• ArmaGen Technologies Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., expects to be awarded up to $1 million from The Michael J. Fox Foundation if all milestones are met to start developing a "Trojan horse" delivery technology for Parkinson's disease treatment. ArmaGen's approach would use molecular bioengineering techniques designed to trick the brain into allowing large-molecule therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier to access targeted regions of the brain and address the neuronal loss that's characteristic of Parkinson's disease. To receive full funding, the research team must meet three goals: successfully engineer the fused trophic factor GDNF; inject it into nonhuman primates to measure safety and toxicity data and its ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier; and to determine whether the treatment alleviates the symptoms and pathology of Parkinson's in the animal model.

• Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Aliso Viejo, Calif., said it was notified by Nasdaq that it is not in compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement. The company is expected to continue to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol AVNR for at least the next six months. It has until Feb. 9 to regain compliance by having the bid price of its common stock close at $1 per share or more for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days.

• ImmuneRegen BioSciences Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz., said it is collaborating with the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University in Tempe to evaluate the effectiveness of Viprovex in boosting the immune response when used as an adjuvant with unique plant-derived vaccines against noroviruses, the leading cause of gastrointestinal illness throughout the world. Viprovex has demonstrated promise as an adjuvant in studies with other antigens, including avian influenza virus antigens, the firm said.

• Introgen Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, and its subsidiary Gendux Molecular Ltd. said the European Medicines Agency has accepted for review the marketing authorization application for Advexin (p53 tumor suppressor therapy) for the treatment of recurrent, refractory squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. The gene therapy is designed to restore p53 tumor suppression that is blocked in the majority of tumors. If approved, Advexin will be the first gene therapy product approved for use in Europe.

• MicuRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Union City, Calif., said it has identified MRX-I, an antibacterial molecule targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus as its first preclinical development candidate. The firm said it also expanded its operations in China by moving its research and development operations there to a new 10,000 square-foot facility in ZhangJian HighTech Park in Shanghai. The company said it intends to use the chemistry and biology facility for drug discovery and development activities to advance its next-generation antimicrobial products.

• Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Wakefield, Mass., said that it was notified by Nasdaq that for 30 consecutive days the company's common shares had not maintained the $5 million minimum market value of publicly held shares required for continued listing on Nasdaq. Receipt of that notice has no immediate effect on the listing of the company's common shares. Nucryst has until Nov. 12 to regain compliance.

• Uniseed Management Pty Ltd., of Brisbane, Australia, has committed $630,000 and $530,000 to DendriMed Pty Ltd. and TenasiTech Pty Ltd., respectively. Both companies were spun out of Brisbane-based UniQuest Pty. Ltd., which was established at the University of Queensland. The new companies will develop discoveries from the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology at UQ. DendriMed is developing a novel drug-delivery platform, which combines polymer and dendrimer nanotechnologies. TenasiTech's technology is a materials science breakthrough that increases the strength of thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers whilst maintaining their flexibility.

• XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., of Valley Cottage, N.Y., received a staff deficiency latter from Nasdaq indicating that the company is not in compliance with the audit committee composition requirements. XTL said it has initiated a process to identify qualified replacements to fill the two external director vacancies need to comprise a valid committee.