• Burrill and Co., of San Francisco, completed the first close of its Burrill Brazil Fund I for a total of $125 million. It received approvals from Brazilian authorities Jan. 9 to commence operation of the fund. The fund will support life science in Brazil. Its target for the second close is $200 million.

• Bridge Bioresearch plc, of London, completed preclinical studies of 2hydroxyoleic acid (2OHOA) for obesity and metabolic disorders. The product showed biological activity without observed toxicity. In animal models, it improved hypertension and Type II diabetes associated with obesity.

• China Nuokang Bio-Pharmaceutical Inc., of Beijing, acquired Chinese rights to manufacture and market Alpha Lipoic Acid Capsules for diabetic neuropathy from Shandong Qidu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Shandong, China, in exchange for RMB18 million (US$2.9 million).

• Evotec AG, of Hamburg, Germany, achieved a milestone in its multiyear, multitarget drug discovery alliance with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, triggering a €2.5 million (US$3.2 million) milestone payment. The milestone involved the identification and selection of an oncology compound to be advanced into extended profiling prior to preclinical development. The companies entered the collaboration in 2004 and extended it in 2009.

• Hemispherx Biopharma Inc., of Philadelphia, said the FDA granted the company's request for more time to modify its Ampligen new drug application, following a complete response letter received in 2009 for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Hemispherx said new research around a potential companion diagnostic for CFS prompted the decision. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 3, 2009.)

• OctoPlus NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, signed an agreement with a major pharmaceutical company based in the U.S. to explore the feasibility of a controlled-release formulation of a compound for delivery to the joints. Under the agreement, OctoPlus will develop the formulation using its PolyActive technology. If successful, there is potential for a development and manufacturing license agreement.

• The Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a nonprofit based in Seattle, received more than $500,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to augment a multimillion dollar award made last year as part of the foundation's Tuberculosis (TB) Drug Accelerator program. IDRI will use the additional funds to expand several areas of work in early drug discovery, including increasing its capacity to screen for anti-tubercular compounds, evaluation of hit compounds and novel drug target identification. The institute said the funding will allow it to screen a wider variety of compounds and advance them more rapidly into TB drug candidates.

• Spherix Inc., of Bethesda, Md., said it completed a 28-day rat toxicology study of potential dyslipidemia compound SPX-106 and found "an ample margin of safety" with the dosing planned for its first clinical trial. The company plans to submit an investigational new drug application in the second quarter of 2012. Shares of Spherix (NASDAQ:SPEX) gained 21 cents, or 17.7 percent, to close at $1.40 on Wednesday.