• FASgen Inc., of Baltimore, said FAS093 significantly inhibited the growth of several non-small-cell lung cancer tumors in preclinical models. The research was conducted in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center through a program focused on selective inhibition of fatty acid synthase. Findings were published inClinical Cancer Research.

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it will receive a $40 million milestone payment from Ortho Biotech Products LP, a unit of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson. The milestone is tied to Johnson & Johnson's achievement of an ex-U.S. sales milestone with the multiple myeloma drug Velcade (bortezomib). Millennium also receives royalties on ex-U.S. Velcade sales.

• The Institute for Systems Biology, of Seattle, in collaboration with researchers from New York University, developed a model designed to rapidly characterize and accurately predict the molecular-level, mechanistic response of a free-living cell to genetic and environmental changes. Data published in Cell show that the EGRIN (Environmental and Gene Regulatory Influence) model linked biological process with previously unknown molecular relationships and accurately predicted both new regulation of known biological processes and the transcriptional responses of more than 1,900 genes to novel genetic and environmental experiments.

• Theravance Inc., of South San Francisco, said its antibiotic telavancin may be reviewed by the FDA's Anti-Infective Drugs Advisory Committee. In October, the company and partner Astellas Pharma US, of Deerfield, Ill., received an approvable letter in response to their new drug application for telavancin in complicated skin and skin structure infections. The letter indicated that no additional trials were needed but that the companies would need to resolve manufacturing issues and either revise the label or reanalyze the data. Telavancin subsequently achieved its endpoint of non-inferiority to vancomycin in a second pivotal trial for hospital-acquired pneumonia. Shares of Theravance (NASDAQ:THRX) fell $1.97, or 9.25 percent, to close at $19.33 Friday. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 23, 2007 and Dec. 7, 2007.)