• China Biopharmaceuticals Holdings Inc., of Nanjing, China, closed a $6 million equity financing, including a $900,000 overallotment. Proceeds are expected to provide further working capital for the company and its operating subsidiaries for developing, commercializing, manufacturing and distributing drugs in China.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, and its contract manufacturer, DSM Biologics, signed a PER.C6 research license agreement with UCB SA, of Brussels, Belgium, which will evaluate the cell line for research and manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• DiaGenic ASA, of Oslo, Norway, raised gross proceeds of NOK33.25 million (US$5.1 million) in a private placing of 3.5 million newly issued shares, priced at NOK9.50 per share. The company, which is developing diagnostic products for detection of breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease based on gene expression signatures that can be detected in blood samples, now has about 39.2 million shares outstanding. Another 500,000 shares in the company changed hands via an insider share sale.

• IDM Pharma Inc., of San Diego, signed an exclusive licensing and marketing agreement with the private Israeli company Medison Pharma for the marketing of Junovan in Israel. The deal provides for IDM to receive an up-front license fee, a milestone payment once the drug receives regulatory approval in Israel and royalties. Junovan is an immune system stimulator designed to destroy cancer cells, and has been granted orphan drug status in the U.S. and EU for osteosarcoma, the indication in which it was tested in a Phase III trial in the U.S. IDM says it is "working with U.S. and EU regulatory agencies regarding an appropriate pathway for product marketing approval," adding that it expects to obtain regulatory approval for Junovan on both sides of the Atlantic in 2007.

• MNLpharma Ltd., of Aberystwyth, UK, reported that it, along with partners Cambridge BioStability Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and the University of Cambridge, received a grant award from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the UK to develop controlled-release nanoparticle vaccines. The DTI is providing a grant of £1.5 million (US$2.6 million) over three years, with the project partners providing matching funds to bring the total investment to £3.1 million. The project’s goal is to produce room-temperature stable, controlled-release vaccine technology against initial antigens of hepatitis B, anthrax and tetanus.

• MorphoSys AG, of Munich, Germany, entered a license agreement and therapeutic antibody collaboration with Sankyo Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd. The agreement is for an initial two-year term with the option of an extension of up to three more years. Daiichi Sankyo will start one therapeutic antibody program with MorphoSys, and it has an option for further programs. It will have access to the MorphoSys HuCAL GOLD library at its research site in Tokyo.

• Proteome Sciences plc, of Cobham, UK, reached a marketing agreement with Medical Solutions plc, of Nottingham, UK, to cross-promote their respective technologies for the discovery and validation of biomarkers. The companies said it will provide a seamless workflow from biomarker discovery through to applying them in diagnostics and drug development.

• Psynova Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, raised £2.25 million (US$3.9 million) in a first round funding to develop treatments for schizophrenia and bipolar disease. The investors in the Cambridge University spinout are Porton Capital and Cambridge Enterprise. Psynova has identified specific biomarkers for use in drug discovery and development, and for identifying patient subgroups that are responsive to particular drugs.

• Shanghai Wanxing Bio-Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of Shanghai, China, signed an agreement with the U.S.-based PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative to support development of a pediatric malaria vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum. The agreement focuses on the candidate vaccine PfCP2.9, which was licensed to Wanxing Bio-Pharmaceuticals in 2001 and is designed to target the malaria parasite at the stage where it begins rapid replication in human red blood cells.

• Syntarga BV, of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, signed a license agreement with the Georg-August University in Germany to obtain rights to cell-killing drugs. Terms call for Syntarga to gain exclusive, worldwide rights to manufacture, sublicense and commercialize conjugated products incorporating the synthetic drugs, which are members of the CC-1065 class and the duocarmycins, in antibody-drug conjugates and other types of conjugates for treating cancer. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Tissera Inc., of Herzliya, Israel, reported encouraging results from its ongoing large animal model experiments of pancreatic xenotransplantation, designed for the future treatment of insulin-dependent Type I diabetes mellitus. A follow-up of 16 weeks after transplantation in non-human primates showed considerable growth of the engrafted embryonic pig pancreatic tissues, with persisting significant proliferation of the transplanted cells, and a pronounced presence of endocrine elements, notably islet cells, responsible for the production of insulin.

• Vernalis plc, of Reading, UK, said it reached the primary endpoint of eight hours pain relief after a single administration in a Phase IIa study of V1003, a proprietary intranasal formulation of buprenorphine for treating post-operative pain. The study in 360 patients undergoing bunionectomy compared V1003 to placebo and the oral pain killer Vicodin. Vernalis acquired rights to V1003 in July and is developing it in partnership with the consumer products company Reckitt Benckiser.