• Anesiva Inc., of South San Francisco, conducted a pre-filing meeting with the FDA and expects to file a new drug application in the September/October time frame for its lead product candidate, 3268, a fast-acting, needle-free, local anesthetic shown to reduce pain associated with venipunctures. If approved, 3268 could be launched in 2007 for the pediatric population.

• Array BioPharma Inc., of Boulder, Colo., received $18 million upon completion of a previously announced transaction involving its Boulder landlord and BioMed Realty Trust Inc., of San Diego, under which Array assigned its option to purchase its facility to BioMed. On July 7, BioMed closed on the purchase and sale of the Boulder facility and Array entered a lease for the facility through 2016. Array expects to receive $14 million through completing a similar transaction with BioMed for its Longmont facility during the third quarter.

• Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, completed its takeover offer of Schering AG, of Berlin, for €89 per share. In March, it offered €16.3 billion (US$19.6 billion) to the stockholders of Schering, or about €86 in cash per Schering share. It now holds 92.4 percent of the 191 million outstanding Schering shares, and is working to acquire the rest. The Schering business will now be included in Bayer's financial reporting.

• Bionovo Inc., of Emeryville, Calif., received a $1 million National Institutes of Health RO1 research grant from the National Cancer Institute. Emma Shtivelman, director of cancer research, is leading the study to determine if the tumor suppressor CC3/TIP30 has a novel cellular function as an inhibitor of nuclear transport.

• Covalon Technologies Ltd., of Mississauga, Ontario, signed a non-binding letter of intent with Perfusion Therapeutics Inc., of Montreal, to acquire Perfusion's cell engineering platform for improving localized blood flow. In exchange, Covalon will release 1.1 million of its common shares upon the completion of various milestones. Further financial terms were not disclosed.

• GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, submitted the nonclinical section of the rolling new drug application submission for satraplatin in combination with prednisone as a second-line chemotherapy treatment in hormone-refractory prostate cancer. The company expects to complete the NDA submission by the end of 2006. GPC licensed satraplatin from Irvine, Calif.-based Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2002, and has a co-development and license agreement with Pharmion GmbH, a subsidiary of Boulder, Colo.-based Pharmion Corp.

• Invitrogen Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif., and the Human Proteome Organization entered a collaboration to advance proteomic research via education initiatives, standardized research protocols and advanced proteomic products. HUPO's education and training initiative offers programs in sample preparation, protein separation, mass spectrometry, bioinformatics and experimental design.

• Kos Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cranbury, N.J., submitted a supplemental new drug application for a complete dosage range of Niaspan Caplet Formulation products, which include a 1,000-mg formulation of the HDL-boosting therapy. Niaspan is an approved once-daily niacin formulation for lipid disorders. If approved, the company anticipates launching the new product in the first quarter of 2007.

• Marshall Edwards Inc., of Washington, entered definitive agreements to raise $14 million through a private placement of nearly 5 million shares of common stock and warrants to buy 1.7 million shares of common stock at $2.90 per unit. The warrants are exercisable at $4.35 per share beginning Jan. 11, 2007, and ending July 11, 2010. Marshall Edwards intends to use the proceeds to fund certain clinical trials and preclinical development and for general corporate purposes. It is focused on therapies for oncology, cardiovascular disease and inflammatory diseases.

• Serologicals Corp., of Atlanta, said its stockholders approved the company's proposed acquisition by Billerica, Mass.-based Millipore Corp. in a transaction worth about $1.4 billion. The companies entered an agreement to merge in April to combine their biological products and service businesses. (See BioWorld Today, April 26, 2006.)

• Tigris Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bonita Springs, Fla., licensed exclusive, worldwide rights from the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Yale University and the University of South Florida Research Foundation to commercially develop molecularly targeted therapies in cancer. Under the terms, Tigris gained rights to several small molecules, including GFB-204, a selective dual synthetic inhibitor of VEGF and PDGF, and GGTI-2418. The company agreed to pay development-based milestones and royalties. Tigris plans to begin Phase I testing for both compounds in 2007.