• Aldagen Inc., of Durham, N.C., signed a worldwide distribution agreement under which StemCell Technologies Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, will distribute Aldagen's Aldecount product. StemCell Technologies already is the worldwide distributor of Aldagen's Aldefluor product. Aldecount is an FDA-approved product for the identification and enumeration of low side scatter ALDHbr cells by flow cytometry. ALDHbr cells are stem and progenitor cells that express high levels of aldehyde dehydrogenase, an intracellular enzyme. It has been used as a marker for the viability of stem cells in thawed cell products used for bone marrow transplantation, and other applications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Argenta Discovery Ltd., of Harlow, UK, expanded its drug discovery agreement with Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, to add a second two-year discovery project. The companies are using Argenta's computer-aided drug design, medicinal chemistry and biology technologies to discover new chemical entities acting against a second, undisclosed drug target defined by Genentech. The first agreement began in December 2005. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed, but the agreement does provide options to expand the relationship, including opportunities to pursue additional discovery projects.

• Arrow Therapeutics Ltd., of London, said the acquisition of the company by AstraZeneca plc, also of London, has closed. The $150 million cash deal originally was announced on Feb. 1. Arrow, founded in 1998, focused on antiviral drug discovery and development. Arrow was expected to continue operating as an independent unit, maintaining its facility in London, with Ken Powell, co-founder and CEO, as its head. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 2, 2007.)

• Centocor Inc., a Horsham, Pa., unit of Johnson & Johnson, and Schering-Plough Corp., of Kenilworth N.J., gained European Commission approval of a label extension for Remicade (infliximab), allowing for greater dosing flexibility in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The label now allows for an increased Remicade dose in patients who had an incomplete response to initial combination treatment with methotrexate and Remicade. Remicade, an anti-TNF antibody, already is indicated in the EU for treating Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis and plaque psoriasis.

• Luminex Corp., of Austin, Texas, completed its acquisition of Tm Bioscience Corp., of Toronto. Each Tm share will be exchanged for 0.06 shares of Luminex common stock, giving Tm shareholders about 9 percent of Luminex. Tm was developing a suite of DNA-based tests for genetic disorders, drug metabolism and infectious diseases. Tm had commercialized analyte-specific reagents and a series of Tag-It tests for various genetic disorders, tests based on its Tag-It Universal Array platform. Luminex develops, manufactures and markets biological testing technologies.

• Novavax Inc., of Rockville, Md., gained worldwide rights to a new virus-like particle technology from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester. The technology uses paramyxoviruses as a core for building a VLP vaccine, complementing the approach Novavax has been using to create its VLP vaccines for pandemic and seasonal influenza. The license agreement covers VLP vaccines for preventing any viral disease in humans. UMMS gets an up-front payment, and is eligible to receive development milestone payments and royalties on any resulting sales. Further terms were not disclosed.