• BioAdvance, a Philadelphia-based biotechnology greenhouse of southeastern Pennsylvania, selected seven recipients for a first round of funding provided by its $20 million Greenhouse Fund, which invests in early stage human health technology companies in the area. Among the recipients are Eagle Vision Pharmaceutical Corp., which is developing agents to enhance MRI; Integral Molecular, whose technology is designed to simplify drug discovery; MacroArray Technologies Inc., which is developing diagnostic markers and therapeutics for a variety of cancers; RetinaPharma Technologies Inc., which is working on vision disorders; and Spliceomix Inc., which is developing vaccines and therapeutics for cancer.

• BioTransplant Inc., of Medford, Mass., said further clinical studies of MEDI-507 in psoriasis are being postponed by MedImmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md. MedImmune said it first plans to complete a Phase II psoriasis trial of its investigational monoclonal antibody Vitaxin. MedImmune indicated that it still plans to evaluate MEDI-507 for T-cell lymphoma. Controversy surrounding the compound, licensed to MedImmune by BioTransplant, played a part in the latter's decision to file for bankruptcy almost two months ago. At the time the company was mired in a legal battle with the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, from which BioTransplant originally licensed the compound. (See BioWorld Today, March 3, 2003.)

• Dimethaid Research Inc., of Toronto, completed its previously reported rights offering. Rights were exercised for a total of 4,63 million common shares, providing Dimethaid with C$9.3 million (US$6.4 million) in gross proceeds. Dimethaid said it intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and for the Canadian launch of Pennsaid, in addition to capital expenditures and development of new products. The company now has 57.3 shares outstanding. Its two technology platforms focus on transcellular drug delivery and immune system regulation and have potential applications in such areas as osteoarthritis, onychomycosis and HIV/AIDS.

• Elixir Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it is collaborating with researchers in Francis Collins' laboratory at the National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., and Michael Boehnke's laboratory at the University of Michigan to study the relationship of the recently discovered Lamin A (LMNA) gene to the normal aging process. The NHGRI reported earlier this month the discovery of the association of the LMNA gene with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, a disorder that causes the most dramatic form of premature aging.

The Institute for Biological Energy Alternatives in Rockville, Md., received $9 million in new funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to be used in research of microbial communities and to develop biological methods for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and produce hydrogen. Headed by J. Craig Venter, the institute will receive the funding in equal parts over the next three years. The DOE already had committed $3 million to the institute, which will collaborate on its project with The Institute for Genomics Research, another Venter enterprise.

• Medarex Inc., of Princeton, N.J., entered an agreement to use its UltiMAb technology to develop fully human antibodies to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in partnership with the Massachusetts Biologic Laboratories of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Jamaica Plain, Mass. They expect to share equally the development costs of any antibody products as well as any future revenues.

• Molecular Probes Inc., of Eugene, Ore., received a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Cancer Institute, a unit of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. The Phase I grant will fund a research project to examine the reduced risk of breast cancer observed following a full-term pregnancy in early adulthood.

• Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc., of Bothell, Wash., reported positive findings from a recently completed preclinical mouse tumor evaluation of its new product candidate, DCVax-Direct Adjuvant Cancer Therapy, which is designed to be a single therapeutic for all solid tumors. Northwest Biotherapeutics' stock (OTCBB:NWBT) rose 13 cents Thursday to 22 cents on the news, and fell 1 cent Friday.

• PTC Therapeutics Inc., of South Plainfield, N.J., was awarded a grant from the Department of Defense Neurofibromatosis Research Program. The grant will enable PTC to apply its Small Molecule Modulation of Read-Through program to investigate compounds that promote read-through of nonsense mutations as a treatment for Neurofibromatosis.

• Sirna Therapeutics Inc., of Boulder, Colo., named James Niedel chairman following the lead investment put forth by his firm, the Sprout Group. Following Sirna's $48 million financing round, the company also named to its board Bryan Roberts of Venrock Associates and Douglas Fambrough of Oxford Bioscience Partners. Three board members resigned after the financing closed, two existing members remain and the Sprout Group will designate one of two remaining vacancies.

• SuperGen Inc., of Dublin, Calif., is the subject of a class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of purchasers of the company's stock between April 18, 2000, and March 13, 2003. The complaint alleges the company and its CEO, president and chairman issued a series of false and misleading statements concerning Mitozytrex, or MitoExtra, and its ability to treat cancer. The suit charges that as a result, the defendants were able to sell stock and notes in a $25 million financing.

• V.I. Technologies Inc., of Watertown, Mass., said it filed with the SEC a post-effective amendment to the registration statement for its $20 million rights offering to extend the deadline for shareholders to exercise subscription rights to May 15. The rights offering had been scheduled to expire on May 1. The extension was made in response to requests from shareholders for additional time to evaluate terms of the offering.

• Xanthus Life Sciences Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it established new corporate headquarters at Technology Square in Cambridge's Kendall Square area. The new headquarters will allow Xanthus to bring together its research and development activities under one roof.