• Artemis Pharmaceuticals GmbH, of Cologne, Germany, signed a research agreement to construct a large number of shRNA interference-genetically engineered mouse models for the in vivo functional analysis of selected disease-related genes for Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J. Artemis will use its vector construction, ES cell transfection and inducible RNAi technology to generate genetically engineered shRNAi knock-down mouse models, and Merck will provide selected shRNA sequences that correspond to mouse genes that also might play a central role in human diseases. Artemis will use its technologies to achieve constitutive as well as inducible functional down-regulation of the expression of the gene targets provided by Merck. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Birmingham, Ala., said that, following the favorable opinion of the European Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products, the European Medicines Agency has granted orphan designation for the cancer drug Fodosine for the treatment of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

• Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, licensed rights to the MIF receptor target from King of Prussia, Pa.-based Cytokine PharmaSciences Inc. to develop therapeutic human antibodies to the target. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

• Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., completed its $2.5 billion acquisition of Myogen Inc., of Denver. The deal was a cash tender offer for all outstanding shares of Myogen common stock at $52.50 per share. The transaction boosted Gilead's pipeline with two Phase III drugs: ambrisentan for pulmonary arterial hypertension and darusentan for resistant high blood pressure. Gilead will provide guidance on the buyout's impact on its operating expenses for the next fiscal year during its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings conference call Jan. 31. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 3, 2006.)

• Kamada Ltd., of Rehovot, Israel, and PARI Aerosol Research Institute, of Monterey, Calif., agreed to collaborate on Kamada's alpha-1 antitrypsin liquid drug candidate for inhalation through PARI's eFlow for patients suffering from alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The inhaled AAT was designated as an orphan drug for congenital emphysema and cystic fibrosis in both the U.S. and Europe. Phase I development is expected to begin immediately. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Montvale, N.J., earned a milestone payment of $960,000 from the Stanley Medical Research Institute related to the ongoing Phase IIa trial of MEM 1003 in patients with acute mania in bipolar disorder. This first milestone payment under the agreement was triggered by a set of criteria, pre-defined by SMRI, regarding progress of the trial.

• Oragenics Inc., of Alachua, Fla., acquired all the outstanding shares of iviGene Corp., also of Alachua. The all-stock transaction was made for about 185,000 shares of Oragenics' common stock, worth about $240,000. Both companies' boards unanimously approved the transaction, which provided Oragenics issued and pending patents to two platform technologies capable of identifying gene and protein biomarkers to improve the diagnosis and treatment of a range of infectious diseases and cancers.

• Rosetta Biosoftware, of Seattle, said CXR Biosciences Ltd., of Dundee, Scotland, licensed the Rosetta Resolver system to investigate mechanisms of drug toxicity. CXR plans to the use the system to generate data to support its toxicological research using transcriptional profiling. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Sanofi-Aventis Group, of Paris, said its vaccines business, Sanofi Pasteur Inc., signed a contract with the Office of Public Health and Emergency Preparedness, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, for the production of bulk concentrate of a type of H5N1 pre-pandemic vaccine. The deal, valued at about $117.9 million, covers clade 2 of the H5N1 virus (A/Indonesia) for use in the U.S. government stockpile. The final value will depend on the number of doses that can be formulated from the bulk material.

• Solagran Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, entered a preliminary agreement to acquire a 60 percent interest in a plant-based extract manufacturer - SibEX, of Tomsk, Russia. The proposed deal would enable Solagran to increase its production capacity of its liver disease drug Ropren by a factor of 10, sufficient to meet expected market demand once the product receives Russian regulatory approval. Ropren, which is made from Bioeffective R, one of 15 Bioeffectives that Solagran has developed, also has completed clinical trials in Russia for neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

• Tripos Inc., of St. Louis, entered a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of the assets of its Discovery Informatics business to Vector Capital, of San Francisco. The private equity boutique specializes in buyouts, spinouts and recapitalizations of established technology businesses, and the asset sale, expected to close next quarter, is an initial step in the liquidation of Tripos. Liquidating distributions, in an amount to be determined, are expected to begin about six months after this transaction closes. Tripos' preliminary estimate is that there would be between $6 million to $12 million available for distribution to common stockholders assuming completion of the sale of its Discovery Informatics business to Vector, sale of its Discovery Research business, completion of certain other transactions and satisfaction of all liabilities at amounts currently estimated. On Monday, the company's stock (NASDAQ:TRPS) gained 12 cents, or 19.5 percent, to close at 73 cents.