• Abeome Corp., of Athens, Ga., has granted exclusive worldwide marketing and distribution rights to its stem cell monoclonal antibody Human Embryonic Stem Cell Antigen-1, a previously unidentified marker for the analysis of pluripotent stem cells in immunocytochemistry and other immunological techniques, to Millipore Corp., of Billerica, Mass. Under the agreement, Abeome received an undisclosed up-front payment and also will receive royalties on sales by Millipore. Scientists will use the antibody to help identify specific cell types for cancer therapeutic and diagnostic research.

• Advanced Viral Research Corp., of Yonkers, N.Y., has acquired certain assets originally owned by Cetek Corp., of Boston. Those assets recently were transferred to the founding scientists at Cetek. The agreement includes rights to two new anticancer compounds as well as a proprietary high-throughput affinity-based drug screening technology called AFP. In addition, ADVR will receive rights to a microbial culture library for screening potential drug candidates. Under terms of the agreement, employment contracts have been signed with three former Cetek senior scientists who will join ADVR.

• AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., has signed a collaborative agreement with Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, under which both will use AVEO's Human Response Platform as part of a pilot project to identify patient populations likely to be responsive to an investigational cancer compound by Lilly. Financial terms were not disclosed. The aim of the collaboration is to identify genetic profiles that correlate with drug response to guide clinical development of one of Lilly's cancer compounds.

• BioMarin Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Novato, Calif., and IGAN Biosciences, of Boston, started a program to develop and IgA protease for IgA nephropathy, which includes a research and option agreement executed by BioMarin for IGAN intellectual property covering IgA proteases. Work will begin by testing those proteases in animal models. Terms were not disclosed.

• Biovail Corp., of Toronto, has settled its patent litigation suit with Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Corona, Calif., related to Biovail's Cardizem LA, a once-daily formulation of diltiazem. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Biovail will receive a royalty based on sales of Watson's generic formulation of Cardizem LA. Watson will not market or sale its generic drug until April 1, 2009, at which time royalty payments will begin. As part of the settlement, Biovail has granted Watson an exclusive license to its U.S. patents covering Cardizem LA for a generic version of the drug. Other details concerning the settlement have not been disclosed.

• Centocor Inc., of Horsham, Pa., and Janssen-Cilag International NV, of Beerse, Belgium, said regulatory applications have been submitted requesting the approval of ustekinumab (CNTO 1275) in the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of adult patients with chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Centocor has submitted a biologics license application with the FDA and Janssen-Cilag has submitted a marketing authorization application to the European Medicines Agency. Ustekinumab is a new, human monoclonal antibody that targets the cytokines interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interleukin-23 (IL-23), naturally occurring proteins that are important in regulating immune responses and that are thought to be associated with some immune-mediated inflammatory disorders, including psoriasis. The submissions are based on a development program including data from two Phase III multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials involving nearly 2,000 patients that evaluated the safety and efficacy of ustekinumab in the treatment of moderate to severe plaque-type psoriasis.

• Cleveland BioLabs Inc., of Buffalo, N.Y., reported results from a primate study demonstrating the efficacy of Protectan CBLB502 as a mitigator of hematopoietic damage up to 48 hours post-radiation exposure. Five groups of 10 rhesus primates received 5 Gy (about 20 percent lethal dose) of gamma radiation, with four groups receiving a single intramuscular injection of Protectan 1 hour, 16 hours, 24 hours or 48 hours after irradiation and one group receiving placebo. Results showed that no mortality was observed in the CBLB502-treated groups after 30 days, while a 20 percent mortality was observed in the control group. Cleveland BioLabs previously submitted CBLB502 in response to a request for information from the Department of Health and Human Services, which noted the agency's intention to pursue initial acquisition of 100,000 treatment courses of a medical countermeasure for neutropenia arising as a consequence of acute radiation sickness. The RFI further stated that there would be options for up to an additional 100,000 treatment courses to meet the government's requirement.

• Compendia Bioscience Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., has licensed Oncomine, its compendium of oncology gene expression profiles and analysis tools, to London-based AstraZeneca, which will conduct a year-long pilot program to evaluate the long-term role of the product in its cancer research programs.

• Cougar Biotechnology Inc., of Los Angeles, has been notified by Nasdaq that its common stock has been approved for listing on Nasdaq under the symbol "CGRB." Cougar expects trading to begin Dec. 7. Until that time, the company's common stock will continue to trade on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol "CGRB.OB."

• FDA authorities Tuesday said that desmopressin intranasal formulations are no longer indicated for the treatment of primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE) and should not be used in hyponatremic patients or patients with a history of hyponatremia. The agency asked all manufacturers of desmopressin to include new safety information in the drug's labeling warning that certain patients, including children treated with the intranasal formulation of the drug for PNE, are at risk for developing severe hyponatremia that can result in seizures and death. The agency advised that PNE treatment with desmopressin tablets should be interrupted during acute illnesses that may lead to fluid or electrolyte imbalance. In addition, regulators said, desmopressin formulations should be used cautiously in patients at risk for water intoxication with hyponatremia.

• Inhibiton Therapeutics Inc., of Englewood, Colo., said that its ICA-1 compound has been effective in laboratory in vitro testing in various cancer cell lines. The research demonstrated that inhibition of the enzyme protein kinase C-iota is a promising means to prevent and treat certain cancers through development of a targeted therapy, the firm said. In addition, ICA-1 was effective in blocking BE(2)C neuroblastoma cells and also showed that lower concentrations of ICA-1 were more efficacious in inhibiting the proliferation of 64 percent and 53 percent of the neuroblastoma cells when compared with control groups.

• Medgenics, of Karmiel, Israel, said that its shares have been admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange AIM. The firm said it has raised a total of €3.27 million (US$4.83 million). The company is at the clinical trial stage of testing the safety and efficacy of its proprietary biological pump, the Biopump, and associated technologies for producing and delivering therapeutic proteins in patients.

• Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, of Rockville, Md., completed the sale of its Biologics strategic business assets to Biotest Pharmaceuticals Corp., a subsidiary of Dreieich, Germany-based Biotest AG for $185 million in cash. Under the agreement, Biotest gets the Biologics unit's products, including Nabi-HB and other plasma business assets. The deal also includes Nabi's Boca Raton, Fla., headquarters. Rainer Pabst was named CEO of the new subsidiary and Peter Seith was named vice president of project management. Former Nabi executive Jordan Siegel was appointed chief financial officer. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 12, 2007.)

• Neurologix Inc., of Fort Lee, N.J., has received a grant from the Epilepsy Research Foundation to identify and accelerate development of promising epilepsy research. The grant will help fund a Phase I human clinical study of Neurologix's gene transfer approach to treating epilepsy. The company expects to initiate this study by early 2008, subject to final authorization from the FDA. The amount of the grant was not disclosed.

• Pharmaxis, of Sydney, Australia, has established a subsidiary company based in Philadelphia to serve the North American market. The goal is to strengthen Pharmaxis' U.S. clinical and regulatory program, and prepare for the commercialization of both Aridol and Bronchitol in the U.S.

• Symphogen AS, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said that preclinical data revealed that Sym003 exhibited superior potency and efficacy in a validated animal model of syncytial virus infection. In addition, the firm said the data demonstrated enhanced antibody potency and antigen neutralization by using recombinant polyclonal antibodies, when compared with monoclonal antibodies currently marketed and in development.