• Allon Therapeutics Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, started dosing in a Phase I trial of AL-108 (intranasal administration) or AL-208 (intravenous administration) in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of healthy adult subjects. The trial is designed to complement the safety, tolerability and efficacy data generated from three Phase II studies, for which data are expected later this year. AL-108 is being tested in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, which is a precursor to Alzheimer's disease, and in cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia. AL-208 is in studies for preventing the mild cognitive impairment resulting from ischemic damage during coronary bypass graft surgery.

• Amarin Corp. plc, of London, said it was cleared to start a UK Phase IIa trial in age-associated memory impairment with AMR101 (ultra-pure ethyl-EPA). The study is designed to randomize 96 patients to receive 1, 2 or 4 grams of AMR101 or placebo twice daily over a six-week period, with efficacy assessment based on a computerized battery of cognition tests created by Cognitive Drug Research Ltd. Initial results from the trial are expected in the second half of this year.

• Transgene SA, of Strasbourg, France, reported preliminary data from its Phase IIb trial of therapeutic vaccine TG4010 (MVA-MUC1-IL2) as an adjunct to first-line chemotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer patients, which confirmed the favorable safety profile of the drug when associated with chemotherapy (cisplatin and gemcitabine). Based on local evaluations performed at investigation centers, results so far have shown a positive trend in favor of combination therapy with TG4010. Final data are expected in the fourth quarter. TG4010 uses the modified vaccinia ankara virus vector and expresses the entire MUC1 gene sequence, along with the sequence coding for interleukin 2 to help stimulate specific T-cell response.