• CytRx Corp., of Los Angeles, said the SEC declared effective the registration statement filed by its majority-owned subsidiary RXi Pharmaceuticals Corp. to seek an initial public offering. Included in the statement is a plan to distribute about a 36 percent stock dividend of RXi shares to CytRx stockholders as of March 6, plus common stock awards to certain directors, officers and other CytRx employees. Following those actions, CytRx will continue to own about 49 percent of RXi's outstanding shares. RXi filed for an IPO in October, aiming for a Nasdaq listing under the ticker "RXII." (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 31, 2007.)

• DOR BioPharma Inc., of Ewing, N.J., signed a letter of intent for Seoul, South Korea-based BL&H Co. Ltd. to act as its sponsor for a named patient program aimed at getting orBec to patients suffering acute gastrointestinal graft-vs.-host disease in South Korea. The named patient program (NPP) is designed to provide the drug on a compassionate use basis prior to product approval. Under the terms, DOR will share revenues generated by sales of orBec through the NPP and will manufacture and supply the product to BL&H, while BL&H will handle all distribution costs in South Korea.

• EUSA Pharma, of Oxford, UK, said it has licensed OP-R003, a human anti-interleukin-6 antibody discovered by Rochester, N.Y.-based Vaccinex Inc. to GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London. Under the terms, GSK will pay an undisclosed up-front license fee, development milestones and royalties on product sales. In exchange, the pharma firm gains worldwide rights to OP-R003 in rheumatoid arthritis and other indications. The drug was discovered using Vaccinex's antibody discovery technology and licensed for co-development by EUSA. Vaccinex will share 50 percent of fees, payments and royalties.

• Genzyme Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., apparently no longer holds interest for billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who, according to reports in the Boston Globe, sold the 1.5 million shares of the company purchased in September. SEC filings by Icahn's funds indicated that no shares of Genzyme were held as of Dec. 31, though it's not known exactly when in the fourth quarter the stock was sold.

• ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Ltd., of Los Angeles, completed its acquisition of monoclonal antibody-related technology owned by Molecular Discoveries LLC, of New York, consisting of a platform technology for the rapid discovery of antibodies to detect and treat cancer and other diseases and certain antibody candidates in multiple myeloma, colon small-cell lung, pancreatic and ovarian cancers. ImmunoCellular anticipates beginning the initial development focusing on a diagnostic/prognostic product for small-cell lung cancer and a therapeutic product for small-cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer. Terms of the deal, reported first in November, called for ImmunoCellular to issue 800,000 shares to MDC and to reimburse MDC $250,000 in previously incurred patent expenses. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 28, 2007.)

• Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc., of New York, reported preclinical data on ITI-007, a dual 5HT2A receptor antagonist/dopamine receptor phosphoprotein modulator for schizophrenia, showing that the drug was a potent, sub-nanomolar antagonist of 5HT2A receptors with a 60-fold higher affinity for 5HT2A receptors over D2 receptors in vitro. In in vivo studies, ITI-007 produced an intracellular protein phosphorylation pattern consistent with the activity of a partial agonist at presynaptic D2 receptors. Data were presented at the Biennial Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders in Montreux, Switzerland. Additional data presented on a second preclinical candidate, ITI-002, showed that drug to be an orally active inhibitor of an intracellular target with the ability to display acute and chronic activity as a cognitive enhancing agent in rodent models.

• Sigma-Aldrich Corp., of St. Louis, said it partnered with Atlas Antibodies AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, to distribute Prestige Antibodies, which were developed by the Human Proteome Resource, to the proteomics and cell biology research communities. The library, initially consisting of 1,800 antibodies, is expected to grow by several thousand per year, with the goal of producing at least one antibody to all 22,000 nonredundant human proteins by 2015. Under the terms, Sigma-Aldrich gets exclusive distribution rights in the U.S. and all regions outside of Europe, with co-exclusive rights in Europe. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

• XDx Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., filed an inter partes reexamination request asking the Patent and Trademark Office to review certain claims of a patent (No. 6,964,850) assigned to Boulder, Colo.-based Source MDx Inc. claiming methods for creating an index of a subject's biological state pertaining to inflammation. XDx's request states that a combination of prior art references before that patent's earliest priority date raise questions about the patentability of certain of its claims.