plc, of Dublin, Ireland, published a response to an offer made by Echo Pharma Acquisition Ltd. (Royalty Pharma) on May 2...Helsinn Healthcare SA, of Lugano, Switzerland, and Vifor Pharma, of Villars-sur-Glane, Switzerland, signed an exclusive license and distribution agreement for netupitant-palonosetron fixed-dose combination, an investigational Helsinn product for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, giving rights to Vifor to distribute the product in Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal

Allergan licensed rights to the Darpin technology from Molecular Partners AG for development in AMD and other eye diseases. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 22, 2012.) And Eylea has fared well so far against Roche AG's Lucentis (ranibizumab), due to its lower cost and a label that calls for less frequent dosing, and even to cancer drug Avastin (bevacizumab), a cheaper, off-label alternative

Armgo Pharma Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., and the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) said $1 million was awarded for preclinical work in support of an investigational new drug application for AMR201, an oral, small-molecule Rycal drug that has the potential to treat Duchenne's muscular dystrophy...In separate news, another Galapagos unit, Argenta, inked a deal with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, to apply its respiratory drug discovery services to an undisclosed target within

As a result of the amendment, Takeda assumes full responsibility for Omontys and, should the big pharma opt to re-introduce the drug to the market, Affymax would be eligible to receive royalties and potential commercial milestone payments totaling up to $180 million

Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., of Toronto, said it signed a definitive debenture purchase and merger agreement with Trillium Therapeutics Inc., also of Toronto, and its debenture holders, who also comprise the preferred shareholders...In other news, SCT closed its previously announced private placement for gross proceeds of C$3.2 million (US$3.1 million

Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., of Toronto, inked a joint venture agreement with ReNeu Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, and NexGen Medical Systems Inc., of Melbourne, Fla., under which SCT and NexGen will license their respective technologies to ReNeu, a company formed to commercialize drug-based therapies to treat central nervous system disorders in combination with devices and processes for direct-to-brain administration

to Firdapse, a drug in development for Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome BioMarin agreed to invest $5M in Catalyst under a promissory note and note purchase agreement 11/1/12 Colby Pharmaceutical Co. (San Jose, Calif.) MannKind Corp. (Valencia, Calif.) $140 Deal for disease-specific antigen compounds and intra-lymph node injection (INLI) technologies from its MKC1106 cancer vaccine program Colby is paying up to $140M in up-front and milestone payments to MannKind, which also will receive tiered

Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, said its board approved certain amendments to the firm's existing shareholder rights plan to decrease the exercise price of the preferred stock purchase rights from $14 to $8 and to extend the final expiration date from the close of business on the third anniversary of Jan. 7, 2010, to the close of business on Dec. 3, 2015

Erytech Pharma, of Lyon, France, said it entered a definitive agreement granting Orphan Europe, part of the Recordati Group, of Milano, Italy, exclusive rights for the commercialization and distribution of Graspa in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in Europe...Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., of Toronto, said management and the board of directors are recommending the consolidation of the outstanding shares

XenoPort licensed worldwide rights, excluding Asian territories, to Horizant to GSK in 2007 for $75 million in cash up front, $65 million in milestones leading up to the filing of a new drug application and an additional $210 million in other development and regulatory milestones, plus as much as $290 million in sales milestones...Immune Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Herzlyia-Pituach, Israel, and EpiCept Corp., of Tarrytown, N.Y., entered a merger agreement, anticipated to close in the first quarter of

Kite Pharma Inc., of Los Angeles, entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the National Cancer Institute for the development and commercialization of novel engineered peripheral blood autologous T-cell therapeutics for the treatment of multiple cancer indications

AspenBio Pharma Inc., of Castle Rock, Colo., said it is proposing to change its name to Venaxis Inc...Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, said CT-1578's (previously known as SB-1578) unique kinase spectrum that selectively inhibits JAK2 over JAK1 or JAK3, coupled with its inhibition of FLT-3 and c-Fms, produced potency in not only preventing the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but also in its treatment and reversal of bone and joint destruction after the onset of RA in preclinical models

Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) agreed to collaborate on drug discovery research for leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and sleeping sickness...In other news, Boehringer and Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, presented results from two Phase II studies of their investigational basal insulin analogue LY2605541 at the American Diabetes Association meeting in Philadelphia...Erytech Pharma, of Lyon, France, said the European Committee for Orphan Medicinal

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Ltd., of Tel Aviv, Israel, received the first installment of approximately $350,000 of the 2012 grant from Israel's Office of the Chief Scientist...LEO Pharma, of Ballerup, Denmark, initiated a global search for new partners in dermatology, following its shift in R&D focus last year

Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, received conditional marketing authorization from the European Commission for Pixuvri (pixantrone) as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with multiply relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas...Teijin Pharma Ltd., of Tokyo, launched febuxostat, for hyperuricemia of gout, in Taiwan

AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., and Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, said they began a collaboration with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Oncology Research Program to develop tivozanib for solid tumors...Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, said the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) gave a positive opinion on conditional approval of Pixuvri (pixantrone dimaleate) for non-Hodgkin's B-cell lymphomas...Shares of Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTIC

Shares of Cell Therapeutics (NASDAQ:CTIC) gained 17 cents, or 14.9 percent, to close Friday at $1.31. (See BioWorld Today, May 4, 2011...Innate Pharma SA, of Marseilles, France, said its scientific co-founder Eric Vivier, a professor at the Center of Immunology of Marseille-Luminy, published preclinical data in Science showing mice that do not express the NK activating receptor NKp46 have an enhanced resistance to some viral infections...Innate Pharma and INSERM, the French National Institute of

Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, said the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee will review on Feb. 9 the firm's resubmitted new drug application for pixantrone in relapsed or refractory aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients who have failed two or more lines of prior therapy...Zealand Pharma A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, received €3 million (US$3.917 million) in milestone payments under a potential €€140 million license agreement with Helsinn Healthcare SA, of Lugano, Switzerland, for the

To-BBB Technologies BV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, received a grant of more than €600,000 (US$780,848) through an international innovation program of the Dutch government agency Agentschap NL to support a brain drug delivery partnership with an undisclosed major pharma company...The work is designed to facilitate future license deals with to-BBB's lead brain cancer product 2B3-101 and other therapies in the company's pipeline using to-BBB's platform, G-Technology, to enhance drug delivery to the