• AEterna Zentaris Inc., of Quebec City, received notification from Nasdaq that its stock price has fallen below the required minimum for continued listing. The company has 180 days to regain compliance, following the three-month extension due to market conditions beginning Oct 16. (See story in this issue.)

• Celgene International Sàrl, of Boudry, Switzerland, said the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended approval for Vidaza (azacitidine) in adult patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, chronic myeloid leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia who are not eligible for hematopoietic stem cell transplants.

• Recordati SpA, of Milan, Italy, said it signed an agreement with Kowa Pharmaceutical Europe Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Kowa Co. Ltd., of Nagoya, Japan, for sales and marketing of pitavastatin in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia and C.I.S. countries, as well as Italy. Pitavastatin is a statin for treating hypercholesterolemia and already is sold in Japan and Korea. No other terms of the deal were released.

• Sepracor Inc., of Marlborough, Mass., said the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended marketing approval of Lunivia (eszopiclone) in insomnia, with labeling that provides for patients who require longer-term therapy to be treated for up to six months, with the usual course of therapy for typical patients being short-term. Lunivia is marketed in the U.S. under the brand Lunesta. In 2007, Sepracor partnered worldwide rights to the drug, except for North America and Japan, with London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc.

• Stem Cell Sciences plc, of Cambridge, UK, said a paper describing a technique using the combination of chemical inhibitors in the firm's Culticell iSTEM for reprogramming adult mammalian cells into authentic induced pluripotent stem cells has been published in PLoS Biology.

• Tempo Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it changed its name to Cerulean Pharma Inc. to better reflect its wider focus. It also appointed David P. DeMagistris senior vice president of pharmaceutical sciences and named Jean Silveri senior vice president, general counsel. The firm develops nanotechnology-based therapeutics in the areas of oncology, cardiovascular, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

• Vaxart Inc., of San Francisco, said preclinical studies of its oral vaccine for avian flu showed that it was protective against the H5N1 strain. In animal studies with ferrets, the vaccine was administered in capsules, a more convenient, cost-effective formulation for storage and distribution, especially in developing countries. The data were presented at the Modern Mucosal Vaccines, Adjuvants and Microbides international conference in Portugal.