• Bellus Health Inc., of Laval, Quebec, and Thallion Pharmaceutical Inc., of Dorval, Quebec, said they amended their acquisition agreement dated June 17, 2013, pertaining to the proposed acquisition of Thallion by Bellus. The amendment provides for the potential of increased consideration of Thallion shareholders under the contingent value rights (CVRs) by: increasing from 80 percent to 100 percent the pro rata share entitlement of a CVR holder for any additional purchase price consideration that may be received by Thallion, whether in cash, securities or property of any kind, from Premium Brands Holding Corp. expected in 2016 and representing up to a possible $0.0404 per CVR; removing the $10 million tranche threshold requirement, thereby allowing a CVR holder to receive its pro rata share of 5 percent of any Shigamabs revenue generated or received by Bellus, including from any sale or other use of the Shigamabs technology, capped at $6.5 million, or $0.1812 per CVR; entitling a CVR holder to receive its pro rata share of 100 percent of any net proceeds generated from the licensing, selling or otherwise commercializing of diagnostic products or services using certain Caprion Proteomics Inc. products and all issued patents or pending patents pertaining for such Caprion products, in respect of which Thallion has an ownership interest or monetary entitlement; providing that CVRs may be transferred upon compliance with certain conditions and applicable securities legislation and requirements of regulatory authorities; and providing that Bellus will apply to list the CVRs on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

• Genta Inc., of Berkeley Heights, N.J., will be the subject of a hearing Sept. 18 in the Superior Court of New Jersey, according to the Rosen Law Firm P.A., which is involved in a proposed class action settlement it said would benefit holders of Genta common stock. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether the proposed settlement consisting of $785,000 should be approved by the court; whether the proposed plan to distribute the settlement proceeds is fair; whether the application for an award of attorneys' fees of one-third of the settlement amount and reimbursement of expenses of not more than $25,000 should be approved; and whether the litigation should be dismissed with prejudice.

• Kamada Ltd., of Ness Ziona, Israel, published a preclinical study of its human alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), Glassia, in interspecies islet graft transplantation in PLOS One. The study examined transplant survival of pancreatic islets originating from other species donors, and showed that AAT plays a potential role in the early stages of Type I Diabetes.

• Pharmacyclics Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., and Janssen Research & Development LLC, of Raritan, N.J., a unit of Johnson & Johnson, said a new drug application was submitted for ibrutinib for use in previously treated patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic leukemia and for use in previously treated patients with mantle cell lymphoma. If approved, the compound would be the first Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor. The drug received breakthrough therapy designation earlier this year. Shares of Pharmacyclics (NASDAQ:PCYC) jumped $10.74, or 12 percent, on the news, closing Wednesday at $100.26. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 14, 2013.)

• Serodus ASA, of Oslo, Norway, said it is to merge with Danish peptide specialist Phlogo Aps in a deal expected to accelerate Serodus' commercialization and development strategy with the addition of two drug candidates – SER130, an IL-4 partial receptor agonist for acute myocardial infarction, and SER140, an IL-1 receptor antagonist for Type II diabetes. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• SMC Biotechnology Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., said data published in Biomaterials suggested that its sugar compound, SMC-103, greatly enhances bone repair. Researchers found that affinity-selected heparan sulfate improved repair by increasing the bioavailability, bioactivity and half-life of the pro-healing compound, bone morphogenetic protein-2. SMC-103 is a glycosaminoglycan, a naturally occurring substance composed of chains of paired sugar units, and it is currently in development as a bone-healing device that can be delivered to the exact site of injury or damage to augment the body's natural healing process.

• Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, and Glaxosmithkline plc, of London, said Breo Ellipta (fluticasone furoate/vilanterol) was approved in Canada for the long-term once-daily maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema, and to reduce exacerbations of COPD in patients with a history of exacerbations. Breo won FDA approval in May. (See BioWorld Today, May 13, 2013.)

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said that the Therapeutic Goods Administration of Australia approved Kalydeco (ivacaftor) for cystic fibrosis in patients older than 6 who have at least one copy of the G551D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulatory (CFTR) gene. Approximately 250 people in Australia meet those criteria.