• Astex Therapeutics, of Cambridge, UK, received an undisclosed milestone payment from Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, triggered by the initiation of a clinical trial of LEE011, an oncology candidate being developed by the companies under a 2005 collaboration aimed at cell cycle inhibitors. The deal called for three compounds and could bring Astex total payments of $520 million. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 7, 2005.)

• Curaxis Pharmaceutical Corp., of Durham, N.C., will explore listing its shares on the Frankfurt stock exchange as part of a multicity European road show to meet with prospective investors. The company believes that a listing on the Frankfurt exchange may attract investors who hesitate to invest via the U.S. OTC exchange.

• Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, will jointly develop and commercialize diabetes compounds currently in mid-to-late stage development at both companies. The agreement covers two Boehringer Ingelheim candidates, linagliptin and BI10773, and two Lilly insulin analogues, LY2605541 and LY2963016. There is also an option to co-develop and co-commercialize an anti-TGF-beta monoclonal antibody by Lilly. The terms of the strategic alliance include a one-time payment by Lilly to Boehringer Ingelheim of $388.9 million, plus up to $810.2 million in potential milestones for linagliptin and BI10773. Lilly will be eligible to receive up to $650 million in success-based regulatory milestones for the insulin analogues, and up to $525 million if Boehringer Ingelheim opts in to the Phase III development and commercialization of the anti-TGF-beta monoclonal antibody. The transaction will result in a 2011 earnings share dilution between $0.45 and $0.50, with a charge of approximately $0.27 per share related to the one-time payment.

• Emerging Healthcare Solutions Inc., of Houston, Texas, signed an option agreement with German company, Oceanbasis GmbH. During the option period of 60 days, EHSI will review Oceanbasis in order to negotiate a profit-sharing agreement with respect to the latter's assets in collagen-based technologies.

• InSite Vision Inc., of Alameda, Calif., filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA for ISV-101, a compound in development for dry eye disease. InSite will begin a Phase I/II trial in 2011 to evaluate safety and efficacy of the compound dosed twice daily to patients with dry eye disease.

• Logic Management Consulting (China) Co. Ltd., or Logic China, a wholly-owned PRC subsidiary of China Biologic Products Inc., of Tai'an City, Shandong Province, will purchase the last 10 percent ownership of Guiyang Dalin Biologic Technologies Co. Ltd., of which it already owns 90 percent, for a purchase price of $7.53 million. Guiyang Dalin Biologic Technologies will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Logic China.

• The Infectious Disease Research Institute selected Medicago Inc., of Quebec City, to collaborate on a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency for the development of a single-dose avian flu vaccine using Medicago's plant-based vaccine technology.

• Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, and BioFocus, of Saffron Walden, UK, a services division of Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, will collaborate to discover new targets in autoimmune disease. Ono will provide research funding to Biofocus and success payments based on progress. BioFocus will use its SilenceSelect platform to discover and validate targets for immunology programs at Ono.

• Pacific Biomarkers Inc., of Seattle, has been awarded two grants to provide clinical biomarker services to two pharmaceutical companies from February 2011 through the end of the calendar year. The company will analyze biomarkers associated with cardiovascular, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases and hepatic and renal injury. The combined total of both contracts is estimated at $1.1 million.

• Sirona Biochem Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, reported positive preclinical results for its Type II diabetes drug candidate, an SGLT2 inhibitor. The compound reduced blood glucose levels in a dose-dependent manner by up to 50 percent compared to untreated groups, and showed better results than dapagliflozin, (DAPA, Astrazeneca plc) a Phase III SGLT-2 inhibitor.

• Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, licensed a biomarker assay from Zinfandel Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Durham, N.C., for Alzheimer's disease risk prediction. The agreement covers the use of the assay with pioglitazone in high-risk older adults with normal cognition. Zinfandel will receive an up-front payment of $9 million and development milestone payments up to $78 million. The agreement also provides for additional commercial milestones and royalties. Takeda's exclusive license will include the right to sublicense, develop, manufacture, use and commercialize the TOMM40 biomarker assay.