• Acambis, of Cambridge, UK, is losing its CEO Gordon Cameron and embarking on a restructuring to cut costs by 20 percent. The moves follow the company's failure to win a share of the $1 billion contract to supply the U.S. government with MVA smallpox vaccine, suitable for children and people with weakened immune systems, and delays in negotiating a warm base manufacturing contract to maintain the full-strength ACAM 2000 smallpox vaccine stockpile. Cameron, who has spent more than 10 years at the company, will be replaced by Ian Garland in June. Garland is currently CFO of Arrow Therapeutics Ltd., of London, and recently oversaw its acquisition by AstraZeneca plc, also of London, for $150 million. Before that he ran the U.S. operations of the antibody company Celltech. Acambis has started the restructuring, with the aim of cutting costs by around 20 percent over the next two years. That will involve reducing the 260-person work force by 15 percent across the organization. The moves, costing £3 million will result in savings of approximately £7 million per annum by 2008.

• Active Biotech AB, of Lund, Sweden, reported positive data from a Phase Ib study of TASQ, an oral agent being developed to treat prostate cancer. The Swedish study in hormone-refractory patients showed five of six patients had a decrease in prostate-specific antigen velocity of more than 50 percent compared to prior treatment. Three of the five patients exhibited a decrease in absolute PSA levels. The study also demonstrated safety of 1 mg/day of TASQ, double the previously reported maximum tolerated dose. Phase II studies are scheduled to start sometime this year.

• Algeta ASA, of Oslo, Norway, is seeking NOK200 million (US$32.6 million) and NOK250 million from its forthcoming IPO on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is offering up between 3.92 million and 6.1 million shares at an indicative price range of NOK41 to NOK51 per share. Another 588,000 to 915,000 shares will be made available to cover overallotments. The bookbuilding period opened March 12 and runs through March 23. Shares are expected to begin trading on March 27. ABG Sundal Collier ASA and DnB NOR Markets, both of Oslo, have been appointed joint lead managers, while Terra Securities, also of Norway, is co-lead manager.

• Amarin Corp. plc, of London, acquired worldwide rights to develop and market a nasal lorazepam formulation developed using Dublin, Ireland-based Elan Corp. plc's NanoCrystal technology for the outpatient treatment of emergency seizures in epilepsy patients, specifically status epilepticus and acute repetitive seizures. Amarin plans to initiate a pharmacokinetic trial later this year, with efficacy studies beginning in 2008. Under the terms, Amarin will pay Elan success-based development, filing and approval milestones totaling $5.2 million, plus royalties on sales. There is no initial license payment. Amarin also will pay a third party, specialty pharma firm NeuroStat Pharmaceuticals Inc., a finder's fee and similar payments comprising up-front and milestone payments totaling $600,000, plus warrants to purchase 175,000 Amarin shares with an exercise price of $1.79 each.

• Apogenix GmbH, of Heidelberg, Germany, has been given £900,000 in research funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The funds will be used to study Apogenix' lead candidate, APG101, for the treatment of spinal cord injuries. The research will be carried out in collaboration the German Cancer Research Center.

• Arpida Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, reported positive results of preclinical studies on AR-2474 against a large panel of clinical isolates, including those resistant to various current therapies. In addition, topical applications of AR-2474 were found to be effective in eradicating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

• ARTAMIS research consortium is receiving €2.4 million funding from the EuroTrans-Bio initiative for a three-year project that will develop lab-on-a-chip systems for generating aptamers and analyzing biomolecular interactions. The participants include Genewave SAS, of Palaiseau, France; NascaCell Technologies AG, of Munich, Germany; Mildendo GmbH, of Jena, Germany; GODMAP-CNRS, of Gif-sur-Yvette, France; and ESPCI-CNRS, of Paris. EuroTrans-Bio, an initiative co-funded by the European Union and by research agencies in Austria, Finland, France, Germany, the Basque Country in Spain and the Netherlands, is intended to support transnational R&D collaborations between academic labs and small and biotechnology firms.

• BioLine Rx Ltd., of Jerusalem, has signed worldwide exclusive license agreements with PolyGene Ltd. and Efrat BioPolymers Ltd., both of Efrat, Israel, to develop and commercialize their polymer drug delivery system. Financial terms were not disclosed. BioLine will continue developing the system for delivering chemotherapy to solid tumors and for delivering antibiotics to bone and other infections. It plans to seek funding for the project from the Israeli Office of the Chief Scientist.

• Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd., of Petach Tikva, Israel, completed a private placement with institutional investors of 32 million shares and 12.8 million options, raising NIS40 million (US$9.5 million). The deal was done in a single day and brought in 19 percent more than originally planned, the company said. Among the investors were the investment houses of Prisma, Yellin-Lapidot and Tamir Fishman, as well as funds of the Israel Aircraft Industries and Bank Otzar Hehayal. Funds will be used in development of CF101 for inflammatory diseases and CF102 for hepatitis B and C, as well as for other corporate purposes.

• CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc, of Cambridge, UK, announced additional data from the pivotal Phase III trial of M6G (morphine-6-glucuronide) in treating post-operative pain showing fewer anti-emetic drugs were required in patients treated with M6G compared with those on morphine and that M6G exhibited a long duration of analgesic action. That is in addition to the 25 percent reduction of nausea and vomiting seen in the initial results. The company said the potential for reduced anti-emetic drug costs combined with the reduction in medical assistance and the improved patient comfort supports justification of a substantial price premium for M6G compared to morphine.

• Clinquest Group, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and TNO Pharma, of Delft, the Netherlands, signed a license and collaboration agreement that provides Clinquest with the exclusive rights to worldwide clinical development and commercialization of CQ-07001, an endogenous human protein agonist to Toll-like receptor 3, for anti-inflammatory and tissue regeneration applications. TNO gets milestone fees and royalty payments, but further financial details were not disclosed.

• Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc, of Keele, UK, is joining a research consortium formed to develop a new vaccine delivery system based on live bacterial spores. The project, funded by the European Union Framework Program 6, is coordinated by the University of London. The aim is to genetically engineer spores of the harmless gut bacterium Bacillus subtilis to express antigens on their surface. Such spores are able to survive ingestion and can therefore deliver the vaccine to the immune system via the gut. The spores are very stable and do not require cold storage. The initial disease targets will be malaria and tuberculosis.

• Compugen Ltd., of Tel Aviv, Israel, signed a second agreement with San Diego-based Biosite Inc., for the development and commercialization of immunoassay diagnostic products. In addition to expanding the number of potential diagnostic biomarkers available for selection by Biosite, the agreement also gives Biosite access to Compugen's inventory of immunoassay biomarkers. The collaboration is expanded to cover cardiovascular, oncology and additional diagnostic areas. As with the initial agreement, Compugen will receive milestone payments and royalties from any product sales, and will retain exclusive rights to the therapeutic applications of both the targets and associated antibodies.

• Cosmo Pharmaceuticals SpA, of Lainate, Italy, raised CHF46.5 million (US$38.1 million) from its IPO on the Swiss Stock Exchange in Zurich. The company issued 2,326,100 new shares, which it priced Friday at CHF20 per share, below its indicative price range of CHF22 to CHF28. The shares, which trade under the symbol "COPN," opened on Monday at CHF20.45 and rose to CHF22.30 by the day's close. The stock reached CHF23 by late afternoon March 13.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said it will receive up to $5 million from Rockville, Md.-based Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation to support the advanced development of its AdVac-based tuberculosis vaccine. The companies agreed to collaborate in 2004 to develop a PER.C6 and AdVac-based vaccine, and began Phase I testing on the candidate in October.

• Cytheris, of Paris, reported positive results from two Phase I clinical trials of its recombinant interleukin-7, rIL-7, in HIV-infected patients. rIL-7 is a growth factor that helps rebuild the immune system and enhances the global and specific immune response, and the trials showed not only good tolerance but a sharp increase in patients' CD4 lymphocytes, a telling indicator of the general progress of the infection. According to Cytheris, interleukin-7 is the first product to have generated such a big increase in CD4 and CD8 lymphocytes while being well tolerated.

• Debiopharm Group, of Lausanne, Switzerland, reported preclinical data validating the mechanism of action of Debio-0512 as an anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha therapeutic vaccine that inhibits inflammatory processes in animal models of acute and chronic inflammation. The company anticipates beginning IND-enabling studies by the end of 2007. The data were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and presented at the Fourth International Conference on Tumor Microenvironment in Florence, Italy.

• Devgen NV, of Ghent, Belgium, reported positive results of its second year of field trials of nematicide compounds and formulations in a variety of crops. The trials, which tested efficacy and residue in crops such as sugar beet, potato, carrot, tomato, cucumber, melons and peppers, demonstrated a reduction in infestation by nematodes, increased yield and/or crop quality at par with existing nematicides and residue analysis in line with expectations. Devgen said it is on track to complete a regulatory data package for regulatory submission.

• Flamel Technologies SA, of Lyon, France, reported a 28.5 percent increase in its net loss to $35.2 million in 2006 from $27.4 million in 2005, despite a 23.8 percent drop in its research and development spending to $38.2 million from $47.3 million. Revenues were virtually unchanged at $23 million. The company cut its costs appreciably in the second half of 2006, since its net loss doubled to $19.1 million in the first half.

• Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, said its BioFocus DPI service division entered an agreement to supply small-molecule compounds for drug discovery to the Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development division of Belgium-based Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. BioFocus will provide access to compounds from its SoftFocus small-molecule libraries and generate specific compound library sets for use in J&J's drug-discovery programs. Financial terms were not disclosed. The two-year supply agreement expands an existing drug-discovery relationship.

• Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said its antibody HuMax-EGFr (zalutumumab) locks the EGF receptor in an inactive conformation, which prevents receptor activation and the binding of growth factors. The antibody also inhibits EGF receptor signaling by preventing receptor dimerization. Those new insights into the drug's mechanism of action will be presented at the 3rd Novel Solution Seminar for Drug Creation and Development. HuMax-EGFr is in Phase III trials for head and neck cancer.

• IDIS World Medicines, of Weybridge, UK, and Genta Inc., of Berkeley Heights, N.J., signed an agreement for IDIS to distribute two of Genta's oncology products: Ganite (gallium nitrate injection) and Genasense (oblimersen sodium) injection on a named patient/compassionate use basis. The global agreement covers all territories except the U.S. Ganite is approved and marketed in the U.S. for cancer-related hypercalcemia that is resistant to hydration, and a marketing authorization application is pending in Europe. Genasense is in ongoing trials with other chemotherapy drugs in patients with melanoma and other diseases. Genta expects to allocate a percentage of net proceeds from the IDIS program to support compassionate use in indigent patients, and the remainder of the funds will support further clinical research.

• Innogenetics NV, of Ghent, Belgium, said the U.S. Court of Appeals denied a motion by Abbott Laboratories, of Abbott Park, Ill., for a stay of an injunction pending appeal. The ruling overturned a temporary stay ruling from Jan. 19. Innogenetics successfully sued Abbott in September 2005, alleging Abbott was infringing a patent covering a method of genotyping the hepatitis C virus. Jan. 4, a judge dismissed Abbott's requests for a new trial, affirmed the jury's finding that the patent was valid in all respects and approved the award of $7 million in damages. Jan. 10, the judge granted Innogenetics' request for a permanent injunction, enjoining Abbott from any further sales or other uses that would infringe on the Innogenetics' technology.

• Nautilus Biotech SA, of Evry, France, signed a license agreement with HanAll Pharmaceutical, of Seoul, Korea, for the marketing of three of its products in South Korea, namely Belerofon (interferon alpha), Vitatropin (human growth hormone) and Eporal (erythropoietin). These three therapeutic proteins have been designed for extended half-life, and Nautilus is concentrating its research effort on developing oral formulations of all of them.

• Orphan Europe SARL, of Paris, acquired worldwide rights to Cystadane (betaine anhydrous) from Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif. Cystadane is indicated for the treatment of homocystinuria, a rare disease of genetic origin affecting the methionine metabolism. It is approved in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Israel and Europe.

• Protalix BioTherapeutics Inc., of Carmiel, Israel, said its stock began trading Monday on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "PLX." The move followed the Jan. 3 completion of the merger between Protalix and the Miami-based public shell company Orthodontix Inc. Protalix focuses on developing and producing recombinant therapeutic proteins that are produced through a plant cell system.

• Protherics plc, of London, said that a £10 million (US$19.4 million) milestone payment from AstraZeneca plc, also of London, has been triggered as a result of the successful scale-up of the CytoFab manufacturing process to a 600 litre batch size. On receipt of that, Protherics will have received a total of £26.3 million in milestone payments from AstraZeneca since the deal for CytoFab, a polyclonal antibody for treating septic shock was signed in December 2005. Scaling up manufacturing paves the way for an expanded Phase II trial to start later this year.