• Abbott, of Abbott Park, Ill., and Caprion Proteomics, of Montreal, have extended their partnership to investigate viable human therapeutic antibody targets for oncology using Caprion's CellCarta technology platform. The companies began working together on lung cancer targets three years ago. The extended agreement allows Abbott to retain exclusive rights to 10 targets in lung cancer identified by Caprion for up to two years. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

• Amazon Biotech Inc., of New York, has executed a three-for-one reverse stock split in preparation for a pending financing for clinical trials of its immunomodulator drug, AMZ0026, for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. The all-natural whole plant pharmaceutical drug is expected to enter Phase I/II clinical trials upon closing on a financing. The trial will test the safety, immunological and antiviral effects of AMZ0026, using 32 nonsymptomatic HIV subjects who have yet to be treated with highly active anti-retroviral therapy. The six-month study will include the monitoring of T-cell increases and HIV plasma viral load decreases. The company also announced that its new trading symbol on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board is AMZO.

• Commonwealth Biotechnologies Inc., of Richmond, Va., said it completed the acquisition of all of the outstanding stock of Tripos Discovery Research Ltd. from St. Louis-based Tripos Inc. The deal provides CBI with a strategic production and sales and marketing site in the UK and is designed to accelerate CBI's revenues and earnings growth. Terms of the acquisition called for an up-front payment of $350,000, followed by payments of up to $1.8 million from TDR receivables and billings.

• CytoDyn Inc., of Sante Fe, N.M., has received an updated DNA-based H1 and H3 serotype influenza vaccines for the 2007-2008 flu season from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Updating of the DNA-based flu vaccines was completed in less than 1.5 months following a recommendation by the World Health Organization. CytoDyn will use both types of vaccines in clinical trials to evaluate the prime-boost method of vaccination invented by Shan Lu, who heads the DNA vaccine effort at UMMS. Animal studies suggested that method of vaccination could provide better protection for those at risk of life-threatening complications from the seasonal flu, such as the elderly and those who suffer from chronic diseases. Meanwhile, CytoDyn has been sponsoring comparative studies of DNA-based vaccines for the bird flu and anticipates results in about six weeks.

• Geneart AG, of Regensburg, Germany, said its board of directors and advisory board plan to suggest a 1:1 stock increase from company funds at the shareholders' meeting July 24. Each Geneart shareholder would receive one additional share for each share held. The capital increase from company funds doubles the company's share capital without an infusion of new shareholders' equity, and also doubles the number of company shares. After the increase, each ordinary share will retain its value of €1. The company said the goal is to boost market liquidity of the shares and make them more attractive to a broader circle of investors. If approved, the new shares are expected to be issued in September.

• InNexus Biotechnology Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, and New York-based Royalty Pharma have completed an agreement in which Royalty purchased a royalty interest in up to two cancer products based on InNexus' Dynamic Cross Linking antibody enhancement technology. Under the terms, Royalty Pharma will buy the first royalty interest for $2 million and will hold an option to purchase a royalty interest in a second product for an additional $2 million. The total purchase price for the royalty interests may be increased by up to $30 million for the two products if certain conditions are fulfilled. In addition, Royalty has purchased 1,096,890 common shares of InNexus at a price of C$1.01 per share for a total additional investment of $1 million. Those proceeds will be used to fund development of the first antibody product under the agreement. The shares are subject to a hold period expiring Oct. 5, 2007.

• Inovio Biomedical Corp., of San Diego, said three presentations it made at the 10th annual meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy reported preclinical data regarding immune responses to DNA vaccines directed against infectious diseases including malaria, HIV and hepatitis C. In all cases, Inovio said, its electroporation technology was well tolerated and significantly enhanced both humoral (antibody) and cellular (T-cell) immune responses when compared with traditional vaccine delivery methods.

• Luminex Corp., of Austin, Texas, said its xMAP technology will be used by researchers who are working on a better method for diagnosing tuberculosis under a $400,000 grant from the Agency for International Development (USAID). The technology uses sets of microspheres coated with antigens specific to antibodies produced by patients in response to TB to detect the disease.

• Metabasis Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, said it presented two posters at the Endocrine Society's 89th Annual Meeting in Toronto providing data on MB07811, the company's liver-targeted, beta-subtype-selective thyroid hormone receptor (TR beta) agonist product candidate for the treatment of hyperlipidemia. One poster provided data, which showed that MB07811 significantly reduced cholesterol and triglyceride levels in animal models with an improved therapeutic index as compared to the natural ligand, T3, or a prototype non-liver-targeted TR beta-selective agonist (KB-141). The second poster provided data showing that oral administration of MB07811 resulted in a robust lowering of plasma cholesterol in a variety of animal models. Sustained efficacy was apparent with continued daily dosing for a duration of four to nine weeks of treatment.

• Nuvo Research Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, said it is continuing discussions with the FDA to clarify and resolve issues raised by the agency in its approvable letter for Pennsaid issued last December. The discussions primarily concern the FDA's requirements for data on the dermal safety of Pennsaid and its components. In the approvable letter, the FDA confirmed that Pennsaid could be approved for sale in the U.S. once certain conditions were satisfied. None of the conditions related to clinical efficacy or clinical safety of Pennsaid, which were evidenced in Nuvo's Phase III trials. The company said the FDA has not requested that Nuvo conduct any additional Phase III clinical trials.

• Repligen Corp., of Waltham, Mass., has expanded its relationship with Applied Biosystems, of Foster City, Calif., by entering into a new four-year supply agreement for recombinant Protein A. Terms were not disclosed.

• Solazyme Inc., of South San Francisco, and Imperium Renewables Inc., of Seattle, entered a biodiesel feedstock development agreement in which Solazyme will generate algal oil for Imperium's biodiesel production process. Solazyme will grow its strains of microalgae, extract the oil and deliver it to Imperium. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.