• Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., was issued notices of allowance for U.S. Patent Nos. 12/537,602, 12/683,081 and 12/838,786, for the TuschI II series, related to the compositions, methods and uses of small interfering RNA.

• Amarin Corp., of Dublin, Ireland, was issued U.S. Patents No. 8,318,715 for Vascepa (icosapent ethyl) capsules.

• AtheroNova Inc., of Irvine, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 8,304,383 for its method involving the dissolution of arterial plaque.

• Auspex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 8,299,084 for SD-900, a JAK kinase inhibitor, which is a deuterium-substituted analogue of tofacitinib.

• Curemark LLC, of Rye, N.Y., was issued U.S. Patent No. 8,318,158 for CM-1212 technology related to drug and alcohol addiction treatment.

• Dyadic International Inc., of Jupiter, Fla., was issued U.S. Patent No. 8,304,212, "Methods and compositions for degradation of lignocellulosic material." The patent is related to using enzyme mixtures for converting plant biomass to fermentable sugars.

• Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc, of Dublin, Ireland, was issued U.S. Patent No. 8,324,275 for Xyrem (sodium oxybate) oral solution, "Microbiologically Sound and Stable Solutions of Gamma Hydroxybutyrate Salt for the Treatment of Narcolepsy."

• Medgenics Inc., of Misgav, Israel, was issued a U.S. patent for its Epodure Biopump technology for delivering erythropoietin, as well a similar method for delivering clotting Factor VIII related to its Hemodure Biopump technology.

• Pearl Therapeutics Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 8,324,266, "Compositions, Methods & Systems for Respiratory Delivery of Two or More Active Agents." The patent covers Pearl's co-suspension technology in metered-dosed inhalers used to treat pulmonary disease.

• Prolor Biotech Inc., of Nes Ziona, Israel, was issued a notice of allowance for a patent application related to its long-acting reversible-pegylation technology, or RPeg platform, which the company is using to develop therapeutic peptides and small molecules.

• RedHill Biopharma Ltd., of Tel Aviv, Israel, received a notice of allowance for U.S. Patent application 12/918,310, "Methods and Compositions for Treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease," related to RHB-104 for Crohn's disease.

• Rexahn Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Rockville, Md., was issued U.S. Patent No. 8,314,100, which is titled "1-[6,7-substituted (alkoxyquinoxalinyl) aminocarbonyl]-4-(hetero) arylpiperazine derivatives."

• SomaGenics Inc., of Santa Cruz, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 8,283,460 for key aspects of its sshRNA therapeutic platform, which is used in targeting hepatitis C.