• Apitope Technology Ltd., of Bristol, UK, said it received regulatory approval to start a Phase I study of its therapeutic vaccine in multiple sclerosis. The ATX-MS1467 vaccine is a potentially disease-modifying therapy based on naturally occurring antigenic proteins that selectively inhibit auto-immune responses while preserving the normal immune response to infections. The company said that several investigators in the U.S. and Europe, including David Wraith, Apitope's chief scientific officer, have shown that soluble peptides, including those in ATX-MS-1467, can be used to prevent and treat preclinical models of hypersensitivity diseases such as MS, Type I diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and allergies. This highly selective immune re-balancing process recently was shown to be linked to the induction of IL-10 secreting regulatory T cells by Apitope scientists. The Phase I study, designed to assess safety and tolerability, will be conducted at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol. Apitope plans to begin the patient recruitment in the first quarter of this year.

• Devgen NV, of Ghent, Belgium, entered a five-year research and development agreement with Monsanto Co., of St. Louis, in addition to a technology exchange agreement of the same length. The R&D arrangement commits additional funding from Monsanto for Devgen's research and is coupled with an agreement to broaden their relationship so that both companies can explore technology applications in their crop areas of interest. Devgen will leverage Monsanto's work in rice and small cereal grains, especially in Asia, and Monsanto initially intends to leverage Devgen's gene regulation technologies to protect against crop damage in its core crops of interest such as corn, cotton and soybeans.

• Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said its worldwide deal to co-develop and commercialize HuMax-CD20 (ofatumumab) with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, received final antitrust and other government clearances, and is now final. The deal is valued at up to $2.1 billion.

• Innate Pharma SA, of Marseille, France, announced that its partner, Novo Nordisk A/S, of Bagsvaerd, Denmark, had administered IPH 2101, a fully human monoclonal antibody, into humans for the first time in January as part of a Phase I clinical trial on patients with acute myeloid leukemia. IPH 2101 was developed by Novo Nordisk under the terms of the strategic partnership agreement it signed with Innate in April 2006 to develop new drugs targeting natural killer (NK) cells for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases. The therapeutic principle of IPH 2101 is based on the activation of NK cells by a monoclonal antibody that blocks the latter's KIR inhibitory receptors and thus triggers NK cells' antitumor activity. At the same time, Innate Pharma confirmed that it expected its collaboration with Novo Nordisk to generate revenues for it of €25 million (US$32.57) during the first three years (2006-2008). The partnership already was responsible for a jump in Innate's revenues to €8.38 million last year from €2.44 million in 2005. In addition, research grants from French governmental organizations accounted for €2.18 million of Innate's revenues in 2006, nearly double the previous year's figure of €1.14 million.

• NicOx SA, of Sophia Antipolis, France, announced preclinical results from its August 2004 collaboration agreement with Pfizer Inc., of New York, which is focused on the research and development of nitric oxide-donating derivatives of latanoprost for the treatment of glaucoma. The nitric oxide-donating compound was shown to have an improved ability to lower intraocular pressure in validated preclinical models when compared to Pfizer's latanoprost, the leader in worldwide glaucoma sales, with approximately $1.5 billion of franchise sales in 2006. NicOx previously announced that Pfizer anticipates filing an investigational new drug application with the FDA in the first quarter of 2007, with plans to initiate clinical trials shortly thereafter.

• Phoqus Group plc, of West Malling, UK, said the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion on its application for orphan status for Chronocort, a treatment for adrenal insufficiency. Chronocort previously was granted orphan status in treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. The drug is a once-daily modified release hydrocortisone tablet that mimics the natural circadian rhythm of the endogenous steroid hormone.

• ReNeuron Group plc, of Reading, UK, is placing 18,333,333 new ordinary shares of 1p each, credited as fully paid at a price of £0.30 per share, to raise £5.5 million (US$10.7 million) before expenses. Collins Stewart Europe Limited acted as nominated adviser and broker. The proceeds will be used to fund a proposed U.S. Phase I trial of ReN001, a stem cell therapy for stroke, and to accelerate development of other therapeutic programs.

• S*BIO Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, entered a research collaboration with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's (A*STAR) Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology for the discovery and development of multiple oncology compounds. S*BIO will provide expertise in high-throughput screening, medicinal chemistry and the identification and optimization of lead compounds, while A*STAR will use its targets and assays to screen for chemical starting points. The two parties will jointly develop resulting compounds. Last month S*BIO entered a cancer research collaboration with the Department of Tumorbiology and Microbiology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.

• Select Vaccines Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, and Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc., of Needham, Mass., entered a collaboration to use Select Vaccines' virus-like particles as a platform technology for development of viral vaccines. Efforts initially will target development of vaccines against epidemic and pandemic forms of influenza. Avant will make an equity investment in Select Vaccines and fund research and development for two years. Select Vaccines also is eligible to receive preclinical and clinical milestone payments, as well as royalties on any resulting sales. Avant also got exclusive rights to apply Select Vaccines' technology to a second target within two years, and a third target within three years.

• Sinovac Biotech Ltd., of Beijing, filed for Chinese approval of the hepatitis B vaccine Euvax-B. The company is the product's exclusive distributor, pursuant to a distribution agreement with LG Life Sciences Ltd., of Seoul, South Korea.

• Vivalis, of Nantes, France, has granted Sanofi Pasteur SA, of Lyon, France, additional rights to its chicken and duck embryonic stem cell-derived EBx cell lines to test, produce and market vaccine candidates. The companies signed a licensing agreement in 2003 for the use of the cell line platforms for HIV and cancer recombinant vaccines. The new license is worldwide and nonexclusive. The agreement entails up-front payments, milestone payments and royalties for Vivalis.