• AEterna Zentaris Inc., of Quebec, said its subsidiary, Atrium Biotechnologies Inc., also of Quebec, completed its initial public offering and secondary offering of about 6.2 million subordinate voting shares, issued at $12 a share, for total proceeds of $75 million. The firm priced the offering late last month. (See BioWorld Today, March 31, 2005.)

• Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cheshire, Conn., filed a registration statement with the SEC in connection with its January private placement of $150 million in 1.375 percent convertible senior notes due 2012. Alexion will not receive proceeds from any resale of the securities by security holders. The company plans to use the proceeds to retire its outstanding 5.75 percent convertible subordinated notes due 2007 and for general corporate purposes.

• Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., of San Diego, through its subsidiary, PFC Therapeutics LLC, and Beijing Double-Crane Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. entered a memorandum of understanding for the development of Oxygent in China. The parties intend to negotiate a final license agreement that will grant Double-Crane the right to develop and commercialize Oxygent in China. Once finalized, the agreement would mean an up-front license fee and milestone and royalty payments to Alliance.

• Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., commenced an exchange offer under which Amgen is offering to exchange new zero coupon convertible notes due 2032 for all of its approximately $2.4 million principal amount at maturity of currently outstanding liquid yield option notes due 2032. As consideration for exchanging the old notes for the new notes, holders exchanging old notes will receive an exchange fee of $2.50 per $1,000 principal amount at maturity of the old notes exchanged. The exchange fee will be payable to such holders of old notes on the exchange date, which will be promptly after the expiration date.

• Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said its corporate partner, Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific Corp., received CE Mark approval for three large vessel sizes (4 mm, 4.5 mm and 5 mm) of its Taxus Express2 paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system in Europe and other international markets.

• Antares Pharma Inc., of Exton, Pa., completed the formulation and preclinical activities on a contraceptive transdermal gel based on its ATD (Advanced Transdermal Delivery) gel technology. The product, named AP-1081, is gel-based and contains norelgestromin and ethinyl estradiol. Antares intends to file an investigational new drug application before the end of the year.

• Argos Therapeutics Inc., of Durham, N.C., initiated a trial using a personalized melanoma vaccine based on its technology. The product is made from the patient's own tumor RNA and immune cells, and studies will test Argos' RNA-loaded autologous dendritic-cell vaccine in patients with Stage IV melanoma.

• AVAX Technologies Inc., of Philadelphia, is raising about $8.5 million through the sale of 25.2 million shares of its common stock to institutional investors at a price of 34 cents per share. In connection with the purchase, the company also agreed to issue warrants to purchase an additional 3.8 million shares of stock at 41 cents per share and 3.8 million shares of stock at 48 cents per share. AVAX said proceeds will fund clinical and development activities in melanoma and non-small-cell lung cancer and help fund commercial opportunities for the AC Vaccine in Europe. The company recently announced the completion of a research initiative exploring the use of the AC Vaccine Therapeutic in NSCLC and intends to initiate a Phase I/II investigational new drug program in the U.S. AVAX's shares (OTC BB:AVXT) lost 2 cents Wednesday to close at 31 cents.

• Biopure Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., completed enrolling patients in the Phase II trial in Europe of Hemopure in patients undergoing elective coronary angioplasty. Final data will be available by the end of the month after patients complete a 30-day follow-up period. The trial enrolled 46 patients and is designed as a randomized, double-blind, dose-finding, multicenter study to assess the safety and feasibility of Hemopure.

• Cryptome Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, signed an agreement with Boston's Northeastern University for it to use technology that identifies and isolates low abundance human proteins. The company uses a high-throughput screening process to identify fragments of natural proteins not previously recognized as potential therapeutic drugs.

• EPIX Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., initiated a Phase II trial for EP-2104R, an injectable magnetic resonance imaging agent designed to detect blood clots in patients presenting with strong suspicion of clots from thromboembolic disease. In a Phase I trial completed late last year, the drug was well tolerated at all doses tested.

• Genaissance Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., and South San Francisco-based ParAllele Bioscience Inc. formed a license and co-marketing agreement to provide genetic screening technology and services for drug development and marketing. ParAllele is licensing more than 400 SNPs that will be combined with public domain SNPs to incorporate 1,500 total into a MegAllele DME-T assay panel. The panel will provide full coverage of the genetic variation for more than 160 genes that are involved in drug metabolism and transport pathways.

• Gen-Probe Inc., of San Diego, received a tentative award in its arbitration with Bayer HealthCare LLC, a unit of Leverkusen, Germany-based Bayer AG, concerning the collaboration on developing and selling nucleic acid-diagnostic tests for viral organisms. The arbitrator determined that Gen-Probe is entitled to a co-exclusive right to distribute qualitative TMA assays to detect the hepatitis C virus and HIV-1. Bayer previously had held exclusive rights. Gen-Probe also said the arbitrator determined the collaboration between the companies should be terminated. Though the tentative decision is subject to further proceedings, Gen-Probe said it does not expect any substantial changes. A separate patent-infringement action filed by Gen-Probe against Bayer remains pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

• GTC Biotherapeutics Inc., of Framingham, Mass., said the FDA has allowed GTC to begin a further clinical study of ATryn for the hereditary antithrombin deficiency indication. ATryn is GTC's recombinant form of human antithrombin. The safety and efficacy study is expected to include 17 patients.

• Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, said the FDA granted priority-review status for the company's new drug application for Enhanze SC, pending the agency's formal acceptance of the filing. Halozyme filed the NDA in March seeking approval of Enhanze SC as a spreading agent to facilitate the dispersion and absorption of other drugs. The product, a recombinant form of the naturally occurring human enzyme hyaluronidase, is being investigated for its ability to break down hyaluronic acid. (See BioWorld Today, March 29, 2005.)

• Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Rockville, Md., said LymphoStat-B (belimumab) met the primary efficacy and safety endpoints in a Phase II trial in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results show that LymphoStat-B is safe and well tolerated, biologically active, and reduces the signs and symptoms of RA at a statistically significant level. The study enrolled 283 patients with active moderate to severe RA who had failed prior treatment and who were randomized to receive one of three doses of LymphoStat-B or placebo intravenously over 24 weeks.

• Incyte Corp., of Wilmington, Del., initiated a Phase I trial of INCB7839, an orally available sheddase inhibitor that is being developed as a treatment for solid tumors. Sheddase is an enzymatic activity attributed to the ADAM family of proteins that was shown to play a role in controlling the growth and spread of certain cancers that are regulated by members of the human epidermal growth factor receptor family of receptor tyrosine kinases. A Phase I multidose study is expected to begin in April.

• Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., said the UK government and the Medical Research Council of the UK are providing £26 million (US$48.6 million) to fund a Phase III trial of PRO 2000, the company's microbicide in development to prevent sexually acquired HIV infection. An estimated 12,000 women from four African countries - Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia - are expected to enroll in the trial, which is designed to test the safety and efficacy of PRO 2000 vaginal gel. An NIH-sponsored trial is ongoing in more than 3,000 women in Africa and the U.S. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 14, 2005.)

• Innodia Inc., of Montreal, initiated a Phase Ib escalating, multidose trial with ID 1101, its lead drug candidate for the treatment of Type II diabetes. The company also announced positive safety results on the recently completed single-dose Phase Ia trial. ID 1001 is an orally active diabetic drug designed with a dual mode of action: to increase insulin secretion by the pancreas and to decrease peripheral insulin resistance observed in Type II diabetes. Innodia said experimental models showed no evidence of toxicity and studies have demonstrated a high safety margin.

• Introgen Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, will present data on the multiple anticancer mechanisms of INGN 241 at the Experimental Biology 2005 conference in San Diego, sponsored by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. The data show that mda-7, the active component of INGN 241, acts as a tumor suppressor.

• Isolagen Inc., of Houston, acquired a two-building corporate campus in Neuchatel, Switzerland, for $10 million. The facility will serve continental Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific Rim, and will be operational by the end of 2006. The total estimated cost of acquisition and renovation is $25 million, which will be funded through a $14 million loan and government grants. The facility is expected to use the automated cellular expansion processes being developed by Isolagen.

• Oscient Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Waltham, Mass., amended its license and option agreement with LG Life Sciences Ltd. for its lead product, Factive (gemifloxacin mesylate) tablets, regarding a reduction of future royalties payable to LG Life Sciences at certain revenue levels in territories covered by the agreement. While specific terms were not disclosed, the amendments call for Oscient to make a one-time cash payment of $2 million to LG Life Sciences, as well as an $8 million increase in milestone payments, which are payable at certain sales thresholds. LG Life Sciences will continue to supply the bulk product for Factive. In other news, a recent study funded by Oscient to evaluate in vitro activity of fluoroquinolone antibiotics against multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae showed that, among the fluoroquinolones tested against 326 MDRSP isolates, gemifloxin had the highest degree of activity, compared to moxifloxacin and levofloxacin. Data were presented at the 15th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen, Denmark.

• Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, said data from its Phase II trial of R112 in allergic rhinitis were published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The article, "An Intranasal Syk-kinase inhibitor (R112) improves the symptoms of seasonal allergic rhinitis in a park environment," concludes that patients in a park-like setting demonstrated a significant improvement in allergic rhinitis symptoms when treated with R112, and confirmed that the product had been well tolerated. Rigel released results in August showing that, during the first day of the trial, R112 reduced the Global Nasal Allergy Symptom Score by 7 points in patients receiving the drug vs. 5.4 points for placebo-treated patients. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 3, 2004.)

• Senetek plc, of Napa, Calif., terminated merger discussions with Buena, N.J.-based IGI Inc., with both companies agreeing to work together to capitalize on their respective technologies. Senetek offered a "merger of equals" deal to IGI in January, in which each company would receive 50 percent of the share of a newly formed U.S. holding company, with eligibility for a national stock exchange listing. Senetek also said then that the companies would collaborate to evaluate IGI's Novasome and micellar nanoparticle technologies for the topical delivery of Senetek's Invicorp erectile dysfunction therapy.

• ViroPharma Inc., of Exton, Pa., said that the initial investors in its 6 percent senior convertible subordinated notes, due Oct. 18, exercised in full their option to purchase $12.5 million aggregate principal amount of the company's senior convertible notes pursuant to the terms of the securities purchase agreement dated Oct. 18. With the exercise of the option, the private placement results in the issuance of $75 million aggregate principal amount of senior convertible notes.