• Allos Therapeutics Inc., of Westminster, Colo., and AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., terminated the merger agreement signed in July after AMAG's shareholders voted against the deal. Despite executives of both firms hailing the cost synergies of combining both firms and their commercially underperforming products – Allos' Folotyn (pralatrexate) for peripheral T-cell lymphoma and AMAG's iron deficiency drug Feraheme (ferumoxytol) – the merger had been met with opposition since day one, even prompting New York-based hedge fund MSMB Capital Management to make an unsolicited bid for AMAG. (See BioWorld Today, July 21, 2011, and Aug. 4, 2011.)

• Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., of Belleville, Ontario, reported that a New York court dismissed all claims against it in a lawsuit brought by Ferghana Partners Inc., a former licensing adviser. Ferghana filed the lawsuit in 2009, seeking 6 percent of the funds received under Bioniche's strategic partnership related to bladder cancer drug, Urocidin, as a finder's fee. The claim involved an outreach never disclosed to Bioniche, made without its approval and in violation of the terms of its advisory agreement with Ferghana, Bioniche said.

• Dynavax Technologies Corp., of Berkeley, Calif., said it expanded its Toll-like receptor (TLR) inhibitor collaboration with London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc to include a new target, TLR8. Dynavax will receive a $3 million milestone payment and could be entitled to about $200 million in milestones over the term of the alliance. Based on preclinical data, Dynavax and GSK will work on a TLR8 inhibitor for multiple autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The two comapnies inked the original TLR deal, valued at about $810 million, in 2008. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 18, 2008.)

• Ferring Pharmaceuticals SA, of Saint-Prex, Switzerland, completed the acquisition of Cytokine PharmaSciences Inc., of King of Prussia, Pa., and its UK subsidiary, Controlled Therapeutics (Scotland) Ltd. (CTS). The acquisition includes the manufacturing assets for dinoprostone marketed by Forest Laboratories Inc. as Cervidil in Canada and the U.S., and by Ferring as Propess elsewhere. CTS has developed a pipeline of women's healthcare products, including the misoprostol vaginal insert that is intended to be marketed as Misodel in Canada and the U.S. and as Misopess elsewhere. The new treatment is expected to be filed for FDA approval next year. The deal is Ferring's second major investment in the reproductive field in the past two years. It purchased global marketing rights last year for Lysteda (tranexamic acid) for the treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding. Terms of the CTS acquisition were not disclosed.

• Intarcia Therapeutics Inc., of Hayward, Calif., signed a letter of intent with contract research organization Quintiles Transnational Corp., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., to collaborate on the Phase III program for Intarcia's ITCA 650 (DUROS subcutaneous continuous delivery of exenatide). The program aims to demonstrate multiple advancements in GLP-1 therapy for Type II diabetes. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Rib-X Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., reported preclinical data showing that RX-04 compounds possessed greater in vitro potency than existing antimicrobials for Pseudomonas aeruginosa respiratory infections. The compounds were tested against hospital-derived respiratory isolates, including multidrug-resistant strains. Data were presented at the Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting in Boston.