* Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., arranged with an undisclosed financial institution to purchase capped call options on its common stock. The call options give the company the right to purchase over the course of four to 16 months 1.2 million shares at prices to be determined. In exchange, Interneuron has agreed to sell that same financial concern call options that allow the institution in May 1999 to buy from Interneuron up to 2 million shares at an expected price of $40 per share. The arrangement allows the company to purchase its shares at what it deems "attractive prices," and also to issue shares at a price "higher than any previous financing that the company has conducted." As of March 31, the company, whose highest profile product is the diet drug Redux, had 41.1 million shares outstanding.

* Sonus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bothell, Wash., and Valois, of Mary-le-Roi, France, launched a collaboration to develop a fluorocarbon-based emulsion aerosol drug-delivery system for potential pulmonary delivery of a variety of drugs, including protein and peptide compounds. Sonus' technology protects large molecules while being inhaled into the lungs, the company said, and could be used to ease administration of some drugs that are currently available only through injection.

* Panax Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of New York, will acquire CorBec Pharmaceuticals Inc., of West Conshohocken, Pa., provided certain contingencies are met, including the combination of Panax with Sangen Pharmaceutical Co. and the completion of new debt or equity financing. If the deal goes through, CorBec shareholders will receive $750,000 and 750,000 shares of Panax common stock. CorBec's most advanced drug candidate is CBP-1011, now in a Phase III clinical trial for the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura.

* Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boulder, Colo., and Dow Elanco will collaborate on agricultural commercialization of RPI's ribozyme technology. Under terms of the agreement, DowElanco will pay royalties on products sold under a worldwide, non-exclusive license to commercialize oil, meal and starch products in corn and other crops. The companies have already determined that ribozymes can change corn's ratio of saturated to unsaturated oils. DowElanco is a joint venture between Dow Chemical Co., of Midland, Mich., and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co.