• Agennix AG, of Planegg, Germany, inked a deal with Lonza Group AG, of Basel, Switzerland, for production of Agennix's oral dendritic cell-mediated immunotherapy, talactoferrin, which is in Phase III testing in non-small-cell lung cancer. Under the agreement, Lonza will produce commercial material at its facility in the Czech Republic. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• BioMarCare Technologies Ltd., a subsidiary of Jerusalem-based Hadasit Bio-Holdings Ltd., and Ariadne Inc., of Wilmington, Del., received approval for a $900,000 grant from the Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation to support a joint project to develop biomarkers that predict response or lack of response to drugs that inhibit the EGF receptor. BioMarCare will be responsible for developing the test while carrying out a clinical trial in Israel. Upon completion of the development stage, Ariadne will undertake further clinical trials and seek regulatory approval and product launch in the U.S. BioMarCare has rights to commercialize the product in Europe.

• Cardio3 Biosciences SA, of Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, received good manufacturing practice certification for its production facilities in Mont-Saint-Guibert from the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products of Belgium. The facilities are used to manufacture the company's lead product, C3BS-CQR-1, which is in development for heart failure.

• Impax Laboratories Inc., of Hayward, Calif., confirmed that it has initiated a challenge of the Orange Book patents listed in connection with Gralise (gabapentin tablets) from Depomed Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., by filing an abbreviated new drug application containing paragraph IV certification for a generic version of the postherpetic neuralgia drug. Earlier this month, Depomed filed suit for patent infringement against Impax. Depomed, which gained approval of Gralise in early 2011, has claimed that the last of six patents listed for Gralise won't expire until 2024. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 1, 2011.)

• Northwest Biothrapeutics Inc., of Bethesda, Md., partnered with King's Health Partners, an academic science center in London, to develop DCVax, an immune therapy developed by Northwest, for glioblastoma multiforme. King's College will provide support for manufacturing of DCVax, using its cGMP facility and staff.