* Cambridge Neuroscience Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., received a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md., for cancer drug discovery studies. The funds will be used to support Cambridge Neuroscience's work with Repligen Corp., of Needham, Mass., on identifying small organic molecules that block the neuregulin-erbB signaling pathway, which has been linked to cancer growth.

* ArQule Inc., of Medford, Mass., and Pharmacia Biotech AB, of Uppsala, Sweden, extended by six months their alliance to synthesize biomolecules for use in bioprocessing and research. Financial terms were not disclosed. The collaboration involves applying ArQule's combinatorial chemistry to Pharmacia's separations technology. The two companies initiated their agreement in March 1995. Pharmacia Biotech is a subsidiary of Pharmacia & Upjohn Inc., of Kalmazoo, Mich. In June 1997, Pharmacia & Upjohn and Amersham International plc, of London, proposed merging Amersham Life Sciences group with Pharmacia Biotech to form Amersham Pharmacia Biotech Ltd.

* Arris Pharmaceutical Corp., of South San Francisco, and Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, modified their research and development agreement, returning to Arris rights to tryptase inhibitors for the treatment of psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease. Bayer, however, reserved the right to reenter those programs at the end of Phase IIb studies, and will pick up development of the asthma treatment APC-366 if Phase IIb trials go well. In December, the pharmaceutical company takes over the companies' oral tryptase inhibitor program and ends research funding to Arris.