• Accentia Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Tampa, Fla., amended its exclusive option agreement with the Mayo Foundation for Medical Research and Education to license any and all intranasal antifungals for chronic sinusitis. The amendment extends the exclusive option agreement an additional year and will expire in December 2007, beyond the anticipated date of a new drug application for SinuNase. Accentia is developing the product under an exclusive worldwide license with the Mayo Clinic for the use of intranasal amphotericin B for refractory chronic sinusitis.

• Affectis Pharmaceuticals AG, of Munich, Germany, identified a genetic variation associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). The variation may have consequences for the functioning of a receptor protein in the brain. Researchers investigated 29 single nucleotide polymorphisms of the P2RX7 gene and found a significant association between MDD and an SNP codenamed rs2230912, which previously was found to be associated with bipolar affective disorders.

• Debiopharm Group, of Lausanne, Switzerland, filed a French marketing application for Sanvar (vapreotide acetate) for patients with esophageal variceal bleeding. The company also intends to apply for wider European approval through the mutual recognition procedure, with France as the reference member state. Debiopharm is seeking European partners for the product, a synthetic octapeptide analogue of the naturally occurring somatostatin hormone. In the U.S., a Phase III study is under way through the FDA's special protocol assessment process.

• Evotec AG, of Hamburg, Germany, said its tools and technologies division sold the core of its single molecule detection technology and transferred or licensed the corresponding patent portfolio to Olympus Corp., of Tokyo. This transaction represents a further step for Evotec to increasingly focus its business on providing cell imaging and cell handling systems for the cell biology growth market. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• JPT Peptide Technologies GmbH, of Berlin, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jerini AG, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine formed a collaboration on the discovery of B-cell epitopes, aimed at accelerating the development of vaccines and personalized diagnostics in the field of food allergies. The collaboration combines MSSM's expertise in identifying and deciphering relevant food allergens with JPT's PepStar peptide-microarray platform, which produces complex peptide microarrays that scan diverse protein antigens and entire proteomes.

• Nektar Therapeutics Inc., of San Carlos, Calif., received a $17.6 million payment under a previously undisclosed license agreement with Affymax Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif. It was triggered when Affymax entered a global agreement to develop and commercialize its lead product candidate, Hematide, with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Inc., of Osaka, Japan. Hematide, which employs Nektar's Advanced PEGylation Technology, is in Phase IIb trials for anemia. Affymax secured its $535 million deal with Takeda just last month. (See BioWorld Today, June 28, 2006.)

• Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., and Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp., of West Haven, Conn., said the European Commission granted marketing authorization to Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets in advanced renal-cell carcinoma patients who have failed prior interferon-alpha or interleukin-2-based therapy or are considered unsuitable for such therapy. Bayer will commercialize the drug in Europe. Nexavar, an oral multi-kinase inhibitor, was approved in the U.S. in December 2005, and is being studied in other cancers, such as liver, skin and non-small-cell lung.

• Protox Therapeutics Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, acquired a Phase II program to treat cancer from Neurocrine Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS). The targeted therapeutic toxin PRX321 (formerly NBI-3001) has received both fast-track designation and orphan drug status from the FDA for primary brain tumors. The program was acquired by Protox in two separate transactions: one in which the company obtained exclusive worldwide rights to IL-4 fusion toxin technology from PHS; and the other in which it purchased regulatory and product assets from Neurocrine, including two investigational new drug applications and cGMP batches of PRX321 that could be used in future clinical trials. Protox has committed to pay PHS and Neurocrine up to $2 million over the next three years, and to pay PHS up to $4 million in future milestone payments, as well as royalties on commercial sales.

• Sirion Therapeutics Inc., of Tampa, Fla., in-licensed U.S. rights to a topical cyclosporine A solution for ophthalmic use from Laboratorios Sophia SA de CV, of Guadalajara, Mexico. Sirion plans to begin clinical studies next year. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• StemCells Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., reported findings from animal models showing that its human liver-engrafting cells (hLEC) demonstrated promise as a cellular therapy candidate for managing and treating liver diseases. StemCells' program is focused on identifying and developing human liver stem and progenitor cells to treat damaged or diseased livers. The data are being presented today at the World Transplant Congress in Boston.

• Xethanol Corp., of New York, and UTEK Corp., of Tampa, Fla., signed a renewal of their strategic alliance agreement in which they are accessing research and development institutions to find technologies for biofuels production.