• Altea Therapeutics Corp., of Atlanta, entered research agreements with two undisclosed pharmaceutical companies. Altea will apply its PassPort System transdermal delivery technology to injectable drugs from the pharmaceutical companies, to assess the feasibility of delivering the protein drugs through a skin patch. The companies have an option to enter into broader licensing agreements for development and commercialization. Further terms were not disclosed.

• BioNanomatrix LLC, of Philadelphia, signed a multiyear Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the Radiation Biology Branch at the National Cancer Institute, of the National Institutes of Health. The plan is to use BioNanomatrix's whole-genome analyzer, the NanoAnalyzer, to develop methods to detect, identify and quantify DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation. The initial focus is on assessing radiation-induced damage to DNA.

• Cellartis AB, of Gothenburg, Sweden, is setting up a facility in Dundee, Scotland, for research and development on stem cell applications for drug discovery, as well as manufacturing. In addition, the company is entering a three-year program on stem cells with ITI Life Science, Glasgow University, Scottish Development International and Scottish Enterprise Tayside.

• NicOx SA, of Sophia Antipolis, France, received EUR5 million (US$6.5 million) for achieving a milestone in its deal with Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., to develop antihypertensive agents. The milestone was linked to the initiation of toxicology studies on the first development candidate selected by the companies from their March 2006 collaboration, which focuses on use of NicOx's nitric oxide-donating technology. NicOx is eligible to receive up to EUR274 million more in milestone payments from the deal.

• Pfizer Inc., of New York, said European regulators approved Sutent (sunitinib) for advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, making it the first multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor to be approved there for first-line use in this disease setting. The approval is based on Phase III data showing that patients treated with Sutent had prolonged progression-free survival compared to those treated with interferon-alfa, the current standard of care. Sutent is a competitor to Nexavar (sorafenib, from Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corp.), which also is approved in Europe for advanced kidney cancer patients who have failed prior interferon-alpha or interleukin-2 based therapy or are considered unsuitable for such therapy. Both products are approved in the U.S., too.