• Alteon Inc., of Montvale, N.J., entered an expanded licensing agreement with BioRap Technologies Ltd., the commercialization arm of the Rappaport Family Institute for Research at the Technion University in Israel, for all diagnostic devices or products for predictive purposes in vascular or cardiac diseases, including diagnostic assays for the measurement of the haptoglobin protein. Being able to identify a variant of that protein might determine patient populations most likely to benefit from treatment with Alteon's investigational drug ALT-2074. Under the terms, Alteon agreed to make research and milestone payments, as well as royalty payments, to BioRap upon commercialization of any diagnostic or therapeutic products related to the licensed technology.

• Cangene Corp., of Toronto, won FDA approval for a second indication for HepaGam B: to prevent hepatitis B recurrence following liver transplantation in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive liver transplant patients. The approval was based on data showing that the product effectively prevented hepatitis B recurrence and that the dosing regimen used consistently yielded anti-HBsAg levels that exceeded target therapeutic levels. HepaGam B, a hyperimmune specific for HBV, first gained the agency's nod early last year for acute exposure to HBV, including exposure to HBsAg-positive blood, perinatal exposure of infants born to HBsAg-positive mothers, sexual exposure and household exposure. HepaGam is distributed in the U.S. by Toronto-based Apotex Corp. The product also gained approval earlier this year in Canada for the prevention of HBV recurrence following liver transplantation. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 1, 2006.)

• EPIX Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., said it will request a hearing before the Nasdaq listing qualifications panel in response to the receipt of a staff determination letter indicating that the company is not in compliance with timely filing of periodic reports as required for continued Nasdaq listing. The letter was issued as a result of EPIX's delayed filing of its annual 10-K report. The company expects to file the report within the next several days.

• Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Montvale, N.J., completed enrollment in its Phase IIa trial of MEM 1003 in Alzheimer's disease. The study is testing two dose levels of MEM 1003, a neuronal L-type calcium channel modulator, in about 180 subjects with mild to moderate disease. Top-line results are expected in the fourth quarter.

• Michael J. Fox Foundation, in New York, launched Biomarkers 2007, a two-year, $2 million funding program for research toward the discovery of an objective biomarker of Parkinson's disease. It is the third funding round under the foundation's Biomarkers program, which is designed to discover ways to objectively diagnose Parkinson's disease and to accurately measure the disease's progression.

• Pacific Biometrics Inc., of Seattle, received a contract to provide specialty laboratory testing services for the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging in support of a long-term study. The Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging is a multidisciplinary observational study of the physiological and psychological aspects of human aging and diseases and conditions that increase with age. Pacific Biometrics will provide the NIA with a series of tests for hormones and inflammatory and bone markers relevant to the BLSA study, which has been in progress for several decades and is expected to continue for a further 30 years before completion. Under the terms, the company will perform testing on batches of archived samples, followed by continued testing on an annual basis, potentially for up to 30 years.

• Valera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cranbury, N.J., said it submitted a request to Nasdaq to withdraw its common stock following the closing of its proposed merger with Lexington, Mass.-based Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc. The delisting, among other conditions, is contingent upon stockholder approval. The companies entered a definitive agreement in December for Indevus to acquire Valera in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at about $120 million. Closing is expected to occur on or around April 17, 2007. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 13, 2006.)

• Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Madison, N.J.-based Wyeth, said the FDA extended review time of its new drug application for Torisel (temsirolimus), an mTOR inhibitor for advanced renal-cell carcinoma. The NDA was submitted in October and was granted priority review status, though the agency later required additional information on tumor evaluation and, as a result, pushed the action data back three months to July 2007.