• Abraxis BioScience Inc., of Los Angeles, announced that it has signed a licensing agreement with Biocon Ltd., of India, for the commercialization of the breast cancer drug Abraxane (paclitaxel protein-bound particles for injectable suspension) in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and certain other South Asian, and Persian Gulf countries. Under the agreement, Abraxis will receive royalties from Biocon based on net sales of the product in those countries. Abraxane is marketed in the U.S. under a co-promotion agreement between Abraxis and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals .

• AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., completed a cancer partnership with Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based Merck & Co. Inc. begun in 2005. The collaboration utilized AVEO's cancer models to identify and validate tumor maintenance genes as targets for small molecule cancer drugs. Merck has exercised its exclusive right to advance the compounds into preclinical development. The companies will continue to collaborate on identifying genetic profiles that correlate with drug response in order to guide cancer clinical trials. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 3, 2005.)

• EvoGenix Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said its shareholders approved the proposed merger with Peptech Ltd., also of Sydney. Peptech will pay 15 cents cash and 0.5055 Peptech shares for each share of EvoGenix. The deal is expected to be ratified by the Australian courts next week. The merged entity will assume a new name and focus on antibodies and protein-based therapeutics for inflammatory disease, bone disease and cancer. (See BioWorld Today, May 8, 2007.)

• ImClone Systems Inc., of New York, named John H. Johnson as CEO, effective Aug. 27, 2007. Johnson previously held senior management positions at New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson and most recently served as company group chairman of its worldwide biopharmaceuticals unit.

• Proteo Inc., of Irvine, Calif., and its wholly owned subsidiary Proteo Biotech AG, entered a license agreement with Rhein Minapharm Biogenetics SAE, a subsidiary of Cairo, Egypt-based Minapharm Pharmaceuticals SAE for clinical development, production and marketing of Elafin, a protein produced naturally in the skin, lung and breast to protect tissue from destruction by the immune system. Under the terms, Rhein Minapharm will exclusively market Elafin in Egypt, Middle Eastern and African countries in exchange for an up-front payment, milestones and royalty on net sales. Minapharm also agreed to assume the cost of clinical research activities for the designated regions. Specific terms were not disclosed.

• Senesco Technologies Inc., of New Brunswick, N.J., signed a license agreement allowing Monsanto Co., of St. Louis, to use Senesco's yield and stress technology in corn and soybean production. Financial terms were not disclosed. Shares of Senesco (AMEX:SNT) rose 14 cents, or 13.9 percent, to close at $1.15 on Thursday.

• Sinobiomed Inc., of Shanghai, China, said its 82 percent-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Wanxing Bio-pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., signed a formally equity transfer contract to acquire a 90 percent interest in pharmaceutical distribution firm Suzhou Boai. Under the contract, all the equity owners of Suzhou Boai will transfer their equity to Shanghai Wanxing, except for one owner who will retain a 10 percent interest, for a transfer price of about $2.4 million. The distribution company operates two wholly owned subsidiaries: one that sells vaccines and another that sells medical devices. Sinobiomed develops genetically engineered recombinant protein drugs and vaccines.

• Tercica Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., and Ipsen SA, of Paris, received approval from the European Commission to market Increlex (mecasermin, recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-1) for the long-term treatment of growth failure in children and adolescents with severe primary insulin-like growth factor-1 deficiency. The approval triggers a €15 million (US$20.5 million) milestone payment to Tercica from Ipsen, which will market the product in Europe. Increlex has orphan drug status in Europe, which includes 10 years of marketing exclusivity. Tercica markets Increlex in the U.S. (See BioWorld Today, July 20, 2006.)

• Tripos Discovery Research Ltd., of Richmond, Va., a wholly owned subsidiary within the Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc. group of companies, entered a master service agreement with Elan Pharmaceuticals Inc., the U.S. division of Dublin, Ireland-based Elan Corp. plc, to assist in analyzing and enhancing the diversity of its corporate small molecule screening program. TDR agreed to provide its computational design expertise to perform an analysis on the Elan screening collection of small-molecule compounds to perform computational clustering of key subsets and determine optimal areas for expansion. TDR also will provide high-throughput quality control analysis of legacy compounds via mass spectrometry. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Vivus Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., received a $140 million milestone payment from KV Pharmaceutical, of St. Louis, as part of a deal for the licensing rights for the menopause drug Evamist (estradiol). Vivus received an up-front payment of $10 million in May after transferring the exclusive rights and assets related to the drug to KV. Vivus is eligible to receive two additional one-time milestone payments totaling $30 million based on sales milestones for Evamist. (See BioWorld Today, July 31, 2007.)