• ActiveSight, of San Diego, signed an expanded crystallography services agreement with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, the medicinal chemistry division of Lexicon Genetics Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas. The agreement, the third between the companies, covers co-crystallography services for multiple Lexicon targets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, and DSM Biologics, a business unit of Parsippany, N.J.-based DSM Pharmaceutical Products, signed a PER.C6 license agreement with Portuguese firm Biotecnol SA and its U.S. subsidiary, Biotecnol Inc. Terms allow Biotecnol to use the PER.C6 human cell line for preclinical and Phase I development of its antibody products, which are composed of Tribodies and Compact Antibodies. Specific financial details were not disclosed, but Biotecnol agreed to make license payments and annual maintenance fees.

• Helix BioPharma Corp., of Aurora, Ontario, signed an agreement for BioVectra, a division of Oxford, Conn.-based Diagnostic Chemicals Ltd., to manufacture L-DOS47 bulk drug product for clinical testing. Financial terms were not disclosed. L-DOS47 combines Helix's DOS47 drug candidate with a single domain antibody to form a potential targeted therapy for adenocarcinoma of the lung.

• IGI Inc., of Buena, N.J., and Novavax Inc., of Malvern, Pa., entered an agreement to expand Novavax's existing alliance with Bharat Biotech International Ltd., of India, giving Bharat rights to develop certain vaccines for animals using Novasomes for India and other selected markets. IGI is licensing back to Novavax a nonexclusive license with the right to sublicense to Bharat rights related to the use of Novasomes as adjuvants for animal vaccines, and Bharat will fund all preclinical and clinical development. IGI and Novavax will share royalties on commercialized products using the Novasome encapsulated delivery technology.

• Immune Response Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif., received a $900,000 milestone payment from NovaRx Corp., of San Diego. The payment relates to a patent portfolio for cancer cell line vaccines, which Immune Response licensed to NovaRx in August 2004. Immune Response originally in-licensed the rights from the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Los Angeles.

• Medistem Laboratories Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz., entered a technology licensing and royalty agreement with a stem cell therapy facility, the Rio Valley Medical Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico. In exchange for rights to its adult stem cell technology, Medistem will receive a 90 percent royalty of the monthly net revenue in excess of $20,000 resulting from the clinic's sale of any product derived from or involving infusion-quality adult stem cells. In addition to royalties, all intellectual property developed by Rio Valley through its research and clinical treatment programs will be Medistem's property.

• VaxGen Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., is cutting 51 percent of its work force and halving its monthly net cash expenditures to less than $3 million as part of a restructuring move to pursue strategic alternatives following last month's canceled government contract for 75 million doses of its anthrax vaccine. The company also reported that its president and CEO, Lance Gordon, resigned his position, though he intends to remain as an advisor. James Panek was appointed to succeed Gordon and also will take Gordon's position on the board. VaxGen retained New York-based Lazard to advise the company in exploring strategic alternatives, which is expected to entail "a broad evaluation of potential M&A opportunities." As of Dec. 31, 2006, the company had cash totaling about $96.6 million, which includes proceeds from its recent sale of Celltrion Inc. stock. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 21, 2006, and Jan. 4, 2007.)