• A&G Pharmaceutical Inc., of Columbia, Md., entered an agreement withCelltrion Inc., of Incheon, South Korea, for the clinical production of a monoclonal antibody in preclinical development as a cancer therapeutic by A&G. Celltrion will perform bioprocess development, scale-up and cGMP manufacturing and provide all clinical materials to support toxicology studies, as well as Phase I and II studies in the U.S. on the anti-GP88 monoclonal antibody. The agreement provides Celltrion exclusive commercialization rights in Asia, including Japan, to anti-GP88 oncology therapies. In return, A&G will receive clinical materials and milestones worth up to $6.4 million, as well as royalties on any future anti-GP88 cancer therapeutic product sales by Celltrion in Asia. A&G retains all commercialization rights to its anti-GP88 monoclonal antibody in North America, Europe and the rest of the world. Under a separate investment agreement, A&G also will receive a $2 million equity investment from Celltrion.

• Ceres Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Inc., of Ardmore, Okla., signed a long-term collaboration for the development and commercialization of new, advanced biomass crops for fuel ethanol production. Under the terms, Ceres will obtain an exclusive license to switchgrass germplasm, as well as advanced varieties either developed by or in-licensed by the Noble Foundation. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• CoTherix Inc., of South San Francisco, filed an $80 million universal shelf registration statement with the SEC to occasionally issue various securities worth up to that amount. Terms of any such future offerings for the cardiopulmonary-focused company and the type of securities to be issued would be determined at the time of any future offering.

• Cyntellect Inc., of San Diego, received a $2.2 million equity purchase milestone payment from Sigma-Aldrich Corp., of St. Louis, under terms of the companies' year-old Cell Xpress service commercialization agreement. Sigma-Aldrich will employ Cyntellect's LEAP (Laser Enabled Analysis and Processing) system to support its Cell Xpress service business to identify and clone high-producing cells used in manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, such as recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies, as well as diagnostic antibodies.

• Novogen Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, renegotiated with Washington-based Marshall Edwards Inc., its majority owned subsidiary, on the timing of an $8 million milestone license payment for phenoxodiol payable to Novogen in December 2006. New terms postpone the license fee payment until phenoxodiol receives first approval for marketing in the U.S. or any other country. Delaying the payment will allow Marshall Edwards to focus its cash resources on completing the Phase III trial under a special protocol assessment from the FDA.

• Origen Therapeutics, of Burlingame, Calif., said it succeeded in development a technology for genetically modifying chickens that puts avian transgenics on a par with transgenic mice. The news was published in Nature and details how Origen can, in principle, make any genetic modification desired to the chicken genome, including the insertion of genetic elements for the production of human therapeutics and the modification of the chicken immune system to produce human sequence polyclonal antibodies.

• Pharsight Corp., of Mountain View, Calif., entered a cooperative research and development agreement with the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which supports the agency's Critical Path Initiative. Under the terms, Pharsight will use its software for the analysis, visualization, storage, reporting and review of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data, providing tools for the FDA to use when reviewing clinical data. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• ProMetic Life Sciences Inc., of Montreal, closed a C$10.8 million (US$9.7 million) private placement of 29.6 million subordinate voting shares at C$0.365 apiece. The company plans to use the funds for general corporate purposes, including the development of its lead therapeutic, PBI-1402, an orally active drug for anemia in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Investors included JPMorgan and Third Point LLC.

• Protherics plc, of London, entered an agreement to acquire an adjuvant from CoVaccine BV, of Utrecht, the Netherlands. The adjuvant was selected for inclusion in Protherics's Angiotensin vaccine for hypertension. In return, Protherics will pay CoVaccine up to €1.1 million, which is to be satisfied by the grant of the right to receive 295,413 ordinary shares of Protherics after the deal is signed, and a further 590,826 shares upon completion of two development-related milestones. Further down the road, CoVaccine stands to receive a low single-digit royalty on net sales of products containing the adjuvant.

• PTC Therapeutics Inc., of South Plainfield, N.J., initiated a research and development collaboration with The Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation in New York to leverage the company's Gene Expression Modulation by Small molecule (GEMS) technology to identify and develop small-molecule drugs for the prevention or treatment of spinal muscular atrophy. Under the terms, the SMA Foundation will provide up to $1.6 million in funding to PTC based upon completion of certain milestones.

• Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Irvine, Calif., will issue 10,000 shares of its stock to Reno, Nev.-based Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. for a milestone payment and an additional 40,000 shares for product development improvements, with a total estimated value of $550,000, following a mutually agreed upon resolution to arbitration proceedings involving the two companies. Under a January 2005 deal, Altair granted Spectrum exclusive, worldwide rights to develop, market and sell its RenaZorb product line for therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

• Vical Inc., of San Diego, is getting accelerated access to $2.6 million for its avian influenza DNA vaccine program after preclinical data were reviewed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. The funds will be used to complete preclinical development and file an investigational new drug application with the FDA. The company is seeking additional funding to support Phase 1 testing.

• XenoPort Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., filed a registration statement with the SEC for a public offering of 4.5 million common shares. All the shares will be offered by the biopharmaceutical company, which has a Phase III product for restless legs syndrome, as well as two other clinical compounds. XenoPort expects to grant a 675,000-share overallotment option to the underwriters, which include Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Pacific Growth Equities LLC.