• Aida Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Hangzhou, China, agreed to purchase the remaining outstanding shares of Shanghai Qiaer Bio-Technology Co. Ltd. that it does not already own from Zhejiang Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Under the terms, Aida will buy an additional 45 percent of the outstanding shares for $495,650, adding to the previous payment of $561,324 as a deposit to purchase 55 percent of Shanghai's shares. Shanghai will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Aida. The transaction is expected to close at the end of June. Shanghai's key product is rh-Apo21, a gene therapy drug used to treat certain forms of cancer, which is nearing the end of Phase I trials.

• American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc., of Los Angeles, and its parent company, American BioScience Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif., completed their previously announced merger. The combined company is named Abraxis BioScience Inc., and it began trading on Nasdaq under its new ticker symbol, "ABBI." Under the terms announced in November, ABI shareholders and employees received a distribution of 86 million shares, plus the 48 million shares they previously owned. Abraxis has about 159 million shares outstanding. In connection with the transaction, Abraxis also obtained a $450 million unsecured senior credit facility for a term of three years, with proceeds to be used for general corporate purposes. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 29, 2005.)

• BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lincolnshire, Ill., said its new drug application for Bio-E-Gel (transdermal estradiol gel) was accepted for filing and review by the FDA. The product is a low-dose topical therapy for moderate to severe hot flashes in menopausal women. The NDA includes data from a Phase III study of 484 symptomatic menopausal women who experienced a reduction in the number and severity of hot flashes across the low, mid and high doses tested.

• Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., said its shareholders approved the amended merger agreement calling for Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG to acquire all Chiron shares it doesn't already own for $48 per share in cash. More than 85 percent of Chiron shareholders voted in favor of the merger. Earlier this month, Novartis raised its buyout offer to $48 per share after a few Chiron shareholders threatened to reject the previous bid of $45 per share announced in late October as too low. The transaction is expected to close today. Shares of Chiron (NASDAQ:CHIR) closed at $47.98 Wednesday, up 3 cents. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 1, 2005.)

• Clinical Data Inc., of Newton, Mass., said its PGxHealth division completed the validation of a genetic marker that will help identify patients at risk for clozapine-induced agranulocytosis (CIA), a potentially fatal blood disorder. The gene is located in the HLA complex. The company also reported that it is developing a genetic test for CIA risk using that marker, and hopes to launch the test this year.

• Inspire Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Durham, N.C., received a milestone payment from Osaka, Japan-based Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. related to the development of diquafosol tetrasodium ophthalmic solution for the therapeutic treatment of ocular surface diseases, including dry eye, in Asia. The milestone payment of $1.25 million resulted from Santen's completion of its Phase II testing of diquafosol. Inspire could receive additional development milestones, plus royalties if the product is approved.

• Lectus Therapeutics Ltd., of Bristol, UK, acquired the assets of NeuroServe Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, an electrophysiology company that tests compounds on ion channels for pharmaceutical and biotech clients. Lectus, which focuses on discovering and developing next-generation ion channel drugs to treat pain, urinary incontinence and angina, had been outsourcing its electrophysiological requirements to NeuroServe since 2003. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Pharminox Ltd., of Oxford, UK, signed a new agreement with Cancer Research Technology Ltd., of London, to secure rights to a preclinical oncology program focused on telomere signaling targeted agents. Under the terms, CRT granted Pharminox an exclusive 12-month option to license exclusive worldwide development and commercialization rights to the program, which includes a lead candidate, RHPS4, expected to move into formal preclinical development within the next year.