• Aastrom Biosciences Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., regained compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on Nasdaq. The company underwent a reverse stock split on Oct. 16 to increase the per-share trading price of its common stock to meet the requirement and attract greater institutional ownership of its shares.

• Ablynx NV, of Ghent, Belgium, received notice of a €1 .68 million (US$2.3 million) in grant funding from the Flemish Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology to help advance the company’s first inhaled nanobody, ALX-0171, in infants. The grant funding, which is available over a period of one year, also will be used to explore novel applications of nebulized nanobodies. The first Phase I study in healthy volunteers demonstrated that the nanobody was well tolerated and had no clinically significant effects on lung function. No dose-limiting toxicity, no treatment emergent immunogenicity and no bronchoconstriction occurred.

• Algeta ASA, of Oslo, Norway, said partner Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, disclosed third-quarter 2013 U.S. net sales for Xofigo (radium Ra 223 dichloride) of €12 million (US$17 million). Under the 2009 agreement between the companies, Bayer is responsible for global development, regulatory applications and commercialization of Xofigo and Algeta is eligible for royalties and milestones on ex-U.S. Xofigo sales. In the U.S., where the alpha particle-emitting radioactive therapeutic agent was approved by the FDA in May to treat castrate-resistant prostate cancer, Algeta US LLC is co-promoting with Bayer. (See BioWorld Today, May 16, 2013.)

• Aoxing Pharmaceutical Co. Inc., of Jersey City, N.J., received notice from the NYSE MKT LLC that it is not in compliance with Section 1003(a)(iii) of its company guide because it had stockholders’ equity of less than $6 million on June 30, and has incurred losses in its five most recent fiscal years. It is also in violation of Section 1003(a)(iv) because it has sustained losses that are so substantial in relation to overall operations or its existing financial resources that it appears questionable whether it will continue operations. In order to maintain its listing, Aoxing Pharma must submit plans of compliance for the two sections by Nov. 8 and by Nov. 25, respectively.

• Bio-Matrix Scientific Group Inc., of San Diego, said subsidiary Regen Biopharma Inc. is initiating the production of clinical-grade Hemaxellerate I using contract manufacturer Cook General Biotechnology. Initial batches will be used to complete preclinical experiments requested by the FDA for the investigational new drug application for a trial using Hemaxellerate I to treat resistant aplastic anemia. The personalized stem cell treatment uses fat-derived cells to inhibit the biological processes responsible for aplastic anemia.

• Bionure Inc., of Barcelona, Spain, and the Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF) inked a collaborative partnership agreement to advance the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies. The foundation will use its accelerated research collaboration model to assess the neuroprotective capabilities of Bionure’s MS candidate, BN201 , which promotes myelin repair. Bionure also will collaborate with MRF researchers at the Myelin Repair Foundation’s Translational Medicine Center, which evaluates promising myelin repair candidates for MS. BN201 is in development as a potential MS treatment for acute optic neuritis and for severe MS relapses.

• Biotie Therapies Corp., of Turku, Finland, expanded its alliance with Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, to develop and commercialize nalmefene (sold as Selincro in Europe) in Japan. Nalmefene was approved by the European Medicines Agency earlier in 2013 as the first treatment for reduction of alcohol consumption. The companies expect to begin the first Phase III study in 2014.

• Cel-Sci Corp., of Vienna, Va., initiated an arbitration claim against Ventiv Clinical LLC, a unit of Ventive Health Inc., of Somerset, N.J., related to an agreement between the companies to carry out Phase III trials of Multikine (leukocyte interleukin, injection). Cel-Sci terminated the agreement in April, and replaced Ventiv with two other clinical research organizations. Cel-Sci alleged breach of contract and fraud, and is seeking $50 million in damages.

• Oragenics Inc., of Tampa, Fla., engineered a genetically modified host to generate analogues of its lead lantibiotic compound, Mutacin 1140 (MU1140). MU1140 analogues may have superior antibacterial activity and pharmacologic properties compared to the native molecule. The work was carried out under a 2012 partnership with Intrexon Corp., of Germantown, Md.

• Otonomy Inc., of San Diego, said it completed the acquisition of certain assets and rights to intellectual property related for using gacyclidine for the treatment of tinnitus from an affiliate of Neurosystec Corp., of Valencia, Calif. Alfred Mann founded Neurosystec to develop a drug-device combination product that could provide sustained delivery of gacyclidine to the inner ear. Gacyclidine is a selective antagonist of the n-methyl-d-aspartate receptor.

• Regenx Biosciences LLC, of Washington, and Fidelity Biosciences formed a new venture, Dimension Therapeutics, to develop AAV-based gene therapies for rare diseases. The company will begin with lead programs in hemophilia. To fund its efforts, Dimension completed a Series A financing led by Fidelity Biosciences. It also signed a license and collaboration agreement with Regenx, giving it access to NAV vector technology including AAV vectors such as rAAV7, rAAV8, rAAV9 and rAAVrh10. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• SQI Diagnostics Inc., of Toronto, signed an agreement with Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., to develop a multiplexed assay using SQI’s Ig_PLEX multiplexing immunogenicity technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., of Toronto, was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for tigecycline in treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The drug is being studied in a Phase I trial in patients with relapsed or refractory AML. Tigecycline is believed to target leukemia cells and leukemic stem cells by inhibiting mitochondrial protein synthesis.

• Zobio, of Leiden, the Netherlands, and Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Allschwil, Switzerland, entered a collaboration to discover conformationally selective fragment ligands for one of Actelion’s oncology targets. Under the agreement, Zobio will apply its technology to screen a library of drug fragments for specific binding to the desired conformation of the target. Zobio will use a variety of biophysical methods, including its structural biology, to validate and provide insight into the binding mechanism of the ligands, the companies said. Terms were not disclosed.