• Allos Therapeutics Inc., of Westminster, Colo., said that, following a recent meeting with the Oncology Drug Products Division of the FDA, it may begin a rolling submission of a new drug application for its radiation sensitizer, RSR13 (efaproxiral), for the treatment of patients with brain metastases receiving whole brain radiation therapy. RSR13 is a synthetic small molecule that enhances the diffusion of oxygen to hypoxic tumor tissue and has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of standard radiation therapy. Allos said it anticipates submitting nonclinical sections as early as May. The submission is expected to be based on data from a single randomized Phase III study of 538 patients, for which patient enrollment is completed, but supported by data from three Phase II studies in which RSR13 has been shown to increase the efficacy of radiation therapy in patients with brain metastases, non-small-cell lung cancer and glioblastoma multiforme. Allos expects to have top-line results for the Phase III trail available in the second quarter of 2003.

• Antex Pharma Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., a wholly owned subsidiary of Antex Biologics Inc., said its lead antibiotic compound, AP158, destroyed biofilms in recently completed studies. The initial indication sought for AP158 is the treatment of community and hospital-acquired skin and soft tissue infections. The new findings further support this indication and expand the applications for AP158 in the treatment of biofilms, Antex said.

• Argonaut Technologies Inc., of Foster City, Calif., said Nasdaq approved its application to have common stock traded on the Nasdaq SmallCap Market. The transfer of its common stock was to be effective on the opening of trading Dec. 4. Argonaut is a provider of instruments, chemistry consumables, software and services designed to accelerate and improve chemical development processes.

• Atugen AG, of Berlin, received two milestone payments from Altana Pharma AG, the international pharmaceuticals group of Altana AG, of Bad Homburg, Germany, as part of a validation alliance for new target molecules associated with cancer and diseases of the immune system, signed in 2001. The milestone payments are related to the validation of the first two targets from Altana Pharma using Atugen's GeneBloc technology. Financial details were not disclosed.

• Axcan Pharma Inc., of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, signed an agreement to acquire a pancreatic enzyme line of products from Abbott Laboratories, of Abbott Park, Ill., for $45 million in cash. Axcan will acquire various marketing and intellectual property rights, including patents and trademarks to the Panzytrat product line. Panzytrat products consist of enteric-coated microtablets for the treatment of exocrine pancreatic deficiency and are marketed in several countries. Axcan said it expects the acquisition to be accretive immediately, generating about C$0.08 cents (US$0.05 cents) per share over the next 12 months.

BioSyntech Inc., of Laval, Quebec, said its therapeutics delivery division announced results of pilot preclinical efficacy studies using Cerebragel on rat glioblastoma tumor model implanted orthotopically and stereotactically into Wistar rats intracranially. In the project conducted at Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, C-6 gliomal - a clonal cell line developed from a rat glioblastoma chemically induced in the brain of a Wistar rat - was used. The animals were randomized into two groups: untreated and treated with Cerebragel. All the control untreated animals died within 25 days. However, the animals treated with Cerebragel survived beyond 5 months and are still surviving, with no signs of any systemic toxicity or neurotoxicity. No loss in body weight and no signs of any neurological disorder were observed in treated animals for a period exceeding 5 months.

• British Biotech plc, of Oxford, UK, elected Peter Fellner to its board, and he will be named nonexecutive chairman Jan. 1. He will succeed Christopher Hampson, who will retire Dec. 31. Fellner has been CEO of Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, since 1990.

• Ceregene Inc., of San Diego, signed a licensing agreement with Washington University in St. Louis for exclusive worldwide rights to the gene expressing Neurturin, a nervous system growth factor, for use in neurological gene therapies. The Neurturin protein and gene is a member of a family of proteins that can protect dopamine-producing neurons in animal models of Parkinson's disease.

• Cytochroma Inc., of Markham, Ontario, said the company raised an additional C$6.5 million (US $4.2 million) in a recent private equity financing, bringing the total raised in its Series B funding round to C$22 million. Vengrowth Capital Partners, through The VenGrowth Advanced Life Sciences Fund Inc., joined other Canadian and Danish investors in the round. The additional funds will be used to advance what Cytochroma called several promising small-molecule therapeutics for dermatology and oncology into clinical trials.

• Embrex Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., received Chinese regulatory approval for its Bursaplex infectious bursal disease vaccine, an approval Embrex said brings the benefits of its in ovo technology to what it termed the world's second largest poultry market.

• F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, said the FDA approved combination therapy with Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a), a pegylated interferon, and Copegus (ribavirin) for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C who have compensated liver disease and have not previously been treated with interferon alpha. Pegasys was approved as monotherapy for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C in October. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 18, 2002.)

• Forbes Medi Tech Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said it is amending its Phase II trials to accelerate timing of results for FM-VP4. FM-VP4 is an amphipathic analogue of phytostanols that have demonstrated cholesterol-lowering and anti-atherosclerotic properties in preclinical studies. The product is being investigated in a combined Phase I and Phase II protocol at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The amended protocol will allow overlapping of test groups, reducing the required time to complete the trial. The final report for Phase I study is expected to be available in January. The dosing of patients in Phase II is expected to begin in January and should be completed in the fourth quarter of 2003, the company said.

• Genitope Corp., of Redwood City, Calif., initiated a trial to evaluate GTOP-99, a personalized vaccine-like immunotherapy, following treatment with Rituxan (rituximab) for patients previously treated for follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The study (called 2002-09) will involve only patients previously registered in Genitope's ongoing Phase III trial. The trial will require that patients are administered a standard chemotherapy regimen, followed by a 26-week rest period prior to receiving GTOP-99 or control.

• GlycoFi Inc., of Lebanon, N.H., moved its operations from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., to Centerra Research Park in Lebanon. The new space has 11,680 square feet with nearly 75 percent of that devoted to a combination of biomolecular engineering labs and a pilot scale fermentation facility for protein manufacturing.

• Immuno-Designed Molecules SA, of Paris, said Sanofi-Synthelabo SA, also of Paris, subscribed to a reserved capital increase of IDM of €20 million. Sanofi-Synthelabo also renewed its commitment to invest €10 million through an initial public offering or through a private placement. In January, the companies formed a partnership in cellular immunotherapy to develop and market cancer products over the next 10 years. Through that agreement, Sanofi-Synthelabo will increase its shareholding in IDM for a total amount of €30 million.

• Lorus Therapeutics Inc., of Toronto, appointed Graham Strachan chairman. Strachan was president and CEO of Allelix from 1987 to 1999 and has been a director of Lorus since 2001. Lorus focuses on products and technologies for the management of cancer.

• MultiCell Technologies Inc., of Warwick, R.I., a subsidiary of Exten Industries Inc., said its mammalian hepatocyte cells for identifying potential drug interactions are available. It said its cell lines are to be used mainly by pharmaceutical companies for drug discovery.

• Mymetics Corp., of Annapolis, Md., presented preclinical data at the International Feline Retrovirus Research Symposium demonstrating antiviral activity of five candidate compounds against FIV, the feline equivalent of HIV. The peptides were developed to disrupt a phenomenon Mymetics discovered, called molecular mimicry, which describes an inter-reaction between the virus and the host cell that contributes to disease replication. Mymetics is developing compounds against FIV as a model to help develop new peptide inhibitors targeting HIV.

• Oculex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., completed enrollment of more than 300 patients in a Phase II trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of its lead product, Posurdex, to treat persistent macular edema. The randomized, U.S. multicenter study, which Oculex said it expects to complete by the middle of next year, also will evaluate visual acuity improvement among patients with persistent macular edema as a result of diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion and uveitis.

• Prolysis Ltd., of Oxford, UK, and Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany, formed a three-year collaboration worth about £3 million (US$4.7 million) to focus on antibiotics. The collaboration might be extended into development, increasing its value to about £6 million. Evotec OAI will apply its biology, medicinal and computational chemistry skills to design and synthesize compounds against selected Prolysis targets. Evotec OAI expects to optimize properties of the substances using its early ADME/Tox platform. Evotec OAI will receive fees for services as well as an undisclosed equity stake in Prolysis.

• Sequenom Inc., of San Diego, launched a single nucleotide polymerase discovery application for its MassArray platform. Its SNP platform enables users to identify previously unknown SNPs with greater accuracy and speed than competing technologies, the company said. SNP Discovery is the first of several potential commercial applications for Sequenom's Re-Sequencing technology, including DNA Methylation Analysis, Bacterial and Viral Typing, Mutation Analysis and Species Indentification.

• Serologicals Corp., of Atlanta, selected Lawrence, Kan., as the site for its new Ex-Cyte manufacturing facility after an evaluation of more than 30 sites in the Midwest. Key factors in the selection were the area's bioscience assets, commitment to life sciences and the community's interest in a collaborative partnership with Serologicals, the company said.

• Thuris Corp., of Irvine, Calif., and the Chinese National Center for Drug Screening initiated a collaboration to evaluate the therapeutic activity of the center's compounds with Thuris' RapidAging animal models. Thuris will test kinase, protease and inflammatory inhibitors selected from the center's chemical libraries. RapidAging is a system for testing anti-aging and Alzheimer's disease drugs against primary pathologies. Financial details were not disclosed.

• Vectura Ltd., of Bath, UK, signed an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, to evaluate Vectura's Aerocine and associated powder formulation technologies in dry powder inhaler devices for the treatment of inflammatory and constrictive diseases of the airway. Also, Vectura completed an additional round of financing of £6.9 million (US$10.8 million). The Merlin Biosciences Fund LP, together with ISIS Capital/ISIS Asset Management business units, led the round, each investing £2 million. Vectura also entered a £2 million loan facility with GATX European Technology Ventures, bringing the total additional cash available to the company to £8.9 million.

• ZymoGenetics Inc., of Seattle, said at its analyst and investor day that it plans to initiate clinical development for three product candidates in the next 12 months. The products are: recombinant human Factor XIII, for congenital and acquired Factor XIII deficiencies; recombinant human thrombin, as a general hemostat to control bleeding during surgery; and TACI-Ig, for the treatment of antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases. The company also has designated interleukin-21, a potential cancer treatment, as a development candidate.