• Affitech AS, of Oslo, Norway, signed an agreement with Munich, Germany-based Micromet AG for a nonexclusive, worldwide sublicensable research license to the joint patent estate of Micromet and Bridgewater, N.J.-based Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the field of single-chain antibodies (SCA). Under the terms, Affitech will have rights to conduct research involving SCA technology and will have sublicense rights to third parties for the purpose of conducting research, developing or using an SCA product generated by Affitech. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• AVI BioPharma Inc., of Portland, Ore., said Denis Burger resigned as chairman, CEO and board member, effective immediately. Jack Bowman, the board's lead independent director, was named chairman. K. Michael Forrest, an independent director, was named interim CEO while the company conducts a search for a successor CEO. Reasons for the move were not disclosed.

• Cardiome Pharma Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, elected board member and CEO Bob Rieder as chairman. The moved followed the previously announced retirement of Mark Rogers as chairman.

• Carrington Laboratories Inc., of Irving, Texas, said its wholly owned DelSite Biotechnologies Inc. subsidiary entered a collaboration with the International Vaccine Institute, of Seoul, South Korea. They will evaluate DelSite's GelSite polymer drug delivery technology for sublingual vaccines, for use in immunization programs in the developing world. DelSite will formulate vaccine antigens supplied by IVI for sublingual delivery; IVI will conduct animal testing. They would jointly own resulting products. DelSite agreed not to enter into agreements on GelSite in that area for the 12-month term of the deal, without the consent of IVI.

• Cell Signaling Technology Inc., of Danvers, Mass., entered a collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J. CST will provide its PhosphoScan proteomics technology for biomarker discovery, and its expertise in antibody development and validation, in an effort to develop high-specificity biomarker assays to help advance Merck's targeted therapeutic programs for oncology. The PhosphoScan technology enables the discovery of drug target phospho-profiles in cells and disease tissues. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Cytyc Corp., of Marlborough, Mass., disclosed a new agreement with Quest Diagnostics Inc., of Lyndhurst, N.J., for the ThinPrep Pap Test. The new agreement will run through the end of 2010. Additional terms and conditions were not disclosed. In addition, Quest agreed to evaluate the ThinPrep Imaging System at certain laboratory sites.

• HepaLife Technologies Inc., of Boston, said its PBS-1 cells, under development for influenza vaccine production, successfully replicated numerous human influenza virus strains received from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at substantially higher levels than the research community's widely used current model, primary chick kidney cells. It said the cells functioned five times better than the primary chick kidney cells and, in some cases, outperformed them by 150-fold.

• Interleukin Genetics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., and collaborators at the University of California San Diego reported data at the American College of Cardiology meeting in New Orleans showing that associations between coronary artery disease and both oxidized phospholipids (OxPL) and Lp(a) levels appear to be dependent on pro-inflammatory variants of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) genes. More specifically, in patients with the pro-inflammatory IL-1 genotypes, higher levels of OxPL or Lp(a) were associated with significantly increased risk (p<0.01), and the effect was strongly accentuated in patients younger than 60 (p=0.0001). In contrast, those who did not express the pro-inflammatory IL-1 genotypes demonstrated no association between OxPL levels and coronary artery disease. Those findings were found to be independent of other standard risk factors, including C-reactive protein.

• MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, filed for approval of Polyphenon E Ointment for genital warts in Germany, Austria and Spain. Clearance in those countries is supposed to be a reference for the submission of applications in additional European countries. The product is approved in the U.S., where it's scheduled to be launched in the second half of this year by MediGene's partner, Bradley Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Fairfield, N.J.

• NanoViricides Inc., of West Haven, Conn., said its Form 10-SB has been declared effective by the SEC, making the company eligible to have its common stock quoted on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board upon approval of a recently submitted application. NanoViricides, which is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy, cannot predict when its shares will begin trading but believes it now meets all requirements for doing so.

• PARI Aerosol Research Institute, of Munich, Germany, changed its name to PARI Pharma GmbH. The changes was designed to highlight the focus on new and emerging drug therapies developed in conjunction with its eFlow electronic nebulizer and formulation technologies.

• Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co., of Danbury, Conn., has signed a collaboration agreement with Pharmaceutics International Inc. (PII), of Hunt Valley, Md., under which PII will conduct formulation work for Penwest and third parties for drugs using Penwest's oral drug delivery technologies, TIMERx, Geminex and Syncrodose. The agreement allows PII to identify new product development opportunities, and the companies have agreed to jointly review opportunities for licensing Penwest's oral drug delivery technologies to third parties. PII will assume primary responsibility for formulation development with technical guidance and oversight from Penwest, and may assume responsibility for clinical trial material manufacturing and commercial manufacturing. Financial details were not disclosed.

• United Therapeutics Corp., of Silver Spring, Md., and Mochida Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, have signed an agreement for the exclusive distribution in Japan of Remodulin (treprostinil sodium) Injection administered subcutaneously or intravenously for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Mochida will be responsible for obtaining marketing authorization, with United Therapeutics' assistance, including conducting necessary bridging studies. Upon receipt of marketing authorization and pricing approval, Mochida will purchase Remodulin from United Therapeutics for distribution in Japan at a price agreed to by the companies. Financial details were not disclosed.