* Calypte Biomedical Corp., of Alameda, Calif., raised $10 million in a private equity financing to support manufacture of its urine-based test for HIV-1 and development of additional urine-based diagnostics. In September, Calypte said its partner, Cambridge Biotech Corp., of Rockville, Md., and its parent company, bioMerieux Vitek Inc., of St. Louis, received notice from the FDA that their Urine HIV-1 Western Blot test was approvable pending completion of product labeling.
* Cephalon Inc., of West Chester, Pa., received approval of Provigil (modafinil) tablets for narcolepsy in the U.K. The drug, a synthetic compound, was licensed from Paris-based Laboratoire L. Lafon, which markets it in France. Cephalon has marketing rights in the U.K., Japan. Ireland, Mexico and the U.S. Provigil is under review in the U.S. and Ireland.
* CytRx Corp., of Atlanta, raised $2 million in a private placement of 6 percent convertible debentures. Investors also received two-year warrants to purchase 40,000 shares at $5.68 per share.
* Dyax Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., entered a drug discovery collaboration with Tularik Inc., of South San Francisco. Dyax will use its phage display technology to identify small structured peptides that bind to Tularik's intracellular genetic targets. Tularik will use the information from the peptides to design small molecule compounds. Financial terms were not disclosed. Dyax will receive funding from Tularik to conduct the research and will receive milestone payments and royalties. In return, Tularik will have exclusive rights to the small molecule compounds.
* Corvas International Inc., of San Diego, intitiated a Phase Ib trial in the Netherlands of its deep vein thrombosis-targeted anticoagulant, rNAPc2. The trial will assess safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics in patients with active coagulation disorders. Derived from hookworms, the drug inhibits Factor VIIa and tissue factor, which are enzymes that trigger blood clot formation. NAP stands for nematode anticoagulant proteins. The company presented Phase Ia results in September.
* Coulter Pharmaceutical Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., grossed an additional $6.4 million on its public offering by the underwriters' exercise of their full overallotment option of 412,500 shares. Total proceeds from the offering, priced earlier this month at $15.50 per share, now stand at $49 million. Including overallotments, the company sold 3.16 million shares in the offering, underwritten by Hambrecht & Quist L.L.C., of New York, BT Alex. Brown Inc., of Baltimore, and Pacific Growth Equities Inc., of San Francisco.
* Jenner Technologies Inc., of Ramon, Calif., changed its name to Jenner Biotherapies Inc. The company said the new name better reflects its focus on cancer immunotherapy and biological therapies for other diseases.
* PathoGenesis Corp., of Seattle, initiated a Phase II trial in Brazil to study PA 1648 (rifalazil) as an anti-infective treatment for tuberculosis. The randomized, multiple-dose, open-label trial will test the drug in 60 patients, ages 18 to 65, with pulmonary tuberculosis. A derivative of the standard therapy, rifampin, PA-1648 offers the prospect of shorter treatment periods or fewer administrations, reducing the costs of directly observed therapy.
* VIMRX Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Wilmington, Del., began a Phase II trial of VIMRxyn, which is synthetic hypericin, for psoriasis, warts and cutaneous T cell lymphoma. The light-activated drug is applied topically.
* EpiGenesis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Durham, N.C., received a $100,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant to fund continued development of EPI 2010, an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide that targets the adenosine A1 receptor, which is overexpressed in the lungs of asthmatics. Acccording to the company, EPI 2010 appears to have both anti-bronchoconstrictor and anti-inflammatory effects when administered directly to the lung by inhalation.