• ActivBiotics Inc., of Wellesley Hills, Mass., completed the sale of its fixed assets in excess of $300,000 through a Jan. 24 auction. The company also created an online datasite to allow access to confidential information pertinent to each of its three assets: Rifalazil, antibacterial NCEs and superoxide dismutase small-molecule mimetics. ActivBiotics said in December that it would sell all of its assets on an "as is" basis following the failure of Rifalazil in a Phase III study in peripheral arterial disease. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 19, 2007.)

• Arius Research Inc., of Toronto, completed its pre-investigational new drug application meeting with the FDA for ARH460-16-2, the lead drug candidate from its CD44 cancer stem cell program. Arius intends to start clinical trials with the drug, an antibody targeting an epitope of CD44, later this year.

• Arno Therapeutics Inc., of Fairfield, N.J., has entered into worldwide, exclusive license agreements with Ohio State University for the rights to commercially develop novel, orally available, targeted therapies for cancer. Arno acquired the rights to several small molecules, including OSU-03012 and OSU-HDAC42. OSU-03012 is a PDK-1 inhibitor that targets the Akt pathway, and also possesses activity in alternate pathways to target apoptosis and angiogenesis. Preclinical data have demonstrated activity in multiple tumor types and synergistic activity with other agents including Avastin, Herceptin, Tarceva, Gleevec and tamoxifen. OSU-HDAC42 is a broad-spectrum histone-deacetylase inhibitor, which possesses additional mechanisms as well. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Biogen Idec Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., was to have received notice from entities affiliated with billionaire investor Carl Icahn that they intend to nominate three people at the company's upcoming annual meeting to serve as directors. Biogen has a staggered board of 12 directors, and there are four directorships up for election this year. In a statement, Icahn said his affiliates are taking this action because "we believe that Biogen's recent purported attempt to find a suitor was not conducted in a way to enhance the success of the endeavor." Biogen announced in October that it would put itself up for sale, but the company failed to attract any bids and said in December that it would continue operating as an independent firm. At that time, analysts speculated that prospective bidders were dissuaded by control provisions included in the company's deals with South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc. for Rituxan and Dublin, Ireland-based Elan Corp. plc for Tysabri. Biogen, however, maintained that it believed its business strategy was working and that "continued execution of the company's business plan will result in attractive value for stockholders." (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 14, 2007.)

• BioLineRx Ltd., of Jerusalem, presented preclinical data demonstrating that BL-1021 was well tolerated and significantly reduced symptoms of neuropathic pain. A clinical trial with BL-1021, an orally available small molecule, is slated to begin this year. The data were presented at the Isranalytica meeting.

• BioMS Medical Corp., of Edmonton, Alberta, has completed a licensing and development agreement with Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, netting $87 million in cash up front. The deal grants Lilly exclusive worldwide rights to BioMS Medical's lead drug, MBP8298, for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. MBP8298 is being evaluated in two pivotal phase III trials for secondary progressive MS patients in Canada, Europe and the U.S.. It also is being evaluated for relapsing remitting MS patients in a Phase II trial in Europe. Financial terms were not disclosed. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 19, 2007.)

• Celgene Corp., of Summit, N.J., and Pharmion Corp., of Boulder, Colo., said Germany's federal antitrust office has cleared Celgene's proposed $2.9 billion acquisition of Pharmion. The deal is expected to close by the end of the second quarter. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 20, 2007.)

• Coronado Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, said preclinical data published in Blood demonstrated that the Bcl-2 inhibitor Apogossypol killed cancer cells in vitro while demonstrating less in vivo toxicity than Gossypol. Gossypol is a plant derivative that has been studied for cancer; Apogossypol is Coronado's rationally designed derivative. Apogossypol, also known as CNDO103, is slated for an investigational new drug application filing in late 2008.

• Eisai Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, completed the offer by its indirect wholly owned subsidiary, Jaguar Acquisition Corp., to purchase all outstanding shares of the common stock of MGI Pharma Inc., of Bloomington, Minn., for $41 per share. As the final step of the acquisition process, Eisai said it intends to effect a short-form merger of Jaguar into MGI Pharma, with the remaining MGI Pharma shareholders receiving the same cash price of $41 per share. Following the merger, MGI Pharma will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Eisai Corp and MGI Pharma common stock will be delisted and will cease to trade on Nasdaq.

• Endo Pharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., of Chadds Ford, Pa., and Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co., of Danbury, Conn., filed a lawsuit against Impax Laboratories Inc., of Hayward, Calif. The companies allege that Impax's abbreviated new drug application for Opana ER oxymorphone hydrochloride extended-release tablets infringes on certain Penwest patents.

• Gastrotech Pharma, of Copenhagen, Denmark, has signed an agreement with Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, to in-license the Lilly compound now named GTP-010, an analogue of the naturally occurring intestinal hormone GLP-1. The deal follows positive clinical data from a joint Lilly and Gastrotech proof-of-concept study to assess pain reduction associated with irritable bowel syndrome. Gastrotech now plans to develop GTP-010 to treat IBS. Under the terms of the agreement, Gastrotech will receive a global exclusive license to develop and market GTP-010 for IBS and functional dyspepsia. Lilly will take an equity stake in Gastrotech and will receive royalties on sales. Financial details were not disclosed.

• Genomic Health Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., said various studies of colon cancer patients have identified genes that could predict the benefits of chemotherapy in Stage II and Stage III colon cancer, and the risk of the cancer returning. Genomic Health will use the data to select a gene set for a clinical assay, which will be evaluated in an independent study. The first report studied patients treated only with surgery, and the second report examined patients who had surgery plus 5-FU/LV chemotherapy in the NSABP C-06 study. Those data were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in Orlando, Fla.

• Gloucester Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., appointed Alan Colowick CEO and board member. Colowick previously served as president of oncology at Geron Corp. In other news, Gloucester also promoted Jean Nichols to president and chief operating officer and named Donald Hayden chairman.

• ImmuneRegen BioSciences, of Scottsdale, Ariz., has entered into an agreement with HemoGenix, of Colorado Springs, Colo., in which the latter will test Homspera and explore the potential of Homspera to stimulate hematopoietic stem cell proliferation and differentiation using its ATP bioluminescence technology. Earlier studies by ImmuneRegen showed the ability of Homspera to modify the number of leukocytes circulating in the blood of animals exposed to lethal and sublethal doses of ionizing radiation. Additional studies are under way to explore potential therapeutic capabilities in cancer, immunological disorders, wound healing, regenerative medicine and radioprotection.

• Lentigen Corp., of Baltimore, appointed Tim Ravenscroft CEO. Ravenscroft most recently served as president of Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging. Lentigen founder Boro Dropulic will retain the roles of president and chief scientific officer.

• Lipid Sciences Inc., of Pleasanton, Calif., said a study involving nonhuman primates showed that those infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) experienced positive therapeutic effects when treated with the company's delipidated autologous virus vaccine. SIV is a model for HIV. Six primates were in the treatment arm, and six were placebo animals. Animals that were vaccinated had an average 15.5 times viral load reduction, and also responded with drops in viral load in excess of 90 percent. The preclinical safety and effectiveness study was held at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University in Atlanta.

• Lpath Inc., of San Diego, said it has humanized its anti-lysophospholipid acid (LPA), Lpathomab, through a collaboration with DaTaMabs LLP, of London. LPA, a bioactive lipid, is a well-known contributor to neuropathic pain. Lpath also is working on generating antibodies for three other bioactive-lipid targets.

• Profectus BioSciences Inc., of Baltimore, appointed Shawn Patrick O'Brien president and chief executive officer. In addition, the company's board of directors named Donald R. Caldwell as its chairman. Currently, the company has five technology platforms and two commercialization partners for its AIDS vaccine for human and veterinary use.

• Quest PharmaTech Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, signed a collaborative research agreement with the BC Cancer Agency to develop a combination therapy for lung cancer using the company's lead product, SL052, with various immunotherapeutic agents. Under the terms, the BCCA will investigate therapeutic and mechanistic aspects of antitumor effects achieved by combining photodynamic therapy based on Quest's photosensitizer with immunotherapies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Rice University, of Houston, said chemists and scientists have been commissioned for a $540,000, nine-month study by the Department of Defense to determine whether a new drug based on carbon nanotubes can help prevent people from dying of acute radiation injury following radiation exposure. The study was commissioned after preliminary tests found the drug was greater than 5,000 times more effective at reducing the effects of acute radiation injury than the most effective drugs currently available. The drug is named Nanovector Trojan Horses.

• Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Lexington, Mass., and partner London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc received orphan drug designation for melanoma drug elesclomol. The companies signed a $1 billion deal for the Phase III small molecule, oxidative stress inducer last fall. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 11, 2007.)

• Vasogen Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, said preclinical data published in the European Journal of Neuroscience demonstrated that VP025 provides a significant neuroprotective effect in a model of Parkinson's disease. Treatment with VP025 caused a 50 percent to 75 percent reduction in rotational movement (p<0.001) and protected against the loss of dopaminergic neurons. VP025, a bilayered phospholipid microparticle designed to modify cytokines, has completed Phase I trials.