• ActoGeniX NV, of Ghent, Belgium, was awarded a €3.07 million (US$4.2 million) grant from the Flanders government through IWT (Institute for Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders). That funding, along with the €20 million the company raised in venture capital earlier this year, will support the discovery and development of programs based on TopAct, a platform for targeted delivery of biopharmaceuticals. The IWT funding, which covers a two-year period, will allow ActoGeniX to accelerate its application of TopAct to develop therapies in the areas of gastrointestinal, autoimmune, allergy and metabolic diseases. Its lead program has tested successfully in a Phase I Crohn's disease trial and is expected to enter Phase II trials in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis next year.

• Allergy Therapeutics plc, of Worthing, UK, saw its shares fall £0.28 to £0.91 last week after the FDA placed a hold on one of its clinical trials of Pollinex Quattro, a hayfever vaccine, following a single adverse event. The company said it is co-operating with the FDA and does not believe the product caused the problem.

• Circassia Ltd., of Oxford, UK, acquired ToleroTrans, anti-rejection technology for use in organ transplantation from the University of Birmingham in the UK for an undisclosed up-front payment, plus future milestones and royalties on product sales. The ToleroTrans approach mirrors Circassia's existing anti-allergy technology by using T-cell epitopes to down-regulate unwanted immune responses.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, and DSM Biologics, of Sittard, the Netherlands, granted Masterclone, of Moscow, a nonexclusive PER.C6 research license. Masterclone will use the technology to develop an undisclosed antibody. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Evotec AG, of Hamburg, Germany, and India-based Research Support International Ltd., a subsidiary of DIL Ltd., formed a joint venture in India. The venture, Evotec-RSIL Ltd., will design, synthesize and manage compound libraries as a service. The joint venture will be located in Thane, India, and use newly constructed laboratories. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Exiqon A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Luminex Corp., of Austin, Texas, executed a distribution agreement for the FlexmiR line of products co-developed by the companies in 2006. Exiqon has nonexclusive rights to distribute FlexmiR products and to sell Luminex systems to laboratories around the world. In addition, the companies launched two more FlexmiR products, the FlexmiR MicroRNA Mouse/Rat Extension Panel and the FlexmiR MicroRNA Control Set. FlexmiR is a line of microRNA products that combines Luminex's xMAP technology and Exiqon's Locked Nucleic Acid technology.

• Pentium Spa, of Como, Italy, said preclinical data supported Defibrotide's mechanism of action in the regulation and inhibition of protection of key regulatory proteins involved in cancer, diabetic nephropathy and endothelial damage. Among data presented at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis in Geneva included posters demonstrating Defibrotide's ability to enhance the activity of plasmin, to reverse the heparanase gene expression induced by glucose and to save endothelial cells from chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Defibrotide is the company's lead product and has been granted fast-track status by the FDA in severe veno-occlusive disease and orphan drug status in the U.S. and Europe to treat and prevent VOD.

• Phosphagenics Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, and Nestle Nutrition, of Vevey, Switzerland, extended the period under which Nestle has the option to negotiate an exclusive license to use Phospha E to treat and prevent metabolic syndrome. To avoid development delays, the companies are continuing their planned clinical program of the vitamin E derivative, with the first human trial expected to start this quarter.

• Protherics plc, of London, said the maximum tolerated dose of Prolarix was determined in a Phase I study of the targeted prodrug therapy, which is being developed for the treatment of primary liver cancer and other tumors. Prolarix treatment involves co-administration of a prodrug, tretazicar, which is activated by an endogenous enzyme called NQO2 in the presence of a co-substrate, caricotamide. To date, 23 patients have been treated, and activation of the prodrug occurred in all patients where pharmacokinetic analyses have been performed. Six additional patients with a range of tumor types now will be treated with up to six cycles of Prolarix to further investigate drug effects in the tumor, safety and efficacy.

• Qiagen NV, of Venlo, the Netherlands, said a subsidiary completed its acquisition of eGene Inc., of Irvine, Calif., for $34 million in cash and stock. The deal was announced in April. eGene has developed a multichannel sample separation and analysis technology for nucleic acids based on capillary electrophoresis.

• Selexis SA, of Geneva, signed a license agreement with Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, of Mainz, Germany, for use of Selexis technology for large-scale production of Ganymed's lead cancer antibodies. The license allows Ganymed to use a cell line, developed by its scientists using the Selexis SURE Cell Line Development platform, for the clinical and commercial production of a number of products. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Sloning Biotechnology, of Puchheim, Germany, and Research & Innovation Japan Inc. (RIJ), of Tokyo, signed a distribution partnership for RIJ to exclusively market and sell the Slonomics gene synthesis service and Slonomax product family of mutant libraries in Japan. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• UCB SA, of Brussels, Belgium, launched a minority buyout offer for its 87.6 percent-owned German unit Schwarz Pharma AG, of Monheim, Germany. UCB said the terms of the buyout have been registered in the German commercial register. Last September, UCB disclosed its plan, saying the offer for each Schwarz share would be €50 (US$63.73) in cash and 0.8735 of one new ordinary share in UCB, valuing each Schwarz share at €91.1 based on the closing price of a UCB share on Sept. 22, 2006. The Schwarz family, owning about 60 percent of the issued share capital of Schwarz, has committed to accept the proposed offer and to hold at least 41.5 percent of the UCB shares they receive until after June 2010.

• Vernalis plc, of Reading, UK, announced the topline results from a Phase IIa trial of V3381, a treatment for neuropathic pain in diabetes. The trial was designed to assess safety and pharmacokinetics while providing a preliminary indication of efficacy in patients suffering from neuropathic pain resulting from long-standing diabetes. V3381 was generally well tolerated and there were good preliminary indications of efficacy. The company said the headline data warrant further clinical development.

• ZoBio BV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said it will provide ligand discovery services in the field of fragment-based drug discovery to UCB SA, of Brussels, Belgium. The agreement provides for initial ligand screening of UCB discovery targets. ZoBio will immobilize the targets and carry out ligand screening using its Target Immobilized NMR Screening technology.