• AlphaRx Inc., of Hong Kong, said a reverse split of its common stock at a ratio of 1-for-5 was declared effective by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. The company's shares (OTCQB:ALRXD) began trading on a split-adjusted basis May 29.

• Cangene Corp., of Mississauga, Ontario, issued a voluntary product recall for eight finished lots of HepaGam B (hepatitis B human immune globulin intravenous) made from a single manufacturing bulk lot. The recall is a precautionary measure due to presence of procoagulant activity in the product representing a risk of thrombosis. No adverse reactions or complaints have been reported from the use of HepaGam B. The recall affects about 15,000 vials of product distributed in Canada, the U.S. and Israel.

• Cytori Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, said it obtained approval to sell the Celution 800 System in Russia for various medical uses, including output of adipose-derived stem and regenerative cells for plastic surgery and select soft-tissue therapies.

• Dyax Corp., of Burlington, Mass., said Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer Pharma AG executed a license to Dyax's antibody phage display technology for development and potential commercialization of therapeutic antibody candidates identified using the Dyax library. The deal was based on successful antibody discovery work during a research evaluation period. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Emmaus Medical Inc., of Torrance, Calif., said its L-glutamine treatment for sickle cell disease received a positive opinion recommending orphan designation by the European Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products. That designation would allow the product 10 years of marketing exclusivity upon approval. Emmaus' L-glutamine drug is in Phase III testing.

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said partner GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, submitted regulatory applications in the U.S. and Europe related to Promacta/Revolade (eltrombopag) and its use to increase platelet counts in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and low platelets. The drug already is marketed for thrombocytopenia in patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia.

• Medivation Inc., of San Francisco, and Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, said the FDA agreed that the firms may proceed with an expanded access program (EAP) for investigational therapy enzalutamide (MDV3100) under a treatment protocol in the U.S., while marketing approval is being sought by the FDA. The EAP is now enrolling eligible men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer previously treated with docetaxel chemotherapy. Medivation and Astellas submitted a new drug application for enzalutamide earlier this month.

• Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, and BioFocus, of Walden, UK, signed a collaboration agreement to discover new targets in allergic diseases including atopic dermatitis and bronchial asthma. BioFocus will use its SilenceSelect technology to deliver validated targets to Ono, receiving research funding and success-based payments in exchange. Ono has a pre-existing collaboration with BioFocus in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, dating to January 2011.

• Osiris Therapeutics Inc., of Columbia, Md., received transitional pass-through status from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services with C-codes designated for Gravix. The product has also been assigned pass-through status under Medicare's outpatient prospective payment system effective July 1.

• Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Rockville, Md., said preclinical data published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry demonstrated the antitumor activity of nucleoside compound RX-3117. Data showed the synthesis of RX-3117 and its 2'-deoxy analogue, as well as its in vitro cell line activity and strong in vivo antitumor effect.