• Apogenix GmbH, of Heidelberg, Germany, said a paper published by its scientific advisors in the October 2007 issue of Cell Stem Cell demonstrated that the combination of chemotherapy and IL-4 blockers can kill human cancer stem cells. Apogenix expects to begin clinical trials in 2010 with the lead candidate in its portfolio of IL-4 blockers.

• Bavarian Nordic AS, of Copenhagen, Denmark, has received an extension of an existing government contract to include the initiation of a larger Phase II study with Imvamune, the company's investigational smallpox vaccine, in persons diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. The extension, by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will prolong the original contract to 2010 and has a value of $15 million, with the majority of revenue expected at the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009. The original contract, awarded in 2004 by NIAID, included a Phase II study in atopic dermatitis, but the need for more clinical safety data in that population has increased due to requirements from the FDA.

• Biolog Inc., of Hayward, Calif., received a two-year, $1 million Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer Research grant from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The funding will be used to expand the company's Phenotype MicroArray technology into testing of certain bacterial pathogens, supplementing the bacterial, fungal and human cell panels already available. Research will be conducted in collaboration with the Texas A&M Health Science Center Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy.

• Cyanotech Corp., of Kona, Hawaii, said it has been cleared by Nasdaq following multiple delisting notices in recent months. Cyanotech had received notices of possible delisting in March and August because it had not filed overdue annual and quarterly reports. The company had filed an appeal requesting continued listing while the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel reviewed the case.

• Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., and Bioenvision Inc., of New York, said a Delaware Court of Chancery granted their petition to reconvene Bioenvision's special stockholder meeting on Oct. 22 to allow voting to continue on a merger agreement between the two companies. Voting on the $345 million acquisition by Genzyme was scheduled for an Oct. 5 special meeting, but results were never announced. The merger has been opposed by investor SCO Capital Partners LLC. (See BioWorld Today, May 30, 2007.)

• OPKO Health Inc., of Miami, said it has acquired exclusive worldwide rights for ophthalmic uses to a topical clinical stage compound with potential use in the treatment of dry eye. The compound, civamide, a proprietary TRPV-1 receptor modulator and neuronal calcium channel blocker, is in Phase III clinical trials in an intranasal formulation to treat various types of pain. Increased tear production was observed in more than 50 percent of the patients receiving civamide, and no systemic side effects were noted. Neither the seller, nor terms of the deal, were disclosed.

• Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., reported that activation of SIRT1, a member of the sirtuin family of enzymes, was shown to be neuroprotective in an animal model of optic neuritis (inflammation of the optic nerve that can cause a complete or partial loss of vision). Oral dosing of SRT501, Sirtris' formulation of resveratrol, reduced the loss of retinal ganglion cells and preserved axonal function in a preclinical model of optic neuritis. Previous data published showed that intravitreal injection of SRT501 confers neuroprotection. The findings appeared in a poster presented at the 132nd Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association in Washington.

• ThermoGenesis Corp., of Rancho Cordova, Calif., received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its AXP AutoXpress Platform, which isolates stem cells from umbilical cord blood. GE Healthcare is the exclusive global distributor of the AXP AutoXpress Platform, which has been commercially available since March 2006.