• Allos Therapeutics Inc., of Westminster, Colo., filed a universal shelf registration statement with the SEC that would allow the company to sell up to $100 million of its common stock, preferred stock, depository shares, debt securities and/or warrants, either individually or in units, in one or more offerings.

• Cambrex Bio Science Walkersville Inc., of Walkersville, Md., a subsidiary of Cambrex Corp., and Cytori Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, entered a strategic marketing agreement to provide adipose-derived stem cell products globally for use in basic and translational bioresearch. Cambrex will manufacture and market products to the research community under the coexclusive license from Cytori, which will receive royalties on all cells, media and related future research products based upon the licensed technology.

• Cephalon Inc., of Frazer, Pa., and Alkermes Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said Vivitrol (naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension), launched their treatment for alcohol dependence in the U.S. In April, the FDA approved Vivitrol for patients who are able to abstain from drinking in an outpatient setting and are not actively drinking when initiating treatment. (See BioWorld Today, April 17, 2006.) In other news, Cephalon and Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc., of Lincolnshire, Ill., agreed to co-promote Provigil (modafinil) tablets in the U.S. The agreement will run for three years, with an option to renew annually, and Cephalon also holds the option to use the Takeda sales force for the promotion of Nuvigil (armodafinil) tablets, upon FDA approval. Cephalon will pay Takeda a royalty based on certain sales criteria, and the companies will form a joint commercial committee to manage promotion of Provigil.

• Discovery Partners International Inc., of San Diego, and Galapagos NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, entered a definitive purchase agreement to transfer all of the drug discovery service operations of DPI to Galapagos for €4.25 million (US$5.4 million) in cash. The acquisition includes the assets of all four of DPI's drug discovery service sites: San Diego; South San Francisco; Allschwill, Switzerland; and Heidelberg, Germany; as well as the company's sales office in Tokyo. DPI will sell to Galapagos all of the outstanding capital stock or equity interests of its direct subsidiaries Discovery Partners International AG, ChemRx Advanced Technologies Inc., Xenometrix Inc. and Discovery Partners International LLC, along with certain contracts. The transaction is expected to close in July.

• Invitrogen Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif., and Solexa Inc., of Hayward, Calif., formed a collaboration in which Invitrogen will supply many of the reagents for Solexa's sequencing, gene expression and small RNA analysis kits designed to be used with the Solexa Genome Analysis System. Financial terms were not disclosed. Solexa is on a path to commercialize its genetic analysis platform with a goal of enabling customers to re-sequence human genomes for $100,000.

• Lexicon Genetics Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, received a commitment for up to $75 million in common stock equity financing from Azimuth Opportunity Ltd. During the 18-month term, Lexicon may sell registered shares of its common stock at its sole discretion to Azimuth at a small, pre-negotiated discount to the market price.

• Pharmion Corp., of Boulder, Colo., said the FDA accepted for filing and established a six-month review goal for the company's new drug application supplement to add I.V. administration to instructions in the prescribing information for its demethylating agent Vidaza (azacitidine for injectable suspension). That targets an agency response on or before Sept. 29, 2006. Vidaza was approved two years ago for myelodysplastic syndromes. (See BioWorld Today, May 21, 2004.)

• PhytoMedical Technologies Inc., of Princeton, N.J., entered an exclusive license agreement with Iowa State University Research Foundation Inc. to develop, market and distribute synthesized compounds derived from Type A-1 polyphenols, which have been linked to insulin sensitivity. Under the terms, PhytoMedical pain an up-front fee, and agreed to pay future undisclosed milestone payments and royalties based on sales to ISURF.

• Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, received $1 million in milestone payments from Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., based on progress to date in the companies' 2004 collaboration to explore ubiquitin ligases. The companies are studying the new drug target class to find treatments for cancer and other diseases. Under terms of the original collaboration, Rigel received an initial cash payment from Merck and research funding for two and a half years. It also is eligible for milestone payments based on preclinical and clinical events, as well as royalties on future product sales. Merck is responsible for worldwide development and commercialization of any resulting compounds.