In separate news, Tibotec reported that the European Commission broadened the indication for Prezista in combination with ritonavir and other antiretroviral products in HIV-1 infection in all treatment-experienced adult patients

TorreyPines Therapeutics Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., said it licensed worldwide rights to Posiphen, bisnorcymcerine and phenserine to QR Pharma Inc., a biotech firm focused on treating Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders...The agreement also provides QR Pharma with the right to acquire TorreyPines' ownership of the compounds

IDM Pharma expects a final marketing decision from the European Commission in the first quarter of 2009...Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc., of East Brunswick, N.J., said it continues to evaluate strategic business development options for lead product pegloticase, as well as other strategic transactions

To date, BioMS has received a total of $97 million in payments from Lilly, and an additional $400 million in milestones could come from the companies' late 2007 collaboration agreement. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 19, 2007...No timeline for a decision was provided, but the agency has missed several other PDUFA dates due to inadequate staffing levels...Kiadis Pharma BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, said its lead product, ATIR, was granted orphan drug designation by the European Medicines Agency for the

That news, compounded by the recent failure of chief competitor, Dacogen (decitabine), which failed to show a significant survival advantage over best supportive care in a similarly designed trial, ultimately could give Vidaza a larger share of the MDS market. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 3, 2007, and July 2, 2008.) Celgene already is "seeing positive trends in terms of Vidaza market share," said Robert Hugin, president and chief operating officer, adding that "we hope to see significant

expects to begin a Phase IIb trial in 2009 with £8 million (US$16 million) from The Wellcome Trust and the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation...The approval by the European Commission updates Merck KGaA's license for the treatment of patients with epidermal growth factor receptor -expressing, KRAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer in combination with chemotherapy and as a single agent in patients who have failed oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based chemotherapies and who are intolerant to

Archimedes Pharma Ltd., of Reading, UK, said it received European Union funding of €2.77 million (US$4.39 million) over three years to develop a vaccine against the avian influenza virus...The goal is to develop a nasally delivered vaccine against highly pathogenic strains of the influenza virus (HF591 and other H5 and N7 subtypes) using the company's proprietary nasal delivery platform, ChiSys and to demonstrate clinical proof of principle

If successful, it could expand to include other types of manufacturing facilities...KG has sold all shares of Rentschler Pharma GmbH to Riemser Arzneimittel AG, of Riems, Germany...Wyeth, of Madison, N.J., said the European Commission has approved marketing authorization for a new 50mg Enbrel (etanercept) once weekly dosage regimen as an alternative to the currently approved 25mg Enbrel twice weekly regimen for the treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis

Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, said that the European Commission has approved an update of the summary of product characteristics (SPC) for Raptiva (efalizumab) in the treatment of moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis...To date, MicroIslet has tested hundreds of rodents and currently is completing a trial with 19 nonhuman primates and has seen no adverse events attributable to MicroIslet-P. MicroIslet also has efficacy data demonstrating that MicroIslet-P can

Basilea plans to co-promote the drug in Canada with its partner Janssen-Ortho Inc., of Toronto...DuoCort Pharma AB, of Helsingborg, Sweden, said the FDA has granted an orphan drug designation for the company's DuoCort hydrocortisone dual-release oral tablet in development for the treatment of adrenal insufficiency - the inability of the body to produce sufficient amounts of the essential hormone cortisol

To date, preclinical studies support the compound's development in rheumatoid arthritis and several other indications, including multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...Replidyne Inc., of Louisville, Colo., said it has decided to terminate its license agreement with Tokyo-based Asubio Pharma Co

BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, said in vivo results for its AMEP plasmid demonstrated efficacy as an anti-invasive cancer therapy when administered intramuscularly...In exchange, Gilead gets exclusive rights to regulatory data and filings for development of cicletanine as a monotherapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension and for other indications in the U.S. Financial terms were not disclosed...Other expenses also will be decreased through improved operational efficiencies and increased financial

EUSA Pharma Inc., of Oxford, UK, and Doylestown Pa., said it divested its monoclonal antibody research business to French company International Drug Development...Concurrently, EUSA divested its recombinant L-asparaginase therapeutic research program for acute lymphoblastic leukemia to the Alizé Pharma Group, of Ecully, France

According to Edwin Moses, CEO and chairman, Ablynx wants to "strengthen its senior management team with individuals with extensive experience in the discovery and development of pharmaceuticals...Innate Pharma has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Innate Pharma Inc., to operate in New York City...Rudi Mariën, the founder of Innogenetics, who owns 18.5 percent of its shares, has said he is ready to sell to Solvay, but also claims to be expecting counter offers from other diagnostic companies such

AspenBio Pharma Inc., of Castle Rock, Colo., said its board of directors authorized a plan to repurchase a maximum of $5 million in common shares of the company...Each 10 shares of the company's common stock will be combined into one share of common stock, and holders of outstanding convertible preferred shares, warrants and other rights to purchase shares will receive one-tenth of the number of shares as prior to the split at a price that is 10 times the price as prior to the split

The goal is to produce culture medium, serum and other bioproducts to sell in China and other countries

BTG said it will continue to develop BGC20-0166 with partner Collegium Pharmaceutical, of Cumberland, R.I...Galderma Pharma, of Lausanne, Switzerland, said that it has completed the acquisition of CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newton, Pa., which will enhance Galderma's portfolio with such drugs as Oracea and MetroGel 1 percent, both for rosacea...The company intends to use approximately $3.1 million for costs incurred with the clinical development of prGCD, the company's plant cell-expressed

According to the study, the stem cells in menstrual blood, known as MenSCs, are stromal stem cells, meaning they have the capability to differentiate into important cells, such as bone, cartilage, fat, nerve and cardiogenic cells...Nutra Pharma Corp., of Boca Raton, Fla., said it has acquired the remaining outstanding equity in its drug discovery holding ReceptoPharm Inc., of Plantation, Fla

The application sought, among other things, a declaration and orders related to Melnyk's allegation that Biovail and Squires had improperly solicited proxies for the company's 2008 annual meeting...CV Therapeutics Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., and Astellas Pharma Inc., of Deerfield, Ill., said the FDA has approved Lexiscan (regadenoson) injection, an A2A adenosine receptor agonist, for use as a pharmacologic stress agent in radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) - a test that detects and