• Amarin Corp. plc, of London, said it intends to seek secondary listings on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and the IEX Market of the Irish Stock Exchange. The neuroscience company, which plans to retain its primary listing on Nasdaq, is not seeking any additional capital as part of the listing process. Admission to the new exchanges is expected to occur in the middle of next month for Amarin, which reported $33 million in reserve cash on March 31.

• BioDelivery Sciences International Inc., of Morrisville, N.C., said it believes that it will be allowed to advance its new drug application for Emezine (prochlorperazine maleate) buccal tablets with two small pharmacokinetic studies to satisfy remaining FDA questions around the nausea and vomiting product. That would allow the specialty biopharmaceutical company to avoid a major efficacy and safety trial in patients. BioDelivery Sciences received the feedback after a meeting with the agency.

• Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, said a federal judge granted its motion to dismiss a private securities fraud class-action lawsuit filed in November and alleging false statements by company officers. The judge's decision was issued May 4, but went into permanent effect last week.

• Curis Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it would focus on developing later-stage drug development programs to de-emphasize its earlier-stage discovery research. The new direction represents an expansion of a continuing strategy to mitigate risk by seeking to both create and acquire a portfolio of later-developmental stage assets and maximize the company's capacity and competencies in drug development. In addition to furthering its internal development candidates, Curis will continue to evaluate in-licensing opportunities to augment its existing preclinical pipeline.

• Hana Biosciences Inc., of South San Francisco, said the FDA granted orphan drug designation for Ropidoxuridine (IPdR) in malignant glioma. The product is an orally available, thymidine analogue and prodrug for IUdR, which demonstrated a survival advantage in Phase II studies in anaplastic astrocytoma. Ropidoxuridine is in Phase I trials in patients with colorectal, gastric and pancreatic cancers and other solid tumors. A Phase I/II trial in malignant glioma is planned.

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., filed a supplemental new drug application with the FDA for Velcade to treat relapsed or refractory mantle cell lymphoma. The filing is based on final data from the Phase II Pinnacle trial, which showed a 33 percent overall response rate and an 8 percent complete response rate. The median duration of response was 9.2 months; 13.5 months in patients achieving a complete response. Velcade is approved to treat multiple myeloma patients who have received at least one prior therapy. Millennium and its co-development partner, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC, a division of New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson, have started a Phase III trial with Velcade in combination with rituximab in patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma.

• Nymox Pharmaceutical Corp., of Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., said patient dosing in the multicenter Phase II trial of NX-1207 is completed. NX-1207 is the company's lead candidate to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia. Regular reviews of safety data so far have revealed no serious drug side effects from the treatment. Two earlier completed Phase I and II trials showed the drug produced on average more than 23 percent prostate shrinkage and significant symptomatic improvement in one month with minimal side effects.

• SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., entered a three-year agreement with Biocompatibles International plc, of Surrey, UK, granting SciClone exclusive rights to market Biocompatibles' DC Bead chemotherapy-releasing device within China, particularly for the minimally invasive treatment of malignant hypervascular tumors such as primary liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma. Biocompatibles will manufacture the DC Bead in the UK and supply it to SciClone to market in China. A regulatory submission for approval in China is planned for this year.

• Trophos SA, of Marseille, France, said it would begin a Phase II trial of its lead compound TRO19622 in diabetic neuropathic pain by the end of the year. The European study is based on positive results in preclinical studies in that indication, which is secondary to an existing program in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A Phase Ib trial is almost complete to pave the way for a Phase II/III trial of TRO19622 for ALS in the first quarter of next year.