• Biopure Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., said the listing of its common stock has been transferred to the Nasdaq Capital Market from the Nasdaq Global Market. The shares will continue to trade under their existing symbol, "BPUR."

• Cellerant Therapeutics Inc., of San Carlos, Calif., reported data suggesting that established autoimmune disease can be reversed or stabilized by the transplantation of purified allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells in a mouse study of systemic lupus erythematosus. Subjects that underwent the procedure exhibited improved overall survival and decreased lupus symptoms. Those results, which were published in Blood, also suggested that using a HCT treatment that has been purified of all or most host T cells and NK cells might eliminate the need for complete donor/patient stem cell matching.

• Ceragenix Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Denver, said research on two of its antimicrobial compounds was published in this month's issue of the Journal of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. The authors concluded that the two experimental products, CSA-8 and CSA-13, may have important therapeutic implications for infections caused by strains of Staphylococcus Aureus that are resistant to vancomycin, hVISA and VISA. Both investigational agents are ceragenins: low-molecular-mass compounds that have potent bactericidal activities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.

• Cleveland BioLabs Inc., of Cleveland, responded to the Department of Defense's request for proposals for the advanced development of medical radiation countermeasures to treat gastrointestinal effects of acute radiation syndrome. It is expected that the RFP would be awarded later this year. The company is seeking a government contract for its Protectan CBLB502, which is expected to enter the clinic sometime this year. The RFP's objective is to develop a post-exposure countermeasure through approval/licensure with the FDA and procure quantities sufficient to achieve initial operational capability. A range of 50,000 to 500,000 doses was specified.

• DiObex Inc., of San Francisco, appointed David Cory CEO and director. The privately held company focuses on development of therapeutics to treat metabolic diseases. Cory most recently served as president and chief operating officer of Prestwick Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Washington. Prior to that he held positions at several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

• Generex Biotechnology Corp., of Worcester, Mass., said Leosons General Trading Co. will commercialize Oral-lyn in 15 Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Oral-lyn is an oral insulin spray product. Generex said that in lieu of an up-front license fee, Leosons will bear all costs associated with gaining governmental approvals for the product, including any clinical and regulatory costs. The agreement obligates Leosons to file all applications for approvals by fall. Further terms were not disclosed.

• Helix BioMedix Inc., of Bothell, Wash., has signed two agreements to provide technology and services to allow DermaVentures LLC, a new personal care company, to use Helix's peptide technologies, and to manage day-to-day operations of the company in return for an equity position. DermaVentures' lead product is P.A.C. Perfect (peptide-powered acne control), an acne treatment system. DermaVentures currently is administering clinical testing and expects to launch the product in late 2007.

• Neuro-Hitech Inc., of New York, said it will begin trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol "NHPI," as of today. The company's stock previously traded on the OTC Bulletin Board.

• Protiva Biotherapeutics Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp., also of Vancouver, withdrew a petition that sought to have Protiva declared bankrupt. Inex filed the petition in February, claiming Protiva had not paid Inex $71,882 for certain patent costs incurred by Inex. Protiva said then it did not reimburse Inex because the patents are at issue in ongoing litigation between the companies. It said that to ensure the petition was withdrawn expeditiously and to eliminate legal costs, it reimbursed Inex for the total amount owed.

• QLT Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said global sales of Visudyne (verteporfin) totaled $61.2 million for the three months ended March 31, a 42.7 percent decrease over last year's first quarter. U.S. sales were about $8.4 million.

• Rosetta Genomics Ltd., of Rehovot, Israel, has partnered with New York University Medical Center to develop a line of detection diagnostic products for lung and Mesothelioma cancers. The early test targets 45 million Americans who are at increased risk of lung cancer due to smoking, as well as those who have been exposed to asbestos fibers. The test will use Rosetta Genomics' proprietary protocol to extract microRNAs from a blood draw. MicroRNAs are a naturally occurring form of RNAi that act as protein regulators and have the potential to be a new class of diagnostics and therapeutics.

• SkyePharma plc, of London, said regulatory officials in France approved ropinirole prolonged-release tablets, which will be marketed there as Requip, for treating Parkinson's disease. Partner GlaxoSmithKline plc, also of London, also has received approval in Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia and Canada, and plans to gain further marketing authorizations in other countries. SkyePharma on April 13 said the FDA had accepted for filing the application by GSK for approval to market the product in the U.S.