• Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd., of Petach Tikva, Israel, said a preclinical study of CF101 for uveitis conducted by the NIH's National Eye Institute demonstrated that the drug reduced ocular disease symptoms. Can-Fite and the NIH signed a cooperative research and development agreement to continue preclinical work.

• Carigent Therapeutics Inc., of New Haven, Conn., said the National Cancer Institute awarded the firm a one-year $153,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant to advance preclinical development of a long-circulating nanoparticle therapeutic designed to target the specific molecular lesions in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients. The company's approach is based on its platform technology, which works to engineer biodegradable nanoparticles with high-density surface modifications that deliver encapsulated therapeutics or diagnostic agents in a targeted manner for controlled release into tissues and cells.

• Cephalon Inc., of Frazer, Pa., expects to close its Eden Prairie, Minn., manufacturing facility and transition activities to its recently expanded Salt Lake City facility within two to three years. As part of its restructuring plan, the company also plans to consolidate its drug delivery research and development activities at Brooklyn Park, Minn., by 2008. Cephalon estimates the plan will eliminate about 90 jobs (170 jobs eliminated in Eden Prairie and 80 jobs added in Salt Lake City) and will cost the firm between $34 million and $47 million, with about 60 percent of that coming from non-cash charges associated with accelerated depreciation of plant and equipment at the Eden Prairie facility. The remaining 40 percent will result in future cash outlays primarily related to severance costs and costs associated with transferring the manufacturing technology.

• Dynogen Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, Mass., acquired from Cambridge, UK-based Arachnova Therapeutics Ltd. a suite of patents relating to DDP225 for functional bowel disorders, genitourinary disorders and pain. Terms were not disclosed. Dynogen is preparing to start a Phase IIb trial in irritable bowel syndrome with DDP225, an oral noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor and a weak 5HT3 receptor antagonist.

• ExonHit Therapeutics SA, of Paris, created separate business units to manage molecular diagnostics and therapeutics. In the coming year, the company expects to launch new whole-genome microarrays for rats and mice, commercialize a blood-based diagnostic for Alzheimer's disease and partner EHT0202 based on Phase II data in neurodegenerative disorders.

• Fundamental Applied Biology Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., was awarded a $500,000 Small Business Innovative Research Phase IIB grant. The money will be used to continue development of cell-free protein synthesis technology, which is designed to overcome issues of degradation, purification, folding and yield that plague cell-based production of proteins for biologic drugs and vaccines.

• Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, was awarded a three-year, €4.4 million (US$6.5 million) grant from the Flanders government. The money will be used to select lead compounds for rheumatoid arthritis, to develop and validate biomarkers to monitor disease progression and therapeutic response, and to offset Phase I and Phase IIa trial costs.

• Inhibiton Therapeutics Inc., of Englewood, Colo., said its ICA-1 compound reduced the proliferation of breast cancer cells in vitro. The compound previously had been shown to reduce proliferation of neuroblastoma cells.

• MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, revealed that the human cytokine granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is the target of MOR103, a HuCAL-derived antibody for rheumatoid arthritis. MorphoSys also said it acquired patents covering GM-CSF inhibitors from the University of Melbourne in exchange for undisclosed up-front payments, milestone payments and royalties. MorphoSys is planning a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single-ascending dose Phase I trial of the drug, which it anticipates could provide an alternative to antitumor necrosis factor approaches to treating inflammatory disease.

• Nycomed, of Zurich, Switzerland, received FDA approval of its inhaled corticosteroid, Alvesco (ciclesonide), for prophylactic and maintenance treatment of asthma. The company said it is in negotiations with potential U.S. marketing partners. Alvesco previously had been approved in 44 countries.

• Omrix Biopharmaceutical Inc., of New York, and its collaborator, Ethicon Inc., of Somerville, N.J., said the FDA recently approved the use of Evicel fibrin sealant, a combination of human thrombin and a concentrate of human fibrinogen, known as biological active component 2, in general surgery procedures. The product, which was first approved in 2003 under the brand name Crosseal, already is used as an adjunct to hemostasis for use in patients undergoing liver or vascular surgery when control of bleeding by standard surgical techniques is ineffective or impractical.