• Addex Pharmaceuticals SA, of Geneva, changed its name to Addex Therapeutics, reflecting its focus on small molecule-based therapeutics. Its ticker symbol on the Swiss stock exchange remains unchanged.

• Kancera AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said its ROR inhibitors showed an effect in a model of human pancreatic cancer. The compounds were superior in efficacy to gemcitabine. The study was done in collaboration with Matthias Lohr, a professor at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. The data were presented at the BioEurope Spring meeting in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

• Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, received orphan drug designation from the FDA for its candidate for carcinoid syndrome, telotristat etiprate (LX1032). Lexicon reported positive Phase II results in August 2011 and is preparing a global Phase III development plan.

• Tarsa Therapeutics Inc., of Philadelphia, signed a commercial supply agreement with QS Pharma, of Boothwyn, Pa., for bulk manufacture of Ostora oral recombinant salmon calcitonin tablets. The supply of Ostora will be used for product launch and commercial sale. Tarsa and QS Pharma had a previous agreement for small-scale development batches which progressed to scale-up and validation activities that are currently under way.

• VistaGen Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco, entered a collaboration with Vala Sciences Inc., of San Diego, to advance drug safety screening methods in clinically relevant human in vitro bioassay systems. The project will combine VistaGen's human cardiomyocytes with Vala's high-throughput electrophysiological assessment technology with the goal of drug rescue for a pipeline of cardiovascular drugs.