• Borean Pharma ApS, of Aarhus, Denmark, andEden Biodesign Ltd., of Liverpool, UK, signed an agreement under which Eden will manufacture MBP-DC-SIGN, a therapeutic candidate in cancer, for Borean's preclinical studies. The project is expected to be completed early in 2008. MBP-DC-SIGN is one of Borean's products based on the mannose-binding protein platform. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Celgene International Sàrl, of Boudry, Switzerland, said its oral cancer drug Revlimid (lenalidomide) has been approved by the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products for use in combination with dexamethasone as a treatment for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy. Revlimid has obtained orphan drug designation in the U.S., the EU and Australia for multiple myeloma, is approved for use as an oral treatment in combination with dexamethasone by the European Commission, is approved in the U.S. for multiple myeloma patients who have received at least one prior therapy and for treatment of patients with transfusion-dependent anemia due to low- or intermediate-1-risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) associated with a deletion 5q cytogenetic abnormality with or without additional cytogenetic abnormalities.

• CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc, of Cambridge, UK, said it started recruitment in a Phase /iIa trial of CNS 5161 in the treatment of cancer pain. The dose escalating study, being conducted by CENeS' partner, Ergomed AG, of Frankfurt, Germany, is a dose-escalating study designed to assess safety and efficacy.

• Cisbio International, of Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France, and Lumiphore Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., signed an agreement in which Lumiphore's Lumi4 fluorescent lanthanide detection reagent complexes will be incorporated into Cisbio's Time-Resolved Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (TR-FRET) drug discovery assays. Specific terms were not disclosed.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J. has exercised an option for the exclusive use of Crucell's PER.C6 technology and an option for access to Crucell's AdVac vaccine technology in two infectious disease areas. Under the terms, Crucell acquires rights to certain cell-line technology developed by Merck for the manufacturing of recombinant proteins. The option and the related rights to certain technology developed by Merck originate from the cross-license agreement executed in 2006 between the two firms, and further terms remain undisclosed. In addition, Crucell granted a nonexclusive STAR research license to Invitrogen Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif. The license covers the production of monoclonal antibodies. Terms were not disclosed.

• Elan Corp. plc., of Dublin, Ireland, and Biogen Idec, of Cambridge, Mass., said that the Scottish Medicines Consortium has advised the use of Tysabri (natalizumab) in people with highly active relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). All Scottish health boards are obliged to consider the SMC's advice and ensure that Tysabri is made available to meet patient's clinical needs, the firms stated. Similar positive guidance on Tysabri was issued last month by Great Britain's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Tysabri is the first treatment to be licensed for highly active RRMS. Tysasbri is approved in Switzerland, Canada, Australia and Israel.

• Eurand NV, of Milan, Italy, said partner GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, successfully completed a bioequivalence study of an undisclosed GSK compound, triggering a $1.5 million milestone payment to Eurand. The new drug formulation, using Eurand's Microcaps and AdvaTab technologies, is designed to dissolve quickly in the mouth without leaving a sour or bitter taste. Over the course of the collaboration, Eurand could receive up to $42 million in milestones and be entitled to royalties from product sales.

• European ScreeningPort GmbH, of Hamburg, Germany, a new drug discovery service center, has been established with the support of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, biotech firm Evotec AG and North German life science agency Norgenta. To date, the venture has raised more than €7 million (US$9.5 million) in financing. Hamburg's European ScreeningPort will build upon research results generated in academia to enable a more systematic and efficient search for promising compounds that can be developed further.

• Evogene Ltd., of Rehovot, Israel, licensed from Midwest Oilseeds Inc., of Adel, Iowa, gene transformation technologies that will allow Evogene to more efficiently validate candidate genes to improve commercial crops. Separately, Evogene said its collaboration with Zeraim Gedera Ltd. (now by Syngenta SA) to develop salt tolerant tomato plants has completed its first phase, and experimental varieties are undergoing field trials. The companies agreed to extend the collaboration to develop additional tomato plant varieties. Terms were not disclosed for either deal.

• Genfit, of Lille, France, has been granted four new European and U.S. patents covering proprietary drug candidates, bringing its total number of patents up to 201. Three of the new patents are European and one American, and they cover compounds that are part of a new generation of Selective Nuclear Receptor Modulators (SNuRM), and more specifically PPAR (Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor) modulators (SPPARMs). They were discovered and are being developed by Genfit as part of its global approach to the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

• Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said a preclinical study showed ofatumumab (HuMax-CD20) appeared more effective at inducing complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC), an immune system killing mechanism, than rituximab (Rituxan, Genentech Inc. and Biogen Idec Inc.). Both antibodies were found to activate CDC and induce profound changes in both shape and appearance of target cells. Genmab said ofatumumab induced much more rapid and profound CDC and far more impressive cell changes, leading to more effective killing of target cells. Data were being presented at a meeting in the UK Sunday.

• Goldschmidt GmbH, of Germany, and Helix BioMedix, of Bothell, Wash., announced an agreement through which Degussa Goldschmidt Personal Care will become Helix BioMedix's exclusive marketing partner for its Combikine and Replikine class of anti-aging peptides in addition to other selected peptides targeted at skin care applications.

• JADO Technologies, of Dresden, Germany, appointed Charl van Zyl as CEO. Van Zyl previously served as head of European marketing and sales for Novartis AG. JADO's technology focuses on membrane subcompartments known as lipid RAFTS and is discovering RAFT drug candidates for influenza and HIV.

• KeyGene NV, of Wageningen, the Netherlands, granted BCCM/LMG, a Belgium-based research consortium based at Ghent University, a five-year, nonexclusive license to its AFLP DNA marker technology for genome analysis, transcript profiling and genetic analysis of bacterial species. The two parties also agreed to resolve issues regarding the historic use of AFLP by the BCCM organization. Terms were not disclosed.

• Medivir AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, has entered a licensing agreement with the Hainan Noken Pharmaceutical Industry Ltd., of China, for the antiviral compound MIV-210. It is a polymerase inhibitor and belongs to the group of projects administered by subsidiary Medivir HIV Franchise AB. Noken intends to develop MIV-210 to a pharmaceutical for the treatment of hepatitis B virus (HBV). Under the deal, Noken assumes operational and financial responsibility for the clinical trials required for registration of the ultimately developed drug. Noken has marketing rights for MIV-210 in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Australia. Medivir retains marketing rights in other parts of the world. During the pharmaceutical development of MIV-210, Medivir may earn $7 million in milestone payments. Medivir is further entitled to a double-digit royalty on Noken's future sales. An estimated 120 million Chinese are chronically infected with HBV and 30 million of those are at risk of the disease escalating to liver cancer and cirrhosis.

• Pieris AG, of Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany, said it successfully completed a series of preclinical studies validating the use of PRS-055 in ophthalmologic disease. PRS-055 is an anticalin specific for vascular endothelial growth factor, a key factor in the regulation of neovascular permeability and is implicated in debilitating eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, proliferative diabetic retinopathy and retinopathy of prematurity. Intravitreal injection of PRS-055 has been shown to inhibit VEGF-induced breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier in a rabbit in vivo model.

• Rosetta Genomics Ltd., of Rehovot, Isreal, has entered a collaboration with NYU Medical Center to use microRNA profiles to develop a diagnostic test for melanoma. Rosetta will screen more than 700 microRNAs to identify the right prognostic indicator test for harmful melanomas. Rosetta plans to launch three diagnostic products in 2008, including a test for cancer of unknown primary and two differential diagnostic tests related to lung cancer.

• SymBio Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Tokyo, obtained exclusive global rights to poly(ethylene glycol)-conjugated zinc protoporphyrin (PEG-ZnPP), a water-soluble derivative of ZnPP. The product from Sojo University in Japan has shown activity against Gleevec-resistant leukemia cells. SymBio plans to find a partner for U.S. development.

• ThromboGenics NV, of Leuven, Belgium, has completed the technology transfer to Bharat Biotech International Ltd., of Hyderabad, India, for the manufacture of THR-100, a variant of recombinant staphylokinase. THR-100 is a thrombolytic agent developed for treating acute myocardial infarction and other vascular diseases.

• ValiRx plc, of London, said initial results from research conducted with Cancer Research Technology Ltd., a technology transfer and development company, also of London, showed that its GeneICE compound appears to arrest the development and terminate the existence of cancer cells. Those results confirmed earlier preclinical studies, and also suggested that GeneICE drug candidates targeted to Bcl-2 restored apoptosis in six cancer cell lines by penetrating the walls of cancer cells and targeting the nucleus. That GeneICE compound is being developed by ValiRx's subsidiary, Cronos Therapeutics Ltd., also of London.

• Xceleron Ltd., of York, UK, is collaborating with Organon A/S, of Oss, the Netherlands, on a three-compound human microdose study focusing on candidate selection for further clinical development. All three compounds emerged from Organon's gynecological research and development activities, and the microdose study aims to assess pharmacokinetic properties while confirming the scalability of the microdose to pharmacological dose. Xceleron will use its Accelerator Mass Spectrometry technology to determine human plasma concentrations after microgram administration of the drug candidates. Financial terms were not disclosed.