• ABR-Affinity BioReagents Inc., of Denver and Golden, Colo., said it has finalized a reverse distribution agreement with Osenses Pty. Ltd., of Flagstaff Hill, Australia, to distribute Osenses products in the U.S., Europe and Canada. Osenses offers primary antibodies for experimental use in the areas of chemosensory, visual, auditory and transient receptors.

• Amarin Corp. plc, of London, said it has obtained the exclusive development and commercialization rights to a broad intellectual property portfolio in the field of lipid science from UK-based Scarista Ltd. Under the deal, Amarin will pay Scarista an up-front fee of $500,000 and royalties upon commercialization. Amarin had obtained the rights to the lipid science portfolio covering applications in diseases of the central nervous system for North America, the EU and Japan in 2004. The new license provides Amarin with rights to all remaining therapeutic areas and all territories worldwide.

• Amyris Biotechnologies, of Emeryville, Calif., the Institute for One World Health and Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA have agreed to develop semi-synthetic artemisinin, an ingredient in first-line malaria treatments. The collaboration aims to create nonseasonal, high-quality, affordable artemisinin to supplement the current botanical supply, enabling millions of people infected with malaria to gain consistent access to artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), they said. Under the agreement, they will jointly develop and design manufacturing processes, with the goal of introducing low-cost semi-synthetic artemisinin into the supply chain and ACTs in 2010.

• BioWa Inc., of Princeton, N.J., said it has expanded its license agreement to provide Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, with additional access to its Potelligent Technology for the research and development of select antibodies for potential therapeutic applications that require enhancement of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. Under the terms of the expanded license agreement, BioWa will grant to Genentech commercial rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize antibodies using Potelligent for an additional number of targets. In return, BioWa will receive milestone payments and royalties on products developed by Genentech. Additional terms were not disclosed.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, has entered into an exclusive vaccine development agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, of Madison, N.J. Under the terms of the agreement, Crucell will be responsible for the development and manufacture of certain components of a vaccine for use by Wyeth in clinical studies. The development activities will take place in Crucell's dedicated vaccine manufacturing facilities in Bern, Switzerland. Wyeth will be responsible for the clinical development of the vaccine. Financial details were not disclosed.

• DW Healthcare Partners, of Salt Lake City, said it has sold contract research organization Tandem Labs Inc. to Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings, of Burlington, N.C. DWHP said the sale generated a return for its investors of about seven times invested capital.

• Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, entered a research collaboration with Pepscan Systems BV, of Lelystad, the Netherlands, focused on identifying fully human monoclonal antibodies against intractable disease targets. Pepscan will identify functional mimics of certain difficult targets, while Genmab will use the mimics to create antibodies. Terms were not disclosed.

• Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., entered an agreement with Goldman, Sachs & Co. to repurchase $500 million of its common stock under an accelerated share repurchase program. The company will acquire those shares under the $3 billion repurchase program announced Oct. 22. Upon completing the latest transaction, Gilead will have about $2.2 billion remaining in future authorized share repurchases under that program. Under the agreement, the firm will pay $500 million March 5, and will receive about 7.2 million shares.

• Immunicon Corp., of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., made an $8.5 million prepayment to the holders of $30 million worth of 6 percent subordinated convertible notes issued in December 2006. The holders also agreed to exchange $3 million of the notes for 3.57 million shares of common stock. Shares of the cancer diagnostic and research tool company (NASDAQ:IMMC) fell 27 cents, or 25.2 percent, to close at 80 cents on Monday.

• Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., said Chairman and CEO Glen Cooper plans to retire Sept. 1. The company has begun efforts to recruit a new CEO.

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said the FDA has accepted a new drug application for Promacta (eltrombopag), filed by London-based partner GlaxoSmithKline plc. Promacta is a potential treatment for a bleeding disorder known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), and is intended for use as a short-term therapy in previously treated patients with chronic ITP. It has been granted priority review status, which results in a six-month review period. Under the collaboration begun in 1997, GSK is responsible for the registration and worldwide marketing of Promacta. The research phase of the collaboration ended in 2001, Ligand said.

• MGI Pharma Inc., of Woodcliff, N.J., said the FDA has approved Aloxi (palonosetron hydrochloride) injection for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) for up to 24 hours following surgery. The drug already was approved in the U.S. as the first and only 5-HT3 receptor antagonist to be indicated for the prevention of acute and delayed nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of moderately emetogenic chemotherapy, and for the prevention of acute nausea and vomiting associated with initial and repeat courses of highly emetogenic chemotherapy. The new indication is based on one double-blind Phase III study that evaluated the efficacy of three doses of Aloxi compared with placebo for the prevention of PONV.

• Neurobiological Technologies Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., said it is partnering with the Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, Calif., to develop a therapy for Alzheimer's disease. Under the agreement, Neurobiological will license exclusively certain patent rights related to a naturally occurring protein that has been shown in animals to reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. As part of the partnership, Neurobiological has agreed to fund a joint research collaboration with the Buck Institute relating to the development of an Alzheimer's disease drug for up to three years, with the funding for the initial year totaling $1.2 million. Neurobiological will pay the Buck Institute up-front license fees of $175,000 over a three-year period.

• NitroMed Inc., of Lexington, Mass., said it has been notified by Nasdaq that its common stock has fallen below the required minimum of $1 per share. It has until Aug. 26 to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule.

• Oragenics Inc., of Alachua, Fla., will gain an additional $1.49 million due to shareholders exercising 3.39 million warrants that were issued as part of an August 2007 investment round. Proceeds will support the company's bacterial infection programs.

• Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Union City, Calif., said its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to 7 million shares. The company's stock (AMEX:QSC) lost 12 cents, or 2.7 percent, to close at $4.38 Monday.

• Raven Biotechnologies Inc., of South San Francisco, said it has entered into a research collaboration with Emory University Medical School's department of urology using Raven's prostate cancer-derived cancer stem cells to examine prostate cancer biology, disease progression and subsequent metastasis. Under the terms of the collaboration, Raven will provide Emory with access to its prostate cancer stem cells. Raven also will provide Emory with a library of antibodies targeting cancer stem cells to study their use as potential diagnostic tools for cancer prognosis and treatment.

• Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, said it received additional information regarding the FDA's decision to cancel an Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee meeting to discuss the firm's new drug application for telavancin in the treatment of complicated skin and skin structure infections. The agency said it plans to further evaluate study site issues relating to the Phase III ATLAS program, one site from which already has been removed from data analysis. Theravance received an approvable letter for telavancin in cSSSI last year. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 23, 2007.)

• Vermillion Inc., of Fremont, Calif., exclusively licensed a biomarker panel from Stanford University. Vermillion will use the panel to develop and commercialize a blood test to assess the risk of peripheral artery disease. Terms were not disclosed. Separately, Vermillion said its previously announced 1-for-10 reverse stock split went into effect Monday.

• Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, of Madison, N.J., said the FDA has approved Pristiq (desvenlafaxine), a once-daily serotonin-norepinephrine-reuptake inhibitor, to treat adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). The FDA approval was subject to several post-marketing commitments, including conducting and submitting data from a new long-term maintenance relapse prevention study, a sexual dysfunction study, pediatric studies and a study exploring lower doses, Wyeth said. The agency also requested an additional nonclinical toxicity study. The efficacy of Pristiq as a treatment for depression was established in four eight-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, fixed-dose studies in adult outpatients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria for MDD.