• Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., received a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research Grant from the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. The funding will be used to study and characterize a back-up series of compounds to the antibiotic ACH-702 for tuberculosis.

• Adienne Pharma & Biotech, of Greifsward-Insel Riems, Germany, and Riemser Arzneimittel AG, of Bergamo, Italy, said the European Medicines Agency granted exclusive marketing authorization to Adienne for the orphan medicinal product Tepadina for conditioning treatment prior to haematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation. Tepadina will be available in Italy and Spain through Adienne and in Germany through Riemser.

• ARCA Biopharma Inc., of Broomfield, Colo., was notified by Nasdaq that the company's stockholders' equity as of Dec. 31, 2009, did not meet the minimum requirement of $10 million for continued listing. The company was given 45 days to submit a plan to regain compliance.

• Biotron Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, entered into a collaboration with the ACLIRES group, of Hamilton, Bermuda, to conduct clinical studies of its hepatitis C drug, BIT225. Biotron's drug, BIT225, works by targeting the p7 protein, a viral protein essential to virus production and replication.

• The FDA approved Carbaglu (carglumic acid) Tablets to treat N-acetylglutamate synthase or NAGS deficiency, a condition that results in too much ammonia in the blood. The rare genetic disorder can be present in babies soon after birth. The safety and efficacy of Carbaglu was studied in 23 patients with NAGS who received the treatment for times ranging from six months to 21 years. In these patients, Carbaglu reduced blood ammonia levels within 24 hours and normalized ammonia levels within three days. The majority of those in the study appeared to maintain normal plasma ammonia levels with long-term Carbaglu treatment. Carbaglu is manufactured by Orphan Europe, of Paris.

• Genocea Biosciences Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., licensed a portfolio of Streptococcus pneumoniae antigens from Children's Hospital Boston. Genocea retains exclusive rights to create vaccines incorporating the antigens for developed countries, while it shares rights with nonprofit PATH for developing countries. Terms were not disclosed.

• International Stem Cell Corp., of Oceanside, Calif., said its Research and Therapeutic Development Group and scientists from the University of California, Irvine are starting a second phase of preclinical experiments to test retinal pigment epithelium derived from parthenogenetic stem cells. Follow-on preclinical experiments will be conducted to rescue vision in disease models.

• Proteacel LLC, of Tampa, Fla., exclusively licensed the Perforation Optimization and Repair Enhancement (PORE) gene delivery technology from the Moffitt Cancer Center. Proteacel will initially provide contract cell transfection services and later assays. Terms were not disclosed.

• SymBio Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Tokyo, and its partners submitted a new drug application in Taiwan for bendamustine hydrochloride (SyB L-0501) in indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia and multiple myeloma. The drug has been approved in Hong Kong and Singapore, and is under review in Japan. In the U.S., bendamustine is commercialized as Treanda for NHL and CLL by Frazer, Pa.-based Cephalon Inc. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 19, 2008.)