• AcelRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., said it dosed its first patient in the second of three planned Phase III studies of Sufentanil NanoTab PCA System (ARX-01). The randomized, open-label, parallel-group trial will compare efficacy and safety of the drug to the standard of care, intravenous PCA with morphine. The primary objective of the study is noninferiority. Top-line data are expected in the second half of the year.

• Ampio Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Greenwood Village, Colo., completed enrollment of patients in a set of clinical trials to determine the usefulness of oxidation reduction potential in hospital readmission prediction, prevention and reduction in a group of patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain. Readmission of Medicare and Medicaid patients within 30 days of discharge costs $17 billion annually. Ampio is seeking a metric to distinguish preventable and nonpreventable admissions.

• AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., published results from a Phase II trial of tivozanib for renal cell carcinoma. The results showed improved median progression-free survival compared to placebo, and the drug was well tolerated. The article appeared in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

• OPKO Health Inc., of Miami, said its Phase III program for rolapitant, a selective neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, is enrolling, with a total of 2,400 cancer patients expected to participate. The program consists of two 530-subject trials testing the drug in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy and one study enrolling about 1,350 patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy. All three studies will evaluate rolapitant plus standard of care vs. placebo plus standard of care. Patients will be evaluated for evidence of an improvement in control of nausea and vomiting during the acute (zero to 24 hours), delayed (24 to 120 hours) and overall (zero to 120 hours) time periods post-administration of chemotherapy. The primary outcome will be based on complete response, defined as no emetic episodes and no use of rescue medication in the delayed phase. Data are expected in the second half of 2013.

• PharmAthene Inc., of Annapolis, Md., said new data based on a recent analysis of previous human clinical trial immunogenicity data and nonclinical animal study results for rPA anthrax vaccine SparVax suggested a preliminary estimate of efficacy in humans of more than 90 percent protection and nearly 100 percent protection based on a six- and 12-month booster dose, respectively. The analysis is based on a correlate of protection established under the animal rule, in accordance with FDA guidelines. Data were presented at the World Vaccine Congress in Washington.