• Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., said a team from Affymetrix Laboratories has been awarded a $10.2 million scale-up grant over the next four years from the National Human Genome Research Institute as part of the expanded ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project. The project will focus on mapping and characterizing all of the human genome regions that are transcribed into RNA, an information molecule vital to a number of biological functions, including protein production.

• Akela Pharma Inc., of Montreal, said that as of Wednesday, the firm's issued and outstanding common shares will be consolidated on the basis of one post-consolidation common share for every seven preconsolidation common shares. Fractional interests will be paid in cash in U.S. dollars for shareholders other than those in Canada who will be paid in Canadian dollars. The common shares will begin trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on a post-consolidated basis at the opening of trading Wednesday. The share consolidation is to satisfy the Nasdaq's listing criteria regarding minimum bid price. After the share consolidation, the firm will have about 11.75 million common shares outstanding. The stock symbol of the company will remain AKL on the TSX.

• American Biotech Labs, of Salt Lake City, reported successful preliminary results on tests performed using the company's products against two strains of the avian bird flu virus. Preliminary in vitro animal study tests performed by two separate independent laboratories using the company's ABL SilverSol Technology at 10 parts per million against two strains of the H5-N1 subtype of the Avian Bird Flu virus, indicated that the ABL products were able to neutralize the virus. The preliminary results are consistent with previous tests conducted using company products against the H3N2 and H1N1 avian bird flu subtypes.

• Ardea Biosciences Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., said Nasdaq has approved its application for listing of its common stock on Capital Market. Ardea anticipates that its common stock will begin trading on Wednesday, Oct. 10, under the symbol "RDEA."

• BIND Biosciences Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., has been awarded a six-month $150,000 Phase I SBIR contract from the National Cancer Institute to develop a targeted therapy for hormone refractory prostate cancer.

• EnWave Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, has received a nonrepayable contribution of C$300,000 (US$305,755) from the National Research Council Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program ("NRC-IRAP"). The funds will be used to further develop EnWave's proprietary vaccine and antibody dehydration technology, called bioREV. EnWave is currently in the final stages of testing the first bioREV prototype capable of in-container dehydration of individual vials of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products.

• Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., said that it has received a $1.25 million milestone payment in the form of equity securities from Vancouver, Canada-based iCo Therapeutics Inc. The milestone was related to the initiation of Phase I clinical trials of iCo-007, a second-generation antisense drug that inhibits the production of c-Raf kinase, an enzyme associated with the formation of new and often abnormal or fragile blood vessels in the eye. The product was licensed to iCo by Isis in 2005 for the treatment of various eye diseases, including diabetic macular edema.

• Mimotopes Pty Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, has entered into a licensing agreement with the Baker Heart Research Institute for jointly developed drug candidates targeting pulmonary arterial hypertension. As part of the licensing agreement, Mimotopes has assigned the intellectual property for a library of compounds to BHRI in return for a future milestone and/or licensing fees received by BHRI. Mimotopes also will contribute its medicinal chemistry expertise on a fee-for-service basis to assist in the clinical development of those compounds. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Quark Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Fremont, Calif., said it soon will receive a undisclosed milestone payment from Japanese firm Mitsubishi Pharma Corp. The payment was triggered by Mitsubishi's initiation of screening for small-molecule inhibitors for selected target genes discovered by Quark's collaboration with Mitsubishi, which dates back to 1995 and has encompassed several programs for target gene discovery in different disease areas. The agreement provides for certain licenses to Mitsubishi on selected target genes for which Quark shall receive milestone payments and royalties and certain development and commercialization rights to drugs developed based on those targets.

• Vical Inc., of San Diego, Calif., reported that data from a study in mice demonstrated the potential of its Vaxfectin adjuvant to be used as a dose-sparing agent with a protein-based H5N1 pandemic influenza vaccine currently stockpiled by the U.S. government. Dose-sparing ability could be critical in extending limited vaccine supplies to protect the greatest number of people in the event of a pandemic influenza outbreak. The firm also announced that a measles DNA vaccine formulated with its Vaxfectin adjuvant elicited sustained protective levels of neutralizing antibodies in infant nonhuman primates.