• Arpida Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, has stopped its research activities at its Danish subsidiary, Arpida A/S, which will lead to the reduction of up to 18 positions, representing about 25 percent of the company's research unit. The company's resources will be refocused to its most advanced compounds in development, including iclaprim, a broad-spectrum antibiotic in Phase III. The reduction will lead to a non-cash impairment of tangible and intangible assets of about CHF1.2 million (US$968,880) and CHF6.1 million, respectively, to be included in the 2006 accounts. The realignment is expected to be completed in the second quarter.

• Bavarian Nordic A/S, of Kvistgard, Denmark, said the International Trade Commission issued an order vacating a ruling that the company's patents on the modified vaccinia ankara (MVA) virus were found to be infringed but valid. The company had asked the commission to review the finding, claiming that the ruling of invalidity was legally and factually erroneous. Bavarian filed its complaint with the ITC on Aug. 19, 2005, alleging that the MVA-based smallpox vaccines that Cambridge, UK-based Acambis plc was selling or offered to sell in the U.S. infringed on Bavarian's patents. The recent ITC order does not affect the ongoing discussions with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on the MVA-based smallpox vaccine tender process, including the expected RFP order.

• Compendia Bioscience Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Ingenuity Systems, of Redwood City, Calif., are integrating the Oncomine Professional by Compendia and Ingenuity Pathways Analysis products. The move will allow users to navigate directly from cancer gene signatures discovered in Oncomine Professional to the curated pathway information available from Ingenuity System's technology. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• CureDM Inc., of Wynnewood, Pa., said it achieved two preclinical drug discovery milestones, triggering additional capital infusion from equity partners. The first milestone was completion of pharmacokinetic studies of the CureDM Human proIslet Peptide (HIP) in serum. The second milestone was showing the ability of HIP to reverse diabetes in mice. The company has an upcoming pre-investigational new drug application meeting with the FDA.

• Diversa Corp., of San Diego, and Bunge Oils Inc., of St. Louis, have entered into an agreement to discover and develop novel enzymes for the production of edible oil products with enhanced nutritional or health benefits. Edible oils include cooking oils, shortenings and margarines. Under the agreement, Diversa is responsible for discovering and manufacturing enzymes, and Bunge is responsible for commercialization efforts. Diversa has received an unspecified up-front technology access fee and will receive research funding for its enzyme discovery and development activities. In addition, Diversa is eligible for milestone payments for successful development activities, and royalties on products commercialized.

• OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Melville, N.Y., reported total revenues of $376 million for 2006, led by the growth in Tarceva (erlotinib) sales and the addition of Macugen (pegaptanib sodium injection). Total worldwide net sales of Tarceva, which is partnered with South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc. and Basel, Switzerland-based F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., totaled $650 million. Sales of Macugen, the wet age-related macular degeneration drug OSI picked up in its 2005 acquisition of New York-based Eyetech Inc., came in at $103 million for the year. For the fourth quarter, OSI reported a net loss of $432,000, or 1 cent per share. Shares of OSI (NASDAQ:OSIP) closed at $36.18 Thursday, up 83 cents.

• Pharmacopeia, of Princeton, N.J., has earned a $1 million milestone payment from Biovitrum, of Stockholm, Sweden, for delivery of an advanced lead to one of that company's programs in diabetes. Under the collaboration, Pharmacopeia is entitled to further milestone payments if programs progress into and through preclinical and clinical development. The company also is entitled to royalties if products are brought to market. Biovitrum is responsible for commercialization of products developed by Pharmacopeia.

• Pluristem Life Sciences Inc., of New York, and Stem Cell Innovations Inc., of Houston, have entered into a licensing agreement and stock swap for marketing rights to Pluristem's PLX I product in Asia, excluding Japan. The licensing agreement provides Stem Cell with some rights to the PLX I product and 3-D stem cell expansion capability in exchange for an up-front fee of 23 million shares of Stem Cell's common stock, milestone payments and royalties. Stem Cell will exchange 27 million shares of its common stock for 66 million shares of Pluristem's common stock and five-year warrants to purchase another 66 million shares of common stock at an exercise price of 3 cents per share. Stem Cells stock (OTC BB:SCLL) closed Thursday at 6 cents, down 1 cent, and Pluristem (OTC BB:PLRS) closed at 7 cents, unchanged. Pluristem is developing cell grafts to provide a superior alternative to bone marrow transplants. PLX 1 is intended to target a shortage of matched tissue for bone marrow transplantation, which is often the only cure for those with leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other hematological diseases.

• Sartorius AG, of Goettingen, Germany, agreed to acquire a substantial stake in Stedim Biosystems SA, a French biopharmaceutical supplier, to combine its biotechnology division with Stedim's business. Sartorius will pay €43 (US$56.45) per share, and upon completion of the transaction, will become Stedim's majority owner. The deal is expected to be completed this summer, and the combined company will operate under the name Sartorius Stedim Biotech SA.

• SensiGen LLC, of Ann Arbor, Mich., said it exercised its option to exclusively license a human papillomavirus detection test developed at the University of Michigan. The technology, called the AttoSense HPV Test, has demonstrated the ability to detect as few as one to three copies of HPV DNA in any blood or tissue sample, and also to clearly identify in a single assay each of the 15 unique genotypes of HPV that cause cervical cancer in women, the company said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

• Shire plc, of Basingstoke, UK, launched Fosrenol (lanthanum carbonate) in the UK, following the product's approval as a phosphate-binding agent for controlling hyperphosphatemia in chronic renal failure patients on hemodialysis or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. The product was approved in the U.S. in October 2004. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 28, 2004.)

• TorreyPines Therapeutics Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., and Eisai Co. Ltd., of Woodcliff Lake, N.J., have extended their collaboration focusing on the discovery of novel, small molecules to treat Alzheimer's disease. The original agreement gave Eisai exclusive rights of first negotiation and refusal for validated compounds discovered through the research. Co-development agreements also are possible. In a separate series of agreements dating to 2001, the two companies are collaborating in a genetics program to discover Alzheimer's disease targets using whole-genome family-based association screening.