• Axcan Pharma Inc., of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, said its Irish subsidiary agreed to a sublicense agreement in which Grupo Ferrer Internacional S.A., of Barcelona, Spain, will market Photofrin in Spain, Portugal, Greece and Central and South America. The proposed agreement is expected to take effect in October. Axcan acquired worldwide distribution rights to the photodynamic therapy cancer agent from QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia. (See BioWorld Today, May 2, 2000, p. 1.)

• Discovery Therapeutics Inc., of Richmond, Va., said it acquired two Phase II anti-inflammatory drug candidates from Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, through an option and license agreement that includes license and milestone fees and royalties. One drug, a leukotriene biosynthesis inhibitor called DTI-0026, is expected to begin Phase II clinical trials this summer and pivotal clinical trials next year as a treatment for glomerulonephritis, a cause of end-stage renal disease. Bayer was developing the drugs for asthma, but stopped for strategic reasons.

• EPIX Medical Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it plans to issue up to 3 million shares of common stock through a shelf registration. EPIX develops specialty pharmaceuticals for magnetic resonance imaging. Its principal product is AngioMARK, designed to enhance MRI.

• Immtech International Inc., of Vernon Hills, Ill., said scientists from Georgia State University affiliated with the company's university-based Scientific Consortium received a four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study small-molecule regulation of gene functions. The dicationic compounds, discovered by Immtech-licensed GSU scientists, attach to target areas on DNA, forming stacked structures that recognize both strands of the double helix. The small molecules become effective at low concentrations, turning genes on or off for clinical advantage, and could alter the design of new drugs that recognize specific DNA sequences.

• NeoPharm Inc, of Bannockburn, Ill., said it filed an investigational new drug application for Liposomal Encapsulated Antisense Oligonucleotide (LE-AON), its fifth novel compound sent to clinical testing since 1998. LE-AON, which works against the c-raf-1 oncogene, is designed to modulate the oncogene's function by inhibiting radiation-resistant protein synthesis. It is the first product to deliver antisense oligonucleotides in liposomes. The company expects to start Phase I trials soon.

• Neurocrine Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, said the first positive results of human clinical response to a corticotropin-releasing factor 1 receptor antagonist in patients with major depressive disorders have been published. The open-label Phase IIa clinical trial results published in The Journal of Psychiatric Research indicated a significant reduction in Hamilton Depression Scores among patients. Neurocrine developed NBI 30075, also known as R121919, in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceutica, of Beerse, Belgium. Trial results showed the compound to be safe and well tolerated in all patients through the 30-day test period. Janssen discontinued development of R121919 after a separate study found reversible increases in liver enzymes in two volunteers, but the company plans to continue it's collaboration with Neurocrine using a backup compound.

• OrthoLogic Corp., of Tempe Ariz., said it is extending its licensing agreement with Chrysalis BioTechnology Inc., of Galveston, Texas, for Chrysalin, a synthetically manufactured 23-amino-acid peptide. The agreement now will include options for worldwide orthopedic indications. Chrysalin is a portion of thrombin, a naturally occurring human enzyme largely responsible for soft- and hard-tissue repair. Clinical trials on the drug began late last year. The agreement calls for OrthoLogic to pay a $2 million licensing fee to Chrysalis in addition to milestone payments and royalty fees. OrthoLogic also has a worldwide partnership agreement with Abbott Laboratories to pursue a dermal wound-healing application for Chrysalin and a similar agreement with MicroMed Technology Inc. to use the drug in myocardial revascularization treatments.

• Targeted Genetics Corp., of Seattle, said its planned 75,000-square-foot AAV-based product manufacturing facility in Canyon Park East corporate park in Bothell, Wash., may be the highest capacity facility of its kind. Targeted Genetics said it leased space in Bothell for the 2,000-liter-scale manufacturing facility that also will house laboratory space for upstream processing, downstream purification and quality control, and it plans to begin construction on the facility in 2001.

• The Allegheny General Hospital Center for Genomic Sciences, of Pittsburgh, reported the discovery of a genetic marker for gastroesophogeal reflux disease. The discovery is described in the July 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

• The Instituto Mexicano Del Petroleo (IMP), of Mexico City, expects to increase its rapid screening capabilities by up to 50 times with the purchase of a second module of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Symyx Technologies Inc.'s Discovery Tools heterogeneous catalysis system. The IMP said it will direct the second module toward the development of refinery catalysts and other materials.

• Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, Calif., said it recently acquired worldwide rights to gallium maltolate, an orally administered form of gallium, and plans to begin Phase II clinical development for the agent in the treatment of certain cancers. Titan, which acquired the rights through the pending acquisition of GeoMed Inc., said it also plans to explore the agent's potential in other indications, including HIV infection. Gallium maltolate has completed initial Phase I clinical testing.

• Vysis Inc., of Downers Grove, Ill., said it expanded its line of DNA Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) probes for use with hematological cancers including follicular lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.