• Antares Pharma Inc., of Exton, Pa., reacquired the rights to its needle-free injector technology for use with human growth hormones in the U.S. from Bio-Technology General Corp., of East Brunswick, N.J. In December 1999, the companies entered an agreement giving Bio-Technology General Corp. an exclusive license to Antares' injector technology for the U.S. growth hormone field. Antares said it is now free to pursue distribution of the technology in that market with other partners. Reasons for the reacquisition of rights or any financial information were not disclosed.

• Bavarian Nordic A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said it entered an agreement to supply Elstree-BN smallpox vaccine to an undisclosed government. Bavarian called the order its largest ever, adding that it fills a major portion of the company's sales and profit targets for the whole year.

• Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, presented at the Antibody-Based Therapeutics for Cancer Keystone Symposium in Banff, Alberta, data showing that its HuMax-CD20 human antibody appears to kill tumor cells that are resistant to rituximab, a marketed antibody directed to the same disease target. Preclinical testing showed that HuMax-CD20 effectively killed up to 50 percent of tumor cells from a number of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients, compared to no more than 5 percent for rituximab. HuMax-CD20 also effectively killed up to 100 percent of cancer cells from a cell line derived from a B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia patient, compared to no more than 10 percent for rituximab, Genmab said.

• Gryphon Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco, reported publication in the Feb. 7, 2003, issue of Science that details its synthetic erythropoiesis protein (SEP), licensed in March to F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland. SEP, a 166-amino-acid-protein built with Gryphon's chemical synthesis using peptide ligation and polymer technology, is being developed by Roche to treat the common conditions that cause anemia, including the treatment of cancer with chemotherapy and hemodialysis of patients suffering from chronic renal failure.

• MedImmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said it submitted information requested by an FDA complete response letter for FluMist, an influenza vaccine delivered as a nasal mist. MedImmune said the agency did not request additional clinical trials, but instead the five-question letter, received a month earlier than expected, sought clarification and additional information relating to previously submitted data. Before the end of last year, an FDA advisory committee voted favorably on the questions of safety and efficacy for FluMist in preventing influenza in healthy people between the ages of 5 and 49. A majority of the 18-person panel also voted FluMist safe in the 50- to 64-year-old population, but only four agreed that it was efficacious in that group. As part of an ongoing global collaboration agreement, MedImmune and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth, of Madison, N.J., would market the drug. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 31, 2003, and Dec. 18, 2002.)

• Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, began multiple dosing in healthy volunteers as part of its Phase I study of the antiviral MIV-210. The UK study, designed to further ensure the compound's safety after multiple oral dosing and to establish its oral bioavailability, pharmacokinetic properties and dose levels for potential Phase II trials, is expected to be completed during the second half of this year.

• RedStorm Scientific Inc., of Houston, entered a licensing agreement with the University of California at San Diego, which will use RedStorm's Fyrestar technology to predict and verify protein structures. Fyrestar will be paired with the university's Enhanced Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectroscopy technology as part of its approach to high- throughput protein structure determination. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Revotar Biopharmaceuticals AG, of Hennigsdorf, Germany, a majority-owned affiliate of Texas Biotechnology Corp., of Houston, said both parties have amended a license and research and development agreement in an effort to better reflect individual commercial priorities. Revotar will have exclusive worldwide rights to bimosiamose to treat asthma and other inflammatory conditions as well as rights to topical indications outside of North America. Texas Biotechnology will have exclusive worldwide rights to the use of bimosiamose in organ transplant as well as exclusive North American rights to all topical indications. Each party retains certain revenue-sharing and royalty obligations.

• SuperGen Inc., of Dublin, Calif., submitted the second of three data modules the new drug application for Orathecin, an oral chemotherapy compound designed to treat pancreatic cancer patients who are refractory to available therapies. In November, the company received fast-track designation for the drug. The first module of the rolling application was submitted in December. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 31, 2002.)

• The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research in New York has committed $2 million to a research initiative to study dyskinesias, a symptom of Parkinson's disease. The foundation, founded in 2000, has started a campaign to accelerate, expand and focus funding of research targeting Parkinson's disease.