• Abingdon Life Sciences Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., has entered into an agreement to provide clinical and regulatory support for drug development programs for Stason Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Irvine, Calif. As part of the agreement, Abingdon will provide clinical and regulatory services for Stason's pipeline of potential drug candidates and devices in the areas of cancer and inflammation. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Actelion Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, said Tracleer (bosentan), a dual endothelin receptor antagonist, has been approved in the European Union for the treatment of patients with mildly symptomatic pulmonary arterial hypertension. Since 2002, Tracleer has been approved and available in the European Union for PAH patients with WHO FC III.

• Alfacell Corp., of Somerset, N.J., was notified by Nasdaq that its securities will be delisted from The Nasdaq Capital Market because the market value of its listed securities had been below the minimum $35 million required for the previous 10 consecutive trading days. Unless the company requests an appeal, Alfacell trading will be suspended at the opening of business on Thursday.

• Alkermes Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said its partner, Cilag GmbH International, a subsidiary of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, received approval from the Russian regulatory authorities to market Vivtrol (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension) for the treatment of alcohol dependence in Russia. The product will be manufactured by Alkermes and commercialized by Janssen-Cilag, an affiliate company of Cilag GmbH International. Vivtrol is the only once-monthly, extended-release injectable medication for the treatment of alcohol dependence and was approved by the FDA in April 2006.

• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it has consolidated key intellectual property for RNA activation with exclusive license agreements with the Corey lab at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the Li lab at the University of California San Francisco and the Gage lab at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

• BioAlliance Pharma SA, of Paris, and Labtec GmbH, of Langenfield, Germany, have entered into an exclusive licensing agreement under which BioAlliance has acquired the commercialization rights in Europe to the thin film formulation of ondansetron Labtec. Ondansetron thin film formulation is a new oral formulation for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with radiotherapy and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Based on the results of a recently completed bioequivalency study, BioAlliance said it will be preparing for registration in Europe. The license brings Labtec up to €6 million (US$9.35 million), with €1 million up front, €1.25 million upon approval and sales milestones up to €3.75 million. In addition, royalties on net sales of the product will be paid.

• CombiMatrix Corp., of Mukilteo, Wash., has received a new contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for a new program using its array technology and ElectraSense reader. The goal of the program is to develop a new application of CombiMatrix's microarray technology and involves the synthesis of molecules known as "aptamers," which are molecules with unique biological properties. The grant for that proof-of-concept study is $250,000.

• CPEX Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Exeter, N.H., is collaborating with Serenity Pharmaceuticals Corp., a New York start-up company, on an intranasal drug candidate for a urology indication. CPEX also said that Serenity's drug candidate would be delivered using its patented drug delivery technology. Serenity has filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA to begin a Phase I study.

• Cytori Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, signed a binding letter of intent with Astrea International, a special purpose vehicle associated with Singapore-based investment firm Temasek Holdings. Following regulatory clearance of the Celution 900 System in Singapore, Astrea will purchase one StemSource Cell Bank, which is used to store autologous, adipose-derived stem and regenerative cells collected with the system. Astrea also obtained the right to commercialize additional banks in Malaysia and Brunei.

• Eurand NV, of Philadelphia, has signed a license and supply agreement with Daewoong Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of South Korea. Under terms of the agreement, Daewoong will commercialize Eurand's extended-release formulation of the muscle relaxant Cyclobenzaprine HCl in South Korea. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Immunicon Corp., of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., has completed the sale of substantially all of its assets to Veridex LLC, of Raritan, N.J., in a bankruptcy sale. Veridex paid Immunicon $31,320,023 in cash and released $2,087,500 of claims owing to Veridex. Immunicon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June. (See BioWorld Today, June 12, 2008.)

• Introgen Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, was notified by Nasdaq that it does not comply with the minimum $50 million market value of listed securities nor the alternative requirement of a minimum $50 million in total assets and total revenue required for continued listing. Introgen will have until Aug. 29 to regain compliance.

• Invitrogen Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif., and Lentigen Corp., of Baltimore, have partnered to develop and supply gene overexpression products and services. Invitrogen will commercialize the products and services from the partnership. Under the agreement, Invitrogen will provide access to its human and mouse gene libraries for use by Lentigen to develop ready-to-use lentiviral particles.

• Kowa Co. Ltd., of Nagoya, Japan, has acquired ProEthic Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Montgomery, Ala., and effective Sept. 1, ProEthic will become Kowa Pharmaceuticals America and will assume responsibility for all sales and marketing functions currently operating in Montgomery. ProEthic's clinical development group will transfer to Kowa Research Institute, of Morrisville, N.C. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• MonoSol Rx, of Warren, N.J., developed a thin film, quick-dissolving formulation of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor escitalopram oxalate. The company intends to start bioequivalence studies.

• NanoViricides Inc., of West Haven, Conn., signed a materials cooperative research and development agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agreement covers studies of RabiCide-I, a rabies treatment using the nanoviricide technology, which is designed to attack and dismantle enveloped virus particles.

• Neurobiological Technologies Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., received a quarterly royalty payment of about $2.1 million from Frankfurt, Germany-based Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH for sales of Memantine in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. Under an exclusive marketing deal, NTI receives quarterly royalty payments on certain Memantine sales.

• Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Miami, said it will receive a $25 million payment from Shire Ltd., of Basingstoke, UK, because annual sales of the Daytrana ADHD patch have reached $75 million for the 12-month period ending June 30. Shire developed the drug using Noven's technology. The money will be paid in the third quarter and Noven said it will recognize the funds as license revenue as a deferred payment.

• Pro-Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newton, Mass., said it received notice that the American Stock Exchange accepted the company's revised compliance plan and will continue the company's listing to regain compliance with the listing standards. Pro-Pharmaceuticals will be subject to period review by Amex staff during the plan period, and failure to make progress or to regain compliance could result in the company's stock being delisted from the exchange.

• Regado Biosciences, of Durham, N.C., appointed David Mazzo as president and CEO. Mazzo previously served as president and CEO of AEterna Zentaris Inc. and of Chugai Pharma USA LLC. He replaces Regado co-founder Douglas Gooding.

• SGX Pharmaceutical Inc., of San Diego, said Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. reaffirmed its $3 per share purchase offer, according to the merger agreement signed by the companies in July that values SGX at about $64 million. Lilly executives said the offer is "full and fair," and added said they will not increase the offer price. The companies intend to take the proposal to a stockholder vote. (See BioWorld Today, July 10, 2008.)

• Ziopharm Oncology Inc., of New York, said preclinical data published in the journal Leukemia showed that the organic arsenic compound ZIO-101 (darinaparsin) is active against certain leukemia cells that are resistant to inorganic arsenic and induces apoptosis through different mechanisms than inorganic arsenic, indicating a potentially broader therapeutic spectrum. ZIO-101 is in Phase II trials for hematologic malignancies. Shares of Ziopharm (NASDAQ:ZIOP) rose 24 cents, or 17 percent, to close at $1.65 on Monday.