• aaiPharma Inc., of Wilmington, N.C., said Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Florence, Ky., was selected as the winning bidder at the conclusion of a bankruptcy court-approved auction for the sale of assets from aaiPharma's pharmaceutical division. The winning bid calls for a cash purchase of $209.25 million. Xanodyne also committed to purchase up to $30 million in services to be provided by aaiPharma's development services division over the next three years.

• Advanced Viral Research Corp., of Yonkers, N.Y., added a fourth site, Queens Medical Associates in New York, for its Phase II trial of AVR118 in the U.S. The study is exploring the drug's effect on weight, appetite, performance status and other quality-of-life measures in patients with advanced cancers.

• Ambion Inc., of Austin, Texas, said it has launched a line of pre-plated, ready-to-transfect siRNA libraries, known as Silencer CellReady siRNA Libraries. Libraries of siRNAs targeting human kinases and the druggable genome, as well as two libraries targeting commonly studied genes, also were made available with the initial product launch.

• AmpliMed Corp., of Tucson, Ariz., said it began enrolling patients in a clinical trial that will evaluate its lead candidate, Amplimexon (imexon injection), in combination with dacarbazine in patients with unresectable Stage III or Stage IV malignant melanoma who have not been previously treated with chemotherapy. Dacarbazine is a chemotherapeutic agent.

• Arpida Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, said the FDA granted an investigational new drug application for the oral formulation of iclaprim, the company's second development program for the antibiotic product. Arpida will begin a Phase I trial to evaluate safety as well as the pharmacokinetics of the capsule formulation. The injectable formulation is in Phase III studies for the treatment of complicated skin and skin-structure infections in hospitals.

• AVAX Technologies Inc., of Philadelphia, began enrollment of its clinical trial of M-Vax for the treatment of patients with Stage III and IV melanoma at seven sites in the U.S. The company also began a study in patients with metastatic peritoneal cancer in France. Both studies are designed to measure safety and include an immunological measure of vaccine activity as determined by Delayed Type Hypersensitivity Testing.

• Biosite Inc., of San Diego, signed an exclusive licensing deal with Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and Columbia University for the use of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), a biomarker that might help identify acute renal failure within hours, rather than days. Under the collaboration, Biosite will make antibodies to NGAL by combining immunization of mice and phage-display technology to generate diverse libraries of Omniclonal antibodies with high affinity and low cross-reactivity. The immunoassay for NGAL then will be tested on blood samples. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• BioWa Inc., of Princeton, N.J., and AppTec Laboratory Services Inc., of St. Paul, Minn., reported that they entered an agreement whereby AppTec will provide development services for BioWa's anti-interleukin-5 receptor monoclonal antibody, a potential new treatment for non-allergic asthma. The work will be performed at ApTec's facility in the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

• Caliper Life Sciences Inc., of Hopkinton, Mass., and Agilent Technologies Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., reported an agreement granting Agilent a nonexclusive license to use a majority of Caliper's microfluidics patent estate for the development of clinical diagnostic applications on Agilent's 2100 Bioanalyzer, its 5100 automated lab-on-a-chip platform, and future instrument platforms.

• Celera Genomics Group, of Rockville, Md., started a Phase I trial of its histone deacetylase inhibitor, CRA-024781, in patients with refractory solid malignancies. The trial is a dose-escalation study to determine the maximum tolerated dose and to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of CRA-024781. Up to 40 patients will be enrolled.

• Cellular Genomics Inc., of Branford, Conn., said it selected cgi1842, a multi-targeted kinase inhibitor, as a preclinical candidate in its angiogenesis/oncology program. The product is in development as an oral therapy for the treatment of cancer. Also, the company changed its name to CGI Pharmaceuticals Inc.

• Corixa Corp., of Seattle, said its stockholders adopted the merger agreement in which GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, will acquire Corixa for $300 million. Corixa stockholders will get $4.40 in cash for each share of common stock, $517.65 in cash for each share of Series A preferred stock, and $172.01 for each share of Series B preferred stock. The companies announced the deal in April. (See BioWorld Today, May 3, 2005.)

• CV Therapeutics Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., said it will redeem all of its outstanding 4.75 percent convertible subordinated notes due March 7, 2007. The amount outstanding of the notes is $79.6 million.

• Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, said it intends to offer $2 billion aggregate principal amount of five-year, 10-year and 30-year senior notes. Genentech expects to use about $585 million of the net proceeds to reduce or repay its obligations under certain existing synthetic and other lease arrangements, including a synthetic lease related to its manufacturing facility in Vacaville, Calif. Funds also will be used to cover upgrade, start-up and validation costs at the recently acquired biologics manufacturing facility in Oceanside, Calif., purchased from Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen Idec Inc. for $408 million last month. (See BioWorld Today, June 20, 2005.)

• GenoMed Inc., of St. Louis, joined the International Disease Management Alliance (IDMA), recently organized by Warren Todd, the group's founder and executive director. The IDMA was formed to promote the concept of disease management around the world. GenoMed is working to identify molecular pathways that cause disease.

• Hemosol Corp., of Toronto, chose immune globulin intravenous 10 percent as the first protein product that it will advance through clinical development. IGIV comprises naturally occurring antibodies that are produced in the human body, but sometimes are not produced sufficiently to avoid infectious diseases. Hemosol plans to start a pivotal trial in patients with primary immune deficiency disease.

• Inovio Biomedical Corp., of San Diego, said it will get a $2 million milestone payment from Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., for Merck's achievement of a clinical milestone for a plasmid-based vaccine using Inovio's MedPulser DNA Delivery System. The companies formed a deal in May 2004 to develop DNA vaccines. Further development could lead to additional milestone payments and royalties to Inovio.

• Lipid Sciences Inc., of Pleasanton, Calif., completed the data analysis phase of its HDL Therapy non-human primate safety and effectiveness study. The company said the process appeared to be safe and well tolerated, and no significant changes in any of the monitored variables, including blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and respiration rate, were noted during the 12-week study.

• Migenix Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, completed a material transfer and license option deal with Schering-Plough Corp., of Kenilworth, N.J., related to celgosivir (MX-3253), Migenix's Phase II compound for chronic hepatitis C. Schering-Plough will supply Pegetron (peginterfon alfa-2b powder for solution plus ribavirin 200-mg capsules), as well as technical and laboratory support and other services for Migenix's upcoming Phase II combination study in chronic HCV. Schering-Plough is allowed limited periods of exclusivity for data review of clinical results and for the negotiation of a license agreement.

• Predix Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., initiated the second of two Phase Ib studies of PRX-03140, a selective serotonin 4 (5-HT4) receptor agonist intended to treat Alzheimer's disease and other disorders of memory and cognition. The study will evaluate the compound given once daily over a 14-day period and the effects of the drug on cognitive function and memory, electroencephalograms and biochemical markers of Alzheimer's disease pathology.

• Solexa Inc., of Hayward, Calif., said it completed a private equity placement for about $24 million following stockholder approval July 7. The financing represented the second and final closing of the $32.5 million placement that was announced in April, and it included the sale of about 6 million shares of common stock at $4 per share and warrants to purchase up to 3 million shares at a price of $5 per share. (See BioWorld Today, April 25, 2005.)

• Structural GenomiX Inc., of San Diego, announced a three-year extension of a research and technology collaboration with Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis. The companies started the collaboration in April 2003 to accelerate Lilly's drug discovery programs by applying SGX's technologies. SGX has applied its technologies to key Lilly drug targets to determine crystal structures and data on target/inhibitor complexes.

• SuperArray Bioscience Corp., of Frederick, Md., said its CASE (Cellular Activation of Signaling ELISA) is available for analyzing the phosphorylation status of specific proteins inside cells.

• Vitae Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Fort Washington, Pa., said its agreement with London-based GlaxoSmithKline plc met its closing conditions, and, as part of the formal completion, Vitae secured $15 million in equity financing from investors to accelerate its programs into the clinic. GSK and Vitae formed an alliance in June to develop and commercialize renin inhibitor drug compounds for the treatment of hypertension and related cardiovascular disorders. GSK led the private round of financing, which also included Vitae's existing venture investors. (See BioWorld Today, June 21, 2005.)