BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, said the company filed an appeal to the French Supreme Court on a procedural matter in arbitral proceedings it had initiated against SpePharm Holding BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and SpeBio BV, which the two companies formed as a joint venture to commercialize Loramyc in Europe (excluding France) under a 2007 agreement...Amarantus will pay a license fee of $10 million to Generex in Amarantus common stock valued at not less than $5 million and a three-year

In other news, Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., of Staines, UK, and Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency recommended the granting of marketing authorization for Vibativ (telavancin hydrochloride) for the treatment of adults with nosocomial pneumonia including ventilator-associated pneumonia, known or suspected to be caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., of Staines, UK, and Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency recommended the granting of marketing authorization for Vibativ (telavancin hydrochloride) for the treatment of adults with nosocomial pneumonia including ventilator-associated pneumonia, known or suspected to be caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, licensed Japanese development and commercialization rights for its antifungal agent Loramyc (miconazole Lauriad) to Tokyo-based Sosei Group Corp...Phylogica will also have an option to expand the collaboration to include an undisclosed number of other disease-associated targets...Santaris Pharma A/S, of Hoersholm, Denmark, advanced its cardiometabolic candidate, SPC4955, to Phase I trials

Tibotec has been leading the development and commercialization of telaprevir for Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, another J&J company, which has rights to the drug in Europe, the Middle East, South America and other regions. (See BioWorld Today, April 29, 2011.) Osaka, Japan-based Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp., which has rights to telaprevir in Japan and China, filed a new drug application in Japan in January...However, the two drugs won't have the market to themselves for long as several other

In other news, Sanofi-Aventis said that the company terminated its potential $375 million, July 2010 license agreement with Metabolex Inc., of Hayward, Calif., for diabetes drug SAR260093/MBX-2982, a GPR119 receptor agonist...Santaris Pharma AS, of Hoersholm, Denmark, and San Diego, advanced SPC5001 into Phase I trials for the treatment of high cholesterol...Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, and Biogen Idec Inc., of Weston, Mass., said the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Pediatric

Acceleron Pharma Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., presented preclinical data showing RAP-661 increased bone mineral density, increased osteoblast activity and decreased osteoclast activity in a mouse model of bone loss...Biogen Idec Inc., of Weston, Mass., and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Pediatric Committee agreed to a pediatric investigational plan for their long-lasting, fully recombinant Factor IX Fc fusion protein, paving the way for a

BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, extended its ongoing clonidine Lauriad Phase II trial in chemoradiation therapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer to Germany and Spain, a move intended to accelerate patient recruitment

patients for the treatment of medullary thyroid cancer that cannot be removed by surgery or that has spread to other parts of the body...Medigene AG, of Martinsreid, Germany, and Triton Pharma AG, of Concord, Ontario, partnered to commercialize Veregen in Canada for the treatment of genital warts...Medgenics said it intends to use the proceeds for product development activities, including clinical trials of its product candidates Epodure to treat anemia in chronic kidney disease, Infradure to treat

The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended the approval of Weston, Mass.-based Biogen Idec Inc.'s Avonex (interferon beta-1a) Pen for patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis or a single demyelinating event...Medigene AG, of Martinsreid, Germany, and Triton Pharma AG, of Concord, Ontario, partnered to commercialize Veregen in Canada for the treatment of genital warts

The European Medicines Agency granted orphan drug designation to Formac Pharmaceuticals NV, of Leuven, Belgium, for FP110, a Phase IIa candidate for pouchitis...MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, signed a manufacturing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, to cover the process of developing and manufacturing additional clinical material for MorphoSys' anti-CD19 antibody MOR208 and other drug candidates...In other news, the FDA has approved Oxford BioMedica plc's

The European Medicines Agency granted orphan drug designation to Formac Pharmaceuticals NV, of Leuven, Belgium, for FP110, a Phase IIa candidate for pouchitis...According to a new study in Nature Genetics, Hoersholm, Denmark-based Santaris Pharma A/S's locked nucleic acid-based compounds can inhibit disease-associated microRNA families...Results from Shire's Replagal study 059 in 70 patients showed that switching from Fabrazyme to Replagal 0.2 mg/kg every other week was well tolerated

Prior to the acquisition, the experimental drug had been in Phase II development...It will continue to pursue a global licensing strategy for the drug...Spencer Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boston, signed a deal with Polyvalor LP, the commercial partner of Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, to further develop the technologies related to efficient delivery of nucleic acids using chitosan, as well as for an innovative discovery of therapeutic nanocomplexes for Type II diabetes treatment and other possible

BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, received €2 million (US$2.8 million) in funding over 30 months from the Fond Unique Interministeriel, a French program supporting collaborative research projects, including an amount of €743,000 specifically allocated to BioAlliance...MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, completed the transfer of exclusive European rights to Eligard (leuprolide acetate) for the treatment of hormone-dependent prostate cancer to Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., of London, part of

GW Pharma plc, of Porton Down, UK, said its marketing partner Almirall SA, of Barcelona, Spain, announced that the Spanish Ministry of Health granted the reimbursement of GW Pharma's cannabis-based drug Sativex, for patients with multiple sclerosis-related spasticity who have not responded to other treatments...Neuro-Biotech Corp., of Basel, Switzerland, said it considers it in the best interest of the company to accept an unsolicited offer from Auric Pharma Science, of Madrid, Spain, to purchase

Antisense Pharma GmbH, of Regensburg, Germany, has received approval from Southeast Asian health agencies KFDA and TFDA to begin pivotal Phase III trials of its TGF-2 inhibitor trabedersen for brain tumors...Clavis Pharma ASA, of Oslo, Norway, said partner Clovis Oncology Inc., of Boulder, Colo., recruited the first patient in a Phase II study of CP-4126 (also known as CO-101) as a second-line treatment for advanced, metastatic pancreatic cancer in patients refractory to first-line gemcitabine

Apeiron said it will continue clinical development and investigate the protein's therapeutic potential for pediatric neuroblastoma and will evaluate strategies to advance it in other cancer indications, such as melanoma...Axcan Holdings Inc., of Bridgewater, N.J., extended the tender offer of wholly owned subsidiary Axcan Pharma Holding BV to purchase the outstanding shares of Eurand NV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, at $12 per share...Omeros Corp., of Seattle, said the European Medicines Agency (EMA

Kiadis Pharma BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, entered a licensing agreement with Hospira Inc., of Lake Forest, Ill., to develop and commercialize Kiadis' ATIR, a personalized hematology product designed for blood cancer patients in need of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation who cannot locate a matched donor...In other news, LifeCycle reported positive top-line results from a Phase II trial of 58 patients comparing LCP-Tacro tablets administered once daily vs. Prograf (tacrolimus, Astellas

Its global partner, Cambridge, Mass.-based Millennium, plans to submit a marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency in the first half of the year...In exchange, Genentech gained access to a number of targets. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 4, 2010.) And in December 2009, Seagen closed its $402 million deal with GlaxoSmithKline and a deal with Astellas Pharma Inc., an affiliate of Agensys Inc., for $12 million up front with $350 million in milestones