Adherium Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, said it will provide its Smartinhalers for London-based Astrazeneca plc's Australia commercial pilot program this year. The program will use Adherium's devices, mobile app and cloud platform and aims to show how those devices improve medication adherence in patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Terms were not disclosed.

Astrazeneca plc, of London, said it completed the licensing agreement with Leo Pharma A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, for the global rights to the interleukin-13 monoclonal antibody tralokinumab in skin diseases. (See BioWorld Today, July 5, 2016.)

Axovant Sciences Ltd., of Hamilton, Bermuda, and Qaam Pharmaceuticals LLC, of Canandaigua, N.Y., entered an exclusive license agreement under which Axovant expects to develop and, if successful, commercialize products that combine cholinesterase inhibitors with peripheral muscarinic receptor antagonists, including glycopyrrolate, which could mitigate the peripheral side effects of cholinesterase inhibitors. Axovant will initially develop RVT-103, a combination of glycopyrrolate and donepezil (Aricept, Pfizer Inc.). In addition, Axovant expects to develop RVT-104, a combination of glycopyrrolate and high-dose rivastigmine (Exelon, Novartis AG). Axovant said it believes the intellectual property portfolio licensed from Qaam as part of the transaction provides a strong exclusivity position in this area, the company said. Terms were not disclosed.

Chiasma Inc., of Waltham, Mass., is reducing its workforce by about 44 percent, primarily in the company's research and general and administrative functions, to lower its operating expenses and extend its cash runway. The action follows Chiasma's announcement of a corporate restructuring plan in June 2016, which included an initial workforce reduction composed primarily of the company's commercial personnel. Chiasma intends to focus its resources on the continued development of Mycapssa (octreotide) capsules for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with acromegaly, the company said.

Eleven Biotherapeutics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., signed an exclusive licensing deal with Roche Holdings AG, of Basel, Switzerland. Eleven has granted Roche an exclusive, worldwide license to develop and commercialize EBI-031 and all other interleukin-6 (IL-6) antagonist antibody technology owned by Eleven. EBI-031 is a humanized monoclonal antibody that potently binds IL-6 and inhibits all known forms of IL-6 cytokine signaling. EBI-031 is currently in development for the treatment of ocular diseases. Eleven is entitled to receive $30 million in payments from Roche, including a $7.5 million up-front payment in connection with the effectiveness of the license agreement, and a $22.5 million milestone payment based on the IND for EBI-031 becoming effective. Under the terms, Eleven could receive up to an additional $240 million upon the achievement of certain regulatory, development and commercialization milestones. In addition, Eleven could be entitled to receive royalties for net sales of potential future products containing EBI-031 or any other potential future products containing other Eleven IL-6 compounds.

Emergent Biosolutions Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said the FDA approved the company's supplemental BLA for the manufacture of Biothrax (anthrax vaccine adsorbed) in Building 55, the company's large-scale manufacturing facility located in its 12.5-acre campus in Lansing, Mich.

Glycomimetics Inc., of Rockville, Md., reported that during a preclinical study, GMI-1271 reduced the cellular interactions that often lead to a buildup in inflammatory response and unstable atherosclerotic plaque formation after a heart attack. The candidate is currently being evaluated as a potential treatment for acute myelogenous leukemia in a phase I/II trial. The preclinical study showed that GMI-1271-induced E-selectin inhibition significantly reduced the numbers of stem and progenitor cells leading to reduced numbers of inflammatory monocytes and neutrophils in the blood, Glycomimetics said. The candidate appeared to also inhibit the cells' infiltration into existing plaques leading to the stabilization of atherosclerotic plaques after an myocardial infarction in animal models. Data were published in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.

Janssen Research & Development LLC, of Boston, a unit of Johnson & Johnson, gained an FDA breakthrough designation for esketamine, an investigational antidepressant for people with major depressive disorder at imminent risk for suicide. The candidate received FDA breakthrough status in November 2013, too, but for treatment-resistant depression, a phase III indication for which the company is running six ongoing trials. If approved, it would be one of the first new approaches to treat major depressive disorder available to patients in the last 50 years, the company said.

Knight Therapeutics Inc., of Montreal, pledged to invest $1 million in Genesys Ventures III LP, a Canadian-based life sciences venture capital fund managed by Genesys Capital Management Inc. The investment in Genesys Fund is the eighth life sciences equity fund investment Knight has made to date, having committed more than $125 million of the $130 million earmarked for the strategy. (See BioWorld Insight, Sept. 15, 2014.)

Oncoceutics Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Philadelphia, won a $1.7 million orphan grant from the FDA to support phase II evaluation of its lead molecule, ONC201, a selective antagonist of DRD2 that belongs to the superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors, in a relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma trial.

Rockwell Medical Inc., of Wixom, Mich., signed an exclusive license and manufacturing supply agreement with Saudi firm Aram Medical for the rights to commercialize Rockwell's Triferic and Calcitriol in the Middle East to serve a market of about 375,000 hemodialysis patients. Triferic is Rockwell's iron replacement and hemoglobin maintenance drug for treating anemia in hemodialysis patients. Calcitriol is Rockwell's generic injection for treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in dialysis patients. Under the terms of the agreement, Aram will become the exclusive distributor for Triferic and Calcitriol in 13 countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Lebanon, Jordan, United Arab of Emirates, Yemen, Syria, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt for an initial commercial term of 10 years. In consideration for the exclusive rights, Aram will pay Rockwell an undisclosed up-front licensing fee, a high double-digit royalty on product sales and commit to annual minimum purchase quantities. Aram also will assume responsibility for all clinical and regulatory expenses for the territories. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 27, 2015.)

Scintilla Pharmaceuticals Inc., a subsidiary of Sorrento Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, has entered a binding term sheet to acquire Semnur Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Los Altos, Calif., whose lead program is resiniferatoxin (RTX) for the treatment of intractable cancer pain. On Aug. 8, Scintilla said it entered a binding term sheet to acquire Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Mission Viejo, Calif., and following the closing of those acquisitions it will operate as a stand-alone company focused on pain management. Scintilla will pay Semnur's equity holders an initial payment of $60 million, consisting of $40 million in cash and $20 million in shares of common stock of Sorrento. In addition, up to $140 million may be paid upon achievement of certain development, product approval and commercial milestones.

Vyriad Inc., of Rochester, Minn., said it signed a license collaboration deal with Imanis Life Sciences LLC, also of Rochester, to develop in vitro and in vivo theranostic tests that assess the probability that a cancer patient will be responsive to Vyriad's oncolytic virus therapeutics. The tests use recombinant vesicular stomatitis viruses (VSV) that have been engineered to incorporate theranostically informative reporter genes and permit their safe handling as diagnostic reagents in the hospital laboratory setting. The test kits are being developed and preclinically validated at Imanis, while clinical validation is anticipated in Vyriad-sponsored clinical trials through 2017 and beyond. For any approved tests, Imanis will grant Vyriad a nonexclusive license to use the companion diagnostics to accelerate development of its oncolytic viruses derived from the company's VSV, measles virus or other Vyriad platforms. Financial details were not disclosed.

Xycrobe Therapeutics Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., said it entered a research agreement with Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc., a unit of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson. Facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation, the deal focuses on further understanding therapeutic and commercial applications of Xycrobe's platform technology developed to treat inflammatory skin diseases. Xycrobe's technology consists of a library of commensal strains from the skin microbiome engineered to grow and secrete biotherapeutics as needed to help treat an array of skin issues.