• Advanced Proteome Therapeutics Inc. and Atreus Pharmaceuticals Inc., both of Boston, said they have entered into a strategic research and development agreement to explore the development of novel protein-in vivo imaging agents using advanced site-directed peptide modification techniques developed by APT. The first product target is intended for imaging the earliest changes associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Under the agreement, Atreus will have the exclusive right to commercialize the jointly developed agents in return for revenue sharing payments to APT. Atreus will provide technical, clinical and market expertise to the program, as well as intellectual property rights.

• Biomira Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, was notified by Nasdaq that its share price has fallen below the minimum required for continued listing and that it has until April 30, 2008, to regain compliance. The company said it expects to regain compliance through a previously proposed 6-for-1 reverse stock split. Biomira's shares (NASDAQ:BIOM) fell 10 cents, or 14.3 percent, to close at 60 cents on Monday.

• BioNanomatrix LLC, of Philadelphia, and Agilent Technologies Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., formed a collaboration to develop a genetic analysis system. BioNanomatrix will use its nanoscale imaging technology to develop chips and reagents while Agilent will develop the instrumentation platform. Terms were not disclosed.

• Cary Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Great Falls, Va., and IntelGenx Technologies Corp., of Saint Laurent, Quebec, signed an agreement to jointly develop and commercialize Cary's antidepressant CPI-300 using IntelGenx's oral delivery technology. IntelGenx will provide funding and development support in exchange for profit sharing. The companies expect to file a new drug application in the third quarter of 2008.

• Cenomed BioSciences LLC, a majority-owned subsidiary of Abraxis BioScience Inc., of Los Angeles, said it received a three-year grant from the Defense Joint Science and Technology Office for Chemical and Biological Defense/Threat Reduction Agency to fund preclinical studies of treatments for nerve agent exposure. The drugs will be derived from Cenomed's library. Other parties to the grant include Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Wright State University. Financial details were not disclosed.

• Cytogen Corp., of Princeton, N.J., said it has hired ThinkEquity Partners LLC to assist in identifying and evaluating strategic alternatives to grow its pipeline and enhance shareholder value. The company markets Caphosol for oral mucositis and dry mouth, Quadramet (samarium Sm-153 lexidronam injection) for cancer pain, Prostascint (capromab pendetide) for prostate cancer imaging and Soltamox (tamoxifen citrate) for breast cancer. Cytogen reported cash and equivalents of $17 million as of Sept. 30 and a net loss of $5.1 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, for the third quarter.

• Derma Sciences, of Princeton, N.J., acquired a global exclusive licensing contract for DSC127, a topical application for wound treatment in indications such as diabetic ulcers, leg ulcers associated with venous insufficiency, pressure ulcers and burns, as well as for the reduction of scars resulting from surgical procedures. Rights to the compound, an angiotensin analogue, come from the University of Southern California. DSC127 previously completed a Phase I program and is expected to start Phase II in the first half of 2008. Terms of the deal call for Derma to pay $840,000 up front, with certain milestone payments to USC based on regulatory and sales milestones, plus royalties based on annual sales. Derma agreed to contribute an estimated $4 million to $5 million to get the product through Phase II, though that cost will be defrayed in part by funding from the National Institutes of Health.

• ImaRx Therapeutics Inc., of Tucson, Ariz., and Royal Philips Electronics, of Andover, Mass., have entered into a research collaboration to evaluate Philips' ultrasound technology as part of ImaRx's SonoLysis program to develop new treatment for acute ischemic stroke. Under the agreement, Philips Medical Systems division will provide ultrasound devices and technical assistance to ImaRx during laboratory and preclinical studies. The objective of the collaboration is to determine the optimal ultrasound parameters to use with ImaRx's proprietary MRX-801 microbubble technology. The agreement includes a mutual exclusivity clause during the term of the collaboration. Following completion of the research program, Philips and ImaRx will have an exclusive negotiation period to discuss future development and commercialization.

• Immtech Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, received $5.1 million from a scientific consortium led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which received funds from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to develop drugs for fighting African sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) and leishmania. That grant is part of the $22.6 million the Gates Foundation granted to the UNC-led consortium in 2006 to fund Phase III trials using Immtech's oral drug, pafuramidine maleate, to treat Stage I of African sleeping sickness. Pafuramidine also is in Phase III testing for pneumocystis pneumonia, a fungal infection in the lungs that can affect immunocompromised patients.

• Locus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Blue Bell, Pa., entered a second research agreement with Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, to apply its computational technologies and capabilities in chemistry, biology and crystallography to design and develop investigational new drug application-directed preclinical candidates based on a molecular target selected by Ono. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The companies signed a previous agreement in July 2006 targeting a kinase selected by Ono, with the goal of identifying small-molecule inhibitors.

• Nitec Pharma AG, of Basel, Switzerland, licensed exclusive worldwide rights to the NF-kB and AP-1 inhibitor Tarenflurbil in inflammation and pain applications from PAZ GmbH, of Frankfurt, Germany. Financial terms were not disclosed. Nitec said it plans to begin Phase IIa studies of the drug shortly.

• Nventa Biopharmaceuticals Corp., of San Diego, presented preclinical data demonstrating that the addition of the Toll-like receptor-3 agonist Poly-IC to the company's therapeutic HPV vaccine HspE7 increased the immune response. The company is conducting a Phase I trial of that combination regimen in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. The data were presented at the 24th International Papillomavirus conference in Beijing, China.

• Regenetech Inc., of Houston, licensed the use of its cellXpansion technology in Mexico to Mexican company Regenevita. CellXpansion, which expands hematopoietic stem cell populations for use in therapy, banking and clinical trials, will be utilized for clinical applications in Mexico. Terms were not disclosed.

• Sciele Pharma Inc., of Atlanta, and SkyePharma plc, of London, said that the Prescription Drug User Fee Act date for their supplemental new drug application for a new formulation of Sular, a calcium-channel blocking agent for the treatment of high blood pressure, has been extended to Jan. 2, 2008. The new Sular formulation utilizes SkyePharma's Geomatrix technology, which is designed to provide a lower dose of Sular for each of its current doses.

• Scynexis Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., and the Switzerland-based Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative said they have entered into a five-year, $17 million research and development collaboration for therapies to treat human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), or sleeping sickness. The partnership includes Cambridge, Mass.-based Genzyme Corp. and Pace University in New York. The collaborators intend to progress molecules proven to be safe and active against HAT parasites in early stage screening research through the first steps of regulatory safety assessment in the preclinical phase.

• Shire plc, of Basingstoke, UK, presented preclinical data indicating that its Dynepo (epoetin delta) may have less pronounced angiogenic properties than Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa, Amgen Inc.). Researchers said that property may be beneficial in patients with malignancies or proliferative retinopathy. Both products are FDA-approved erythropoietin-stimulating agents. The data were presented at the 40th annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology.

• Synvista Therapeutics Inc., of Montvale, N.J., said that results of a series of preclinical studies revealed that a common blood protein, haptoglobin, binds to the core of high-density lipoprotein and that a defective haptoglobin variant (Hp2-2), found in 40 percent of the population, may induce dysfunctionality in HDL. Further, the studies reported that exposure to vitamin E can restore HDL functionality and the process of reverse cholesterol transport.

• Targacept Inc., of Winston-Salem, N.C., said London-based AstraZeneca plc elected to pay $2 million to secure an option to license TC-5619 under the terms of the companies' December 2005 partnership. The potential $300 million deal originally gave AstraZeneca the rights to TC-1734/AZD3480, a neuronal nicotinic receptor agonist now in Phase IIb for Alzheimer's disease and cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. The deal also provides research funding which supported TC-5619, now in Phase I, and other neuronal nicotinic receptor products. Targacept will develop TC-5619 independently through Phase II, at which point AstraZeneca can license it for $40 million up front, $226 million in milestones, and royalties. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 29, 2005.)

• Vermillion Inc., of Fremont, Calif., said that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a reexamination certificate of U.S. Patent No. 6,734,022, which is directed to a fundamental process of SELDI mass spectrometry. As a result of the patent reissuance, Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., of Hercules, Calif., is expected to pay Vermillion $2 million pursuant to the terms of the asset purchase agreement entered into in connection with the sale of Vermillion's instrumentation business to Bio-Rad on Nov. 13, 2006.