Access Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, said it’s leveraging its Cobacyte drug delivery platform technology to create formulations of active pharmaceutical agents, and reported preclinical data. It compared single doses of Cobraxane, its nanoparticle formulation of commercially available protein-bound paclitaxel, with Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel, Celgene Corp.) in a standard mouse tumor model and at a dose of Cobraxane that was half the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of the standard paclitaxel particles, Cobraxane demonstrated slightly better tumor growth inhibition that the MTD version. Tumor shrinkage was observed at the higher dose of Cobraxane.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said Genzyme, a unit of Paris-based Sanofi SA, exercised its right to purchase 344,448 unregistered shares of Alnylam common stock in accordance with the terms of an investor rights agreement between Alnylam and Genzyme, inked in January. The shares became available for purchase by Genzyme as a result of Alnylam’s issuance of shares of common stock to Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck & Co. Inc. in connection with Alnylam’s acquisition of Merck’s RNAi subsidiary, Sirna Therapeutics. Under the investor rights deal, Genzyme has the right to purchase additional shares to maintain its ownership in the company’s stock and, on March 25, purchased those shares at a price of $66.88 apiece, the closing price of Alnylam’s stock Tuesday, paying the company about $23 million. Genzyme maintains its approximately 12 percent stake in Alnylam. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 14, 2014.)

Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Aliso Viejo, Calif., said the FDA accepted its new drug application for AVP-825, its breath-powered investigational drug-device combination product for the acute treatment of migraine. The 505(b)(2) filing includes data from one pivotal phase III trial, with support from data from a phase II study and two pharmacokinetic studies. The PDUFA date is Nov. 26, 2014. AVP-825 consists of a low-dose sumatriptan powder delivered intranasally using a breath-powered delivery technology.

Nanobio Corp., of Ann Arbor, Mich., inked a licensing agreement with a subsidiary of Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., for use of its nanoemulsion (NE) adjuvant technology. Merck received exclusive rights to NE adjuvant for use in an intranasal respiratory syncytial virus vaccine and nonexclusive rights for use in an intranasal seasonal influenza and/or universal seasonal influenza vaccine. Nanobio received an up-front payment and is eligible for milestone payments based on development and regulatory approvals for the vaccine candidates, plus royalties on sales of any Merck vaccine products that use the Nanobio technology. Other terms were not disclosed. The companies began a vaccine research collaboration in 2011.

Novadel Pharma Inc., of Bridgewater, N.J., said it is completing the liquidation of its assets, including the sale of Novamist patents and trademarks to Suda Ltd., of Perth, Australia, in exchange for cash and Suda common stock and options; the sale of Nitromist patents, trademarks and license to Akrimax Pharmaceuticals LLC, of Cranford, N.J.; and an agreement to sell the intellectual property and license for Zolpimist to an undisclosed party for the assumption of the amount due to the FDA relating to the compound, with the transaction scheduled to close by the end of April, subject to the buyer’s financing. Novadel sold its remaining equity interest in Suda for approximately $1.9 million. The company estimated that, upon liquidation, shareholders will receive a cash distribution of approximately 1 cent per share. The liquidation and distribution are expected to occur by the end of May.

TNI Biotech Inc., of Orlando, Fla., said it signed a supplementary cooperation agreement covering methionine-enkephalin (MENK, or IRT-101) with China’s Hubei Qianjiang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., which will initiate clinical trials in China. In August 2013, the FDA authorized TNI’s study of MENK in pancreatic cancer. At that time, partner Qianjiang conducted market research and pre-trials on pharmaceutical and pharma-toxicology studies. Qianjiang will provide funding for the additional studies and TNI will provide its research materials, data and results in the U.S. to Qianjiang. The companies will jointly seek registration for MENK in China, where Qianjiang plans to produce and sell MENK, subject to the terms of an additional agreement with TNI.

United Therapeutics Corp., of Silver Spring, Md., said Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare granted approval for Remodulin (treprostinil) to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension by subcutaneous and intravenous administration. Remodulin will be sold in Japan under the brand name Treprost by Mochida Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, under an exclusive distribution agreement.

Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said it established a collaboration with Genentech Inc., a unit of Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland, for pain genetics, with the goal of discovering and validating therapeutic targets and mechanisms to treat pain. The collaboration leverages Xenon’s Extreme Genetics discovery platform to focus on rare phenotypes where individuals have an inability to perceive pain or have non-precipitated spontaneous severe pain. Both companies will own intellectual property emerging from the collaboration. Xenon also granted Genentech a time-limited, exclusive right of negotiation on a target-by-target basis to form joint drug discovery collaborations. Financial terms were not disclosed. The collaboration builds on a potential $646 million strategic alliance between the companies to discover and develop pain compounds and companion diagnostics. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 10, 2012.)