• Acacia Research Corp., of Newport Beach, Calif., said its CombiMatrix group was awarded a $2.2 million contract from the U.S. Department of Defense. The one-year contract will fund further development of its microarray technologies for a multipathogen- and chemical-detection system. Under previously funded programs with the DOD, CombiMatrix demonstrated its products could detect toxins, viruses and bacteria simultaneously using its semiconductor-based microarrays. Systems currently are in use at several military and government laboratories, as well as civilian installations, it said.

• Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, appointed Robert Baltera Jr. as its first CEO. Baltera most recently served as vice president of corporate and contract manufacturing at Amgen Inc. Amira recently reported positive Phase I data with lead compound AM103, an oral leukotriene synthesis inhibitor for asthma and cardiovascular inflammation. (See BioWorld Today, March 26, 2007.)

• BioWa Inc., of Princeton, N.J., licensed from Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd., its Tokyo-based patent company, exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize Complegent technology. The technology is designed to enhance complement-dependent cytotoxicity, a mechanism of action of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies. BioWa will make Complegent available to its partners under license with its Potelligent technology, providing the AccretaMab monoclonal antibody platform.

• Can-Fite Biopharma, of Jerusalem, said pre-clinical studies showed that the excipients used in the placebo and in the CF-101 drug during the Phase IIb RA study enhanced the anti-inflammatory effect of methotrexate. The excipient is an oil mixture containing polyoxyl 45 castor oil and miglyol 812. In pre-clinical work scientists found that the excipients led to up-regulation of the two adenosine receptors, A3 and A2A, which are known to mediate the effect of MTX. Can-Fite has filed a patent application to protect the excipient activity and is considering further development of its use.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, has entered into a co-exclusive license agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, of Collegeville, Pa., for PER.C6 and Advac technology. Crucell will receive an up-front payment, milestones, annual maintenance fees and royalties on net product sales. Other financial details were not disclosed. Crucell's AdVac technology is a recombinant vector technology used to develop novel adenoviral-based products. PER.C6 technology is based on a human cell line developed for the large-scale manufacture of biological products including vaccines.

• CV Therapeutics Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., entered an agreement with Frederick Frank, vice chairman of Lehman Brothers, to counsel the company on a range of strategic opportunities. Details on the range of options to be considered were not disclosed. The company, which last year gained approval of Ranexa (ranolazine extended-release tablets) for second- and third-line use in chronic angina, said in May that it was cutting various operating expenses.

• DOR BioPharma Inc., of Miami, said it was awarded a grant from the FDA's Office of Orphan Products Development, to fund further clinical evaluation of its RiVax vaccine for ricin toxin. The grant was awarded to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, one of the company's academic partners in the development of RiVax. The three-year, $940,000 award will used to evaluate an adjuvant for use with the vaccine. RiVax has been evaluated in human volunteers in a small, dose-escalating Phase I trial, which demonstrated tolerability and immunogenicity.

• Eden Biodesign Ltd., of Liverpool, UK, said it was selected by the University of Birmingham in the UK to develop and produce vOX2:Fc, a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Funding for the project has been provided by the National Biomanufacturing Centre Access Fund administered by the Northwest Regional Development Agency. Eden Biodesign is the operator of the NBC facility.

• Ensemble Discovery Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., initiated a collaboration with Basel, Switzerland-based F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. to apply Ensemble's diagnostic technology, known as DNA-Programmed Chemistry, to analyze combinations of members of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) family that are present in cancer tissues. The goal of the partnership is to create a sensitive test to detect receptor dimers in human cancer tissue samples. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Genta Inc., of Berkeley Heights, N.J., received notice from Nasdaq that it has demonstrated compliance with all Nasdaq Marketplace Rules and that its stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Global Market.

• GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, withdrew the new drug application for satraplatin that sought accelerated approval for hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients whose chemotherapy has failed. The company based its decision on the negative vote by the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee to the FDA last week, which indicated the FDA should wait for the final survival analysis of the SPARC Phase III trial before deciding whether satraplatin is approvable. The company expects overall survival results from the SPARC trial within six months, though that could change. If the data are positive, the company said it plans to submit an NDA to the FDA "as quickly as possible." (See BioWorld Today, July 26, 2007.) GPC's stock (NASDAQ:GPCB) closed Monday at $12.50, up $2.15, or 20.8 percent.

• MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said it was informed by partner CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newtown, Mass., that the European marketing authorization for Oracea in rosacea has been postponed after the committee of the nine countries involved failed to reach a unanimous decision. The procedure then moves to another committee, adding about six months to the process. Marketing applications for Oracea have been submitted in Germany, the UK, Italy, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. MediGene acquired pan-European rights to Oracea in 2006 from CollaGenex, which gained U.S. approval for the product last year.

• Novogen Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said an investigational anti-inflammatory drug developed using its phenolic technology platform produced promising results in animal studies as an arthritis control therapy. A group of eight rats given the drug in their feed showed significantly lower joint scores when compared with another group of eight rats given untreated feed. Results suggested that the drug, a FAIM (flavonoid anti-inflammatory molecule), could be efficacious in treating inflammation without the gastrointestinal side effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the cardiovascular risks associated with COX-2 inhibitors.

• Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, submitted a market authorization application to the European Medicines Agency seeking approval of Evicel liquid fibrin sealant in general hemostasis in surgery. The indication also is under review by the FDA, which recently approved Evicel for vascular surgery and previously approved the product for liver surgery. Omrix's marketing partner for Evicel is Ethicon Inc., a division of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson and Johnson.

• Response Genetics Inc., of Los Angeles, said Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, will begin using the company's techniques to extract genetic information from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples collected in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. As part of the collaboration, Response Genetics will provide Hitachi Chemical with technical information and assistance to perform the tests, and the two companies will divide the revenues. Hitachi Chemical also agreed to introduce Response Genetics to potential new testing services customers in the region to expand the testing of FFPE clinical samples in Asia.

• Siemens AG, of Munich, Germany, said its Siemens Medical Solutions division received FDA clearance to begin a Phase I trial evaluating [F-18] 3'-fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine (FLT) as a biomarker of cancer cell proliferation. The trial will be conducted at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and will utilize positron emission tomography imaging.

• Valentis Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., changed its name to Urigen Pharmaceuticals Inc. following the completion of a reverse merger with Urigen NA Inc. Shares of Urigen, a specialty pharmaceutical company developing therapies for urological disorders, will trade on the OTC Bulletin Board under the ticker symbol URGP. The merger followed negative data from a Phase IIb study of Valentis' lead candidate in peripheral arterial disease. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 10, 2006.)