• Avaxia Biologics Inc., of Lexington, Mass., said it received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases to develop an antibody therapeutic for inflammatory bowel disease. The award provides $1.5 million over two years and was based on the successful completion of a Phase I SBIR grant that demonstrated efficacy of AVX-470 in mouse model systems of inflammatory bowel disease.

• Cellceutix Corp., of Beverly, Mass., said it signed a deal with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on a research project with Kevetrin. The medical center is expected to exploit the nuclear and/or mitochondrial pro-apoptotic function of p53 in melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.

• MabCure Inc., of New York, said it entered an agreement with the City University of New York Center for Advanced Technology to evaluate its monoclonal antibodies against ovarian cancer cells as diagnostic reagents. Terms were not disclosed.

• Nautilus Neurosciences Inc., of Bedminster, N.J., said Canadian partner Tribute Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of London-Ontario-based Stellar Pharmaceuticals Inc., received a notice of compliance approval from Health Canada for Cambia (diclofenac potassium for oral solution) in acute migraine with or without aura in adults. Cambia is expected to be launched in Canada in the second half of 2012.

• OPKO Health Inc., of Miami, said it expanded its exclusive licensing deal with Arctic Partner Ab OY, of Turku, Finland, for two biomarkers in the kallikrein family, which, used together with prostate-specific antigen, can reduce the need for prostate biopsies by more than 50 percent. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• QLT Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said its commercial product Visudyne (verteprofin) was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for the potential treatment of chronic or recurrent central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). The firm is working with external advisors on potential clinical study options for the drug in chronic CSC.

• QRxPharma Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said it executed a license and option agreement with Actavis Inc., of Morristown, N.J., which finalized the legal terms and conditions to commercialize MoxDuo IR in the U.S. acute pain market. The completion follows a December 2011 binding letter of intent secured by a $6 million nonrefundable up-front signing fee. Pending approval, MoxDuo, a fixed-dose combination of morphine and oxycodone, is expected to launch in the third quarter.

• Rhenovia Pharma Ltd., of Mulhouse, France, said it initiated drug research programs in rare, orphan and neglected diseases. Its initial focus will be on Huntington's disease and Duchenne's muscular dystrophy.

• Synbody Biotechnology Inc., of Farmington, Conn., received a $750,000 investment from Connecticut Innovations, through its Seed Investment Fund. The recent start-up is working on a drug discovery platform developed at Arizona State University that uses unstructured, synthetically produced peptides to generate Synbodies, or synthetic antibodies, which have potential in a range of indications such as oncology, cardiovascular disease, central nervous system disorders, diabetes and infectious disease.