• Advaxis Inc., of Princeton, N.J., filed a Form DEFR14A, a proxy statement supplement, with the SEC. The filing revises certain proposals in the proxy statement originally filed on April 30, 2013, including the proposal to approve a reverse stock split, to now limit the high end of the range proposed to 1-for-125 (in the earlier proxy, the company proposed a range of 1-for-70 to 1-for-200). Also, it revises the proposal to decrease the total number of authorized shares of common stock, dropping the total number of authorized shares of common stock post-reverse stock split to 50 million shares (in the earlier proxy, Advaxis proposed a total number of 300 million shares of common stock post-reverse stock split). Another revised proposal to approve an amendment to the 2011 Omnibus Incentive Plan, calls for a limit to the amount of the requested increase to 75 million shares of common stock (in the earlier proxy, an increase of 155 million shares was proposed.)

• Agilent Technologies Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., along with the Glyco-MEV laboratory at the University of Rouen, France, and the Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), in Singapore, signed a memorandum of understanding to work together to develop tools to effectively analyze biologics and vaccines. A*STAR's BTI will join forces with the University of Rouen's Glyco-MEV laboratory and Agilent to develop techniques to ensure that those biologics are safe and effective. BTI is working to develop methods of producing and analyzing those biologics in animal cells while Glyco-MEV laboratory specializes in the production of those molecules in plant systems.

• AIBioTech Inc., of Richmond, Va., received a firm fixed price subcontract from DynPort Vaccine Co., of Falls Church, Va., valued at nearly $3 million for laboratory studies to support development of a biologic intended for use prior to an exposure to nerve agents. DVC issued that subcontract under its prime contract with the Department of Defense.

• Arsanis Biosciences GmbH, of Vienna, Austria, nominated the preclinical development candidates for its lead program, a monoclonal antibody cocktail to prevent and treat severe hospital-associated Staphylococcus aureus infections. Arsanis also disclosed the award of a major grant for the development of new therapeutics against severe pneumococcal infections. The grant is awarded by the Forschungs-Förderungs-Gesellschaft (FFG), the leading public funding agency for translational research in Austria. The initial support from the FFG amounts to €1.4 million (US$2.4 million). Additional funding of up to €9 million is anticipated in the following three years.

• BioTime Inc., of Alameda, Calif., said at a special meeting on May 21, 2013, its shareholders approved the proposals related to the planned acquisition of stem cell-related assets from Geron Corp., of Menlo Park, Calif., by BioTime's subsidiary, Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc. (See BioWorld Today, April 5, 2013.)

• Celgene Corp., of Summit, N.J., said the FDA assigned a priority review designation to the supplemental new drug application for the use of Abraxane (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) (albumin-bound) in combination with gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The PDUFA date is set for Sept. 21, 2013. Abraxane also is under review in Europe for use in first-line advanced pancreatic cancer.

• Cenix BioScience GmbH, of Dresden, Germany, and Debiopharm Group, of Lausanne, Switzerland, inked a research agreement for Cenix to support Debiopharm in its ongoing efforts to develop therapeutic drug candidates. Under the research framework's first project, Cenix will apply its expertise in combining high-throughput screening with high-content assays in cultured human cells to identify predictive biomarkers for Debiopharm's preclinical oncology candidates. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, said its board on Thursday rejected New York-based Royalty Pharma's revised offer to acquire all of Elan's shares for $12.50 per share through its shell subsidiary Echo Pharma Acquisition Ltd., stating that the bid "grossly" undervalued the company. Just hours before, Echo attempted to sweeten the offer by announcing it would waive down the acceptance threshold from 90 percent to 50 percent of maximum Elan shares affected plus one Elan share. The new offer represented a value of $4.6 billion for Elan's Tysabri (natalizumab) royalty, a 42 percent premium to the $3.25 billion at which Elan sold approximately half of its interest in Tysabri to Biogen Idec Inc., of Weston, Mass. The Royalty offer was contingent on Elan's shareholders voting down all of its M&A transactions, including its recent $1 billion cash deal to buy a 21 percent stake in South San Francisco-based Theravance Inc.'s future royalty stream from the respiratory franchise it shares with London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc. Elan's board on May 17 rejected a previous bid issued on May 2. Elan's shareholders were unwavered, with shares (NYSE:ELN) closing Thursday at $12.36, up 32 cents. (See BioWorld Today, May 22, 2013.)

• Flamel Technologies Inc., of Lyon, France, said it exercised its right to regain control of two drugs that use its Trigger lock delivery technology that formerly were being developed in partnership with an undisclosed partner. Trigger Lock is an abuse-resistant technology for long-acting opioid analgesics. Flamel said it intends to advance development of those products, either internally or with a new partner, and will determine a path forward after completing a review of the data.

• Miragen Therapetuics Inc., of Boulder, Colo., said partner Les Laboratoires Servier, of Suresnes, France, elected to add a new target as part of the firms' existing agreement for advancing the research, development and commercialization of microRNA-based drug candidates for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. With that selection, the companies now have three microRNA programs in development. Miragen and Servier signed the deal in 2011, which brought Miragen an up-front payment, a target selection payment and the eligibility to receive commercial milestones and royalties on product sales. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 19, 2011.)