• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of Princeton, N.J., said that the FDA has approved new labeling for Sprycel to include a lower recommended starting dose of 100 mg once daily and safety and efficacy data in a greater number of patients with chronic-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) resistant or intolerant to prior therapy including Gleevec. The product labeling now also includes data from the first randomized trial of Sprycel and Gleevec. Sprycel is indicated for the treatment of adults with chronic-, accelerated-, or myeloid or lymphoid blast-phase CML with resistance or intolerance to prior therapy including Gleevec. The effectiveness of Sprycel is based on hematologic and cytogenetic response rates. There are no controlled trials demonstrating a clinical benefit, such as improvement in disease-related symptoms or increased survival.

• CEL-SCI Corp., of Vienna, Va., said that its board of directors has approved a stockholder rights plan to ensure that all of its stockholders receive fair and equal treatment in the event of any attempt to acquire control of CEL-SCI. The firm said that distribution of the rights is not intended to prevent a takeover of CEL-SCI on terms beneficial to its stockholders, but is designed to increase its ability to represent the interests of all stockholders.

• Cleveland BioLabs Inc., Buffalo, N.Y., said that its academic and founding partner, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, received a $1 million grant from the Department of Defense to conduct preclinical studies on two of the firm's lead compounds, Protectan CBLB502 and Protectan CBLB612, for use in tourniquet and other ligation-reperfusion battlefield injuries where blood flow is stopped and then restored after a prolonged period of time. Protectan CBLB502 and Protectan CBLB612 have primarily been developed as radiation protectors and mitigators, due to their respective capacities to temporarily delay apoptosis, or regulated cell death, in certain tissues and thereby enable repair of damage. The firm said it has demonstrated that a single injection of Protectan CBLB502 effectively prevents acute renal failure and subsequent death in a mouse model of ischemia-reperfusion renal injury. Protectan CBLB502 is undergoing an accelerated development program as the radiation antidote under the FDA two-animal rule, which requires demonstrations of efficacy in two animal species and only safety in humans. The company said it plans to submit an investigational new drug application to the FDA for a human safety study this year.

• Gen-Probe Inc., of San Diego, said it was informed that technology company 3M, of St. Paul, Minn., no longer intends to fund the companies' collaboration to develop rapid molecular assays for the food testing industry. The companies expect to formally terminate the collaboration in the coming days, though Gen-Probe still anticipates recording $2 million in milestone revenue for the fourth quarter. With the end of the food-testing partnership, Gen-Probe said it will redeploy resources to other projects, including a separate collaboration with 3M to develop rapid molecular tests for healthcare.

• Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., reported preclinical data showing that its oligonucleotide-based compounds modified with synthetic immune stimulatory motifs demonstrated various degrees of immune stimulatory activity in HEK293 cells expressing Toll-like receptor 9 in mouse spleen and human cell-based assays and in vivo in mice. The study was designed to analyze oligonucleotides containing two 5' ends in which 10 synthetic analogs of cytosine and 11 synthetic analogs of guanine were substituted into the CpG motif. Data were published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

• Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, is using the Synapt HDMS (Synapt High Definition Mass Spectrometry System) from Milford, Mass.-based Waters Corp. to hasten its drug discovery efforts in the area of protease inhibitors for diseases such as herpes, hepatitis C, HIV, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis and high blood pressure. Medivir intends to use the system for tasks such as elucidation of metabolites and impurities, ligand screening during early drug discovery, protein and peptide work, protein identification and for studying post-translation modifications and target characterization. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

• Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, of Boca Raton, Fla., said that its stockholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the previously announced sale of assets transaction involving Biotest Pharmaceuticals Corp. and Biotest AG, of Dreieich, Germany. Of those voting, 98 percent voted for the transaction. The company operates through two strategic business units: Nabi Biologics and Nabi Pharmaceuticals.

• Samaritan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Las Vegas, said its subsidiary, Samaritan Pharmaceuticals Europe SA, has received notification from the Cyprus Ministry of Health that its marketing authorization for HIV fungus drug Amphocil, an injection, is a lipid form of amphotericin B indicated for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis, a life threatening systemic fungal infection, has been approved in Cyprus. The firm said it anticipates starting sales of Amphocil in Cyprus shortly after it establishes an official price with the minister of health.

• Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said scientific advisory board member Eric Verdin published a review in Molecular Cell highlighting the discovery of an endogenous activator of SIRT1, AROS (active regulator of SIRT1. AROS and the company's SIRT1 activators both bind to the N-terminus of SIRT1. The company said that research validates its lead program, SRT501, and other new chemical entities, as potential drug targets for disease of aging, including metabolic disorders such as Type II diabetes, mitochondrial disorders such as MELAS, neurological disorders and cancer.