• Aastrom Biosciences Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Orthovita Inc., of Malvern, Pa., signed an agreement to develop products for the orthopedics market using Orthovita’s synthetic ceramic matrices and ceramic-collagen matrices and Aastrom’s bone marrow-derived cells, Tissue Repair Cells (TRCs). The companies expect to expand the collaboration into a longer-term relationship sometime this year. The first phase of the partnership is under way, with Orthovita’s VITOSS scaffolds being used for patient treatment in Aastrom’s Phase I/II trial in Barcelona, Spain, for severe non-union fractures.

• BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., of Novato, Calif., intends to sell 9 million shares of common stock in an underwritten public offering. It also expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 1.4 million shares to cover overallotments. Concurrently, BioMarin plans on selling $125 million in senior subordinated convertible notes due 2013, granting underwriters an overallotment option for up to $18.75 million in notes. Merrill Lynch & Co. is acting as sole book-running manager of each of the offerings, while co-managers are Cowen & Co., Leerink Swann & Co., Pacific Growth Equities LLC and Rodman & Renshaw.

• Biosite Inc., of San Diego, and Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, signed an agreement to collaborate in connection with a clinical trial employing a tailored therapy strategy for Lilly’s severe sepsis drug, Xigris. The trial will investigate the use of a multipurpose biomarker, Protein C, to be used in connection with the administration of Xigris. Biosite will develop a rapid, point-of-care diagnostic capable of measuring Protein C levels, and Lilly will use the Biosite test to enroll patients in the upcoming Phase IIb trial, which is expected to begin in the fourth quarter. Xigris gained FDA approval in November 2001 for the reduction of mortality in adult patients with severe sepsis who have a high risk of death.

• Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., received a letter from one of its shareholders, ValueAct Capital, of San Francisco, declining a request to meet with company executives, and reiterating its opposition to Chiron’s pending acquisition by Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG in a deal valued at about $5.1 billion. Novartis offered in October to buy the remaining 56 percent of Chiron shares it did not already own for $45 per share. That price was a 23 percent premium to the Aug. 31 closing price of $36.44, but Chiron’s stock has climbed since then, often trading in excess of $45. ValueAct, which owns about 5.2 percent of Chiron’s outstanding stock, sent a letter to the company last week claiming an "overwhelmingly negative shareholder response to Novartis’ $45 per share offer," and threatening to push for CEO Howard Pien’s removal should the deal fall apart. Shareholders CAM North America LLC and Smith Barney Fund Management LLC, both of New York, and Newport Beach, Calif.-based Salomon Brothers Asset Management Inc. also have opposed the buyout. Combined, all four opposing shareholders hold about 17.5 percent of the company, or 30 percent of the non-Novartis outstanding shares. In order to approve the acquisition, a majority of the non-Novartis shareholders must vote yes at the special meeting April 12. Chiron’s stock (NASDAQ:CHIR) closed at $45.64 Monday, down 13 cents. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 1, 2005.)

• PolyMedix Inc., of Philadelphia, received nearly $3 million in a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health for the continued development of its antibiotic drugs. The grant, which covers a funding period of three years, will be used to identify both a lead compound and backups for an intravenous antibiotic to treat hospital-acquired infections.

• 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.

• Tm Bioscience Corp., of Toronto, signed an agreement with Sirius Genomics, of Vancouver, British Columbia, for an exclusive commercial license to patents from Sirius for specific biomarkers related to drugs used to treat severe sepsis, including vasopressin. Tm Bioscience will incorporate the markers into a diagnostic for use by critical care physicians. It plans to launch the product in the second half of 2007. The company will provide Sirius with an up-front payment of $4 million in two installments in the second and third quarters of the year. The payments will be repaid from net earnings on commercial sales of the severe sepsis test, with the remaining earnings being shared equally.