• Advanced Magnetics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., has changed its name to AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. The company's trading symbol (NASDAQ:AMAG) will remain unchanged.

• Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., said Children's Hospital of Philadelphia will use the Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0 for a series of whole-genome association studies. Researchers at the Children's Hospital are using the Affymetrix genotyping platform to identify the genes responsible for medical disorders such as cardiovascular, metabolic and central nervous system disorders.

• Anika Therapeutics Inc., of Woburn, Mass., has received FDA approval for commercial sale of its corrective and aesthetic dermatology product. That product is licensed to Galderma Pharma SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, which will launch it worldwide under the brand name Elevess. It is an injectable soft-tissue filler for facial wrinkles and scar remediation.

• Avi BioPharma Inc., of Portland, Ore., said its partner Global Therapeutics, part of Cook Medical, of Bloomington, Ind., determined that results from animal studies using Avi's Neugene antisense drug AVI-5126 to prevent cardiovascular restenosis were "highly promising." The studies showed safe delivery of a therapeutic dose of the antisense agent to the specific site of stenting, with no systemic adverse events. A Phase II clinical study showed that Avi's AVI-4126 (Resten-NG), also targeting the c-myc gene, reduced the rate of restenosis after balloon angioplasty and stent placement by approximately 75 percent. AVI-5126 has the same antisense component, but also incorporates a peptide to enhance delivery.

• BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lincolnshire, Ill., reported positive results of the use of its calcium phosphate nanotechnology (CaP) as a potential wrinkle filler in cosmetic medicine. Preclinical work indicated that the CaP nanotechnology performs well as a filler and may be as long lasting and safe as other injectable fillers. Preliminary results indicated no adverse events. Further preclinical tests are being conducted to confirm the positive results

• Corcept Therapeutics, of Menlo Park, Calif., and Xceleron, of York, UK, are combining for a human microdosing study of one of Corcept's new chemical entities, a selective GR-II antagonist, using Xceleron's Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) technology. Corcept said it has identified three distinct series of GR-II antagonists for possible development, which appear to be as potent as Corcept's lead product Corlux in blocking cortisol but which do not block the progesterone or other steroid receptors. Corcept will evaluate one of the compounds, one which develops particularly high plasma and brain concentrations in an animal model, in a human microdosing study using Xceleron's AMS technology.

• DSM Biologics, of Sittard, the Netherlands, has reached a nonexclusive research licensing agreement with LFB Biotechnologies, of Paris, allowing LFB to use its technology to develop undisclosed antibodies. No financial details were disclosed. During the research license period, they also will evaluate a joint collaboration in the field of enhancing sugar structures, described as glycosylation patterns, on recombinant antibodies using LFB's in-house developed technology.

• Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, said its BioFocus DPI division has received a milestone payment in an autoimmune discovery research collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, of Ingelheim, Germany. The three-year collaboration, announced in January 2006 involves BioFocus DPI's SilenceSelect sh-RNA-based gene collection with an additional gene set, the development of a dedicated cellular assay in the field of autoimmune diseases, and its application in a target discovery screen for Boehringer Ingelheim's autoimmune discovery research. Details on the milestone and other provisions were not disclosed, but should all criteria be achieved, Galapagos could exceed €2 million.

• Novalar Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with the Forsyth Institute to develop and commercialize a product for the prevention of inter-appointment pain and bacterial reduction in endodontic treatment (root canal therapy). The product, an antibiotic-impregnated ethylene vinyl acetate fiber, originally was developed by Forsyth Institute and Harvard School of Dental Medicine. Novalar will have an exclusive worldwide license for the technology from the institute and will be responsible for all development and commercialization costs and activities. In return, Forsyth will be entitled to milestone payments and royalties on products sold. Specific details were not disclosed.

• Progen Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Brisbane, Australia, said warrants issued in connection with the company's recently closed entitlements offering have been approved for listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The warrants will begin trading today under the ticker symbol PGLAW.

• Resverlogix Corp., of Calgary, Alberta, said a primate study on its clinical lead compound, RVX-208, showed a clear dose-response relationship for effects on HDL. Data highlights from the study in adult African green monkeys showed that when RVX-208 was administered over 28-day and 42-day treatment regimens, ApoA-I levels were increased up to 52 percent and HDL cholesterol levels increased up to 75 percent. The data are being used to help develop an optimized dosage schedule for the planned clinical trials.

• Samaritan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Las Vegas, has signed a research collaboration and licensing agreement with the Research Institute of McGill University Health Centre to advance its pipeline into clinical trial status and develop new drug candidates. The center will continue to develop the drug pipeline originally developed in a Georgetown University/Samaritan collaboration, and in addition, take potential new drug candidates through the discovery process. Once drug candidates are clinically validated and deemed to hold promise, Samaritan Therapeutics, of Montreal, will continue to develop them in Canada, while Samaritan Pharmaceuticals will focus on the drug candidate's process through regulatory agencies and its commercialization.

• Sandoz, the generics division of Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington has affirmed a lower court summary judgment invalidating patent protection on Toprol XL, a beta blocker used to treat angina, heart failure and high blood pressure from AstraZeneca plc, of London. Sandoz introduced metoprolol succinate 25 mg extended-release tablets, a generic equivalent of Toprol XL, in the U.S. late last year, and in May, the FDA granted final approval to its abbreviated new drug application for metoprolol succinate 50 mg ER.

• Stem Cell Therapeutics Corp., of Calgary, Alberta, initiated a preclinical comparator study designed to characterize the neurodegenerative effects of stem cell proliferative agents plus erythropoietin in an animal model of traumatic brain injury. The study aims to describe the ability of prolactin, or human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), followed by EPO to promote recovery of the brain following moderate to serious acute cortical injury. The company recently reported encouraging results from an ongoing Phase IIa study of hCG plus EPO in stroke patients.

• Targeted Genetics Corp., of Seattle, said the FDA has placed a hold on its development program of tgAAC94, an investigational therapy for the treatment of inflammatory arthritis, following a serious adverse event in one subject. Currently there is not enough information to draw conclusions about the event, and the delay is intended to gather and analyze data, the company said. Since the trial began in October 2005, 127 subjects have received an initial dose of active drug or placebo, and 74 subjects out of the total 127 have received a second dose of active drug. The Phase I/II study is designed to assess the safety and potential efficacy of different doses of tgAAC94 administered directly to affected joints of subjects with inflammatory arthritis. The compound is an investigational therapy that uses an adeno-associated virus vector to deliver the gene encoding a soluble form of the receptor for TNF-alpha (TNFR:Fc). The TNFR:Fc protein is a potent inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a key mediator of inflammation. In March 2006, the company received FDA approval to amend its protocol to include a higher dose group and increase the number of patients. Shares of Targeted Genetics (NASDAQ:TGEN) lost 53 cents, or 20.2 percent Wednesday, closing at $2.10.