payments to Cancer Research Technology...The big pharma will have first rights of negotiation on any promising drug targets that result from the testing agreement

Xgeva previously gained approval in 2010 to prevent fractures when cancer has spread to the bone. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 22, 2010...Madera has identified small-molecule compounds designed to increase the expression of apolipoprotein E (apoE), which has been shown to mediate beta-amyloid clearance from the brain and prevent its accumulation into the plaques that are characteristic of Alzheimer's

Aphios Corp., of Woburn, Mass., said it entered joint research collaboration and commercialization agreements with Vivacell Biotechnology Espana SL, of Cordoba, Spain, to develop therapeutics for multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system...That is in contrast to some other antibiotics, such as linezolid (Zyvox), which causes drug interactions when taken with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors...Zealand

Bioalliance Pharma SA, of Paris, started a Phase II trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Validive (clonidine Lauriad) in the U.S...In other news, Biolinerx said it signed an out-licensing agreement with Jiagsu chia-tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Co

Breckenridge Pharmaceutical Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla., entered into a development agreement with Welding GmbH & Co., of Hamburg, Germany, and SK Chemicals, of Seoul, South Korea, to develop and market an undisclosed drug candidate with potential U.S.-branded sales of approximately $500 million...Fluzone Quadrivalent vaccine includes two A strains and two B strains to help protect against influenza disease

Safyral is approved to prevent pregnancy in women who elect to use an oral contraceptive and to provide a daily dose of folate supplementation

Royalty Pharma, of New York, extended until June 21 the $6.4 billion offer to buy Elan Corp...The company expects to enter a third agreement (separation agreement) governing other terms of the firms' business relationship

Astellas Pharma US Inc., of Northbrook, Ill., part of Astellas Pharma Inc., entered a distribution agreement with Tecnofarma International Ltd., of Buenos Ares, Argentina, to distribute enzalutamide (Xtandi in the U.S.) in Latin America, excluding Brazil, upon regulatory approvals in the various countries

Under priority review, the FDA aims to complete its review within an eight-month review cycle

according to the protocol, all patients were to have been treated with both bortezomib and lenalidomide prior to study entry...Based on the positive results GSK said it is planning to make regulatory submissions in Europe, the U.S., as well as other regions during the next few

Horizon Pharma Inc., of Deerfield, Ill., said in an SEC filing that it provided written notice to Mallinckrodt LLC, the pharmaceuticals business of Dublin, Ireland-based Covidien LLC, of the termination of the companies' co-promotion agreement dated June 14, 2012, effective 30 days after the date of such notice...to purchase all of the outstanding capital stock of ProFibrix, subject to the former's satisfactory review of the pending Phase III trial results with Fibrocaps, a dry powder topical

to manufacture, market and sell six dermatology and three antiviral products from GSK...patients to continue to have access to treatments and allows the Stiefel U.S

AstraZeneca is planning to develop ISIS-ARRx broadly to treat patients under a variety of settings during the course of prostate cancer treatment, including both as a single agent and in combination therapy...Maxygen Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., said its board approved the liquidation and dissolution of the company, subject to shareholder approval, and plans to distribute all available cash to its shareholders after making reasonable provision for known and potential liabilities and other

Shire plc, of Dublin, settled litigation against Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., a division of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Jerusalem, related to Teva's abbreviated new drug application for a generic version of Shire's Intuniv (guanfacince) for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder...The settlement allows Teva a license to market its own generic versions of Intuniv or authorized versions of Intuniv provided by Shire

If approved, Lojuxta will be indicated as an adjunct to a low-fat diet and other lipid-lowering medicinal products with or without low density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis in adult patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH...according to the protocol, all patients were to have been treated with both bortezomib and lenalidomide prior to study entry

As of the end of April, 943 employees, or about 77 percent, have had their future employment status clarified, including 300 employees who accepted the offer of transfers to other Merck Serono sites, 43 people who were redeployed through the creation of seven start-up companies and 80 employees that accepted early retirement...Merck Serono decided last year to shutter its Geneva headquarters. (See BioWorld Today, June 20, 2012

In other news, Perrigo received approval for the generic version of Sanctura XR (trospium chloride; Allergan Inc.) to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of urge urinary incontinence, urgency and urinary frequency