• AEterna Zentaris Inc., of Quebec, initiated a European multicenter Phase II trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of D-63153, a fourth-generation luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone antagonist, in patients with hormone-dependent prostate cancer. The Phase II trial will further assess the ability of D-63153 to suppress testosterone levels in a dose-dependent manner and related antitumor activity based on objective tumor response. The trial will be fully funded by Spectrum Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Irvine, Calif., AEterna Zentaris' development partner for D-63153.

• Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cheshire, Conn., completed enrollment of the pivotal Phase III Triumph efficacy trial of eculizumab in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria. The final patient out of 75 total should complete the six-month treatment phase by the end of the year.

• Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said its partner, Natick, Mass.-based Boston Scientific Corp., began enrollment in a clinical trial, known as SYNTAX, to compare the performance of drug-eluting stents with cardiac surgery in patients with coronary artery disease. The trial is designed to compare 12-month outcomes of percutaneous coronary intervention using BSC's Taxus Express2 paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system with coronary bypass graft treatment. BSC acquired worldwide rights from Angiotech to use paclitaxel to coat its stent products and has coexclusive rights to other vascular and non-vascular products.

• AVI BioPharma Inc., of Portland, Ore., released data at the 18th International Conference on Antiviral Research in Barcelona, Spain, on the Neugene antisense approach to developing antiviral therapeutics. One study highlights experiments performed at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases that show the antisense drug candidates are efficacious in protecting multiple animal species from lethal challenges of the Ebola virus. Other studies done by scientists at the Scripps Research Institute demonstrate that AVI's Neugene antisense drug candidates reduced all three parameters of viral infection, including cytopathic effect, viral titer and viral spread.

• BioSource International Inc., of Camarillo, Calif., said its board unanimously rejected an unsolicited proposal from Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc., of Hercules, Calif., dated April 6, to acquire all of BioSource's outstanding shares at $8.50 per share in cash. BioSource said its board concluded that the proposed price is significantly below the company's inherent value. Board members added that BioSource will continue to evaluate strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company. BioSource focuses on functional genomics, proteomics and drug discovery through biologically active reagent systems.

• Biotech Holdings, of Vancouver, British Columbia, accepted an offer from Pierpoint Investissements SA to purchase C$610,000 (US$500,000) in shares. Pierpoint is purchasing 1.01 million shares and a warrant with each share from the company, and $250 million in shares from Biotech Holdings' president, Robert Rieveley. Rieveley, in turn, will invest $250 million in the company for 1.01 million private placement shares, with each share having a warrant. The company will use the funds for advertising purposes in Mexico.

• Celgene Corp., of Warren, N.J., reported at the 10th International Multiple Myeloma Workshop in Sydney, Australia, interim results from its pivotal Phase III trials using Revlimid (lenalidomide) in heavily pretreated patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. The U.S. trial (MM-009) using Revlimid plus dexamethasone, vs. dexamethasone alone, enrolled 354 patients. The overall response rate in that trial was 51.3 percent, compared with a response rate of 22.9 percent for dexamethasone alone (p<0.001). It also had a complete response rate of Revlimid plus dexamethasone of 19.5 percent, compared with 3.8 percent with dexamethasone alone. In a similar trial conducted on an international basis (MM-010), which enrolled 351 patients, overall response rate was 47.6 percent, compared with a response rate of 18.4 percent for dexamethasone alone (p<0.001), with a complete response rate of Revlimid plus dexamethasone of 9.1 percent, compared with 1.2 percent with dexamethasone alone. The primary endpoints in the trials of time to disease progression have not yet been reached in the Revlimid plus dexamethasone arms, having gone for more than 15 months in MM-009 and more than 11 months in MM-010. Median time to disease progression in the dexamethasone alone arm was five months in both trials (p<0.00001 in both cases). The company has finished its rolling new drug application for Revlimid in myelodysplastic syndromes, asking for the FDA's approval with Phase II data. (See BioWorld Today, April 11, 2005.)

• Chaichem Holdings Inc., of Pembroke Pines, Fla., a biotech research and development company announced it has received a ticker symbol "CIMH" and has begun publicly trading on the Pink Sheets.

• Diatos SA, of Paris, expanded its operations with the opening of a new subsidiary, Diatos USA Inc., in Palo Alto, Calif. Diatos has been operating in the U.S. for some time, with a business representative in the San Francisco Bay Area, but said it wanted a more global presence. Diatos is using its Diatos Peptide Vector intracellular/intra-nuclear delivery technology and its Tumor-Selective Prodrug cancer-targeting technology to develop therapies for cancer and other diseases.

• Illumina Inc., of San Diego, completed its acquisition of CyVera Corp., of Wallingford, Conn., a developer of digital microbead technology. The aggregate consideration for the transaction was $17.5 million, consisting of 1.6 million shares of Illumina stock and $2.5 million cash, which includes payment of certain liabilities of CyVera. In addition, Illumina assumed the outstanding stock options of CyVera. CyVera is being operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Illumina. Illumina is developing next-generation tools designed to permit large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 24, 2005.)

• ImaRx Therapeutics Inc., of Tucson, Ariz., reported that the first patient was treated in a 12-patient Phase I/II trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of SonoLysis for the treatment of peripheral arterial occlusive disease. SonoLysis, which combines external ultrasound and ImaRx's nanobubbles, is designed to clear blood clots without the use of invasive surgery or lytic drugs.

• Juvaris BioTherapeutics Inc., of Pleasanton, Calif., completed its initial preclinical evaluation of the efficacy of the JuvImmune immunostimulant platform in a mouse model of PuntaToro virus infection. Research, conducted at the Institute for Antiviral Research of Utah State University and funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, found Juvaris' technology to be highly effective against PTV infection, exhibiting rapid activation of the innate immune response for the production of antiviral interferons, as well as interleukins. Results were presented at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego.

• Lipid Sciences Inc., of Pleasanton, Calif., said the latest results of both in vivo and in vitro studies supporting the company's viral immunotherapy platform in simian immunodeficiency virus in SIV-infected monkeys demonstrated that the SIV viral antigen run through Lipid Sciences' delipidation process was recognized by the animals' immune systems and resulted in measurable improvement, including more than 90 percent reduction in viral load, weight gain and extended post-infection survival. The data were included in a presentation given during the HIV Vaccine Development meeting at the Keystone Symposium in Banff, Alberta.

• Lorus Therapeutics Inc., of Toronto, completed its Phase II trial of GTI-2040 in combination with capecitabine in patients with advanced and metastatic renal-cell carcinoma. Results of 33 patients showed that more than half exhibited disease stabilization or better, including one confirmed partial response. The product is a highly specific inhibitor of R2, a component of ribonucleotide reductase, which is abnormally elevated in renal-cell carcinoma and other cancers.

• Maxim Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, initiated a new screening campaign using about 60,000 compounds recently acquired for its compound library to identify potential cancer agents and molecular targets for inducing apoptosis in cancer cells. The company identified four potential drug candidates from prior screening activities. The most advanced of those compounds entered clinical development through a partnership with Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics Inc., and the others are expected to move into the clinic over the next 12 to 18 months, either independently or through additional collaborations. In other news, Maxim also reported that a recent publication in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry described the company's discovery of a series of 4-aryl-4H-chomenes as apoptosis inducers and microtubule inhibitors with vascular targeting activity, as shown in preclinical models.

• Memory Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Montvale, N.J., said results of a safety and tolerability study in Alzheimer's patients will be used to design a Phase IIa trial for MEM 1003, its neuronal L-type calcium channel modulator. The company is extending the timeline for the trial due to patient enrollment rates. The safety and tolerability study should be completed and the Phase IIa trial will begin in the third quarter.

• Metabolon Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., received a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to study amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The award is part of the Small Business Innovation Research program administered by the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Metabolon will test plasma samples obtained from patients using its metabolomics platform to identify biomarkers for ALS. Those biomarkers will be compared to those of other motor neuron diseases to determine if the ALS signature is unique or common to other motor neuron disorders. In addition, Metabolon will study how biomarkers for ALS change with disease progression.

• Nabi Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla., intends to offer $125 million in senior convertible notes due 2025 to qualified institutional buyers. The notes would be convertible into Nabi common stock, and the initial purchasers would have an option to purchase another $20 million in notes to cover overallotments. Nabi plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes and clinical trials, including advancing its S. aureus infections product, Altastaph, and for the commercialization of StaphVax for S. aureus bacterial infections.

• Neuro3d SA, of Mulhouse, France, said two international, double-blind, randomized Phase II studies showed that ocaperidone exhibited a robust antipsychotic activity in schizophrenia patients. The effects were found to be significantly better than placebo and comparable to that of an approved product. No serious adverse events were seen, and patients experienced less weight gain with ocaperidone than with the reference compound. The data will form the basis of Phase III trials.

• Nuevolution A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, signed a drug discovery collaboration in which Nuevolution will use its Chemetics drug discovery technology to find new drug leads on targets provided by Novo Nordisk A/S, of Bagsvaerd, Denmark. Chemetics is designed to allow Nuevolution to generate numbers of target sub-type selective drug leads.

• Osel Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., initiated two Phase II trials of Lactin-V, one for the treatment of recurrent urinary tract infection and a second for recurrent bacterial vaginosis. Lactin-V, a vaginal capsule containing a natural human bacterial organism, will be studied in a total of eight centers for RUTI and for RBV.

• Palatin Technologies Inc., of Cranbury, N.J., presented data from preclinical studies of PT-15, its small-molecule, melanocortin receptor subtype-4 selective agonist that is in development for obesity. Administration of the compound resulted in a decrease in food intake that is associated with significant reduction in body weight and improvement in metabolic parameters in rodent models of obesity. The data were presented at the 4th International Metabolic Diseases Drug Discovery World Summit in La Jolla, Calif.

• Panbio Ltd., of Brisbane, Australia, and Corixa Corp., of Seattle, said that Panbio signed an agreement to acquire intellectual property from Corixa that would assist in the development of new assays for the diagnosis of tick-borne diseases, ehrlichiosis and babesiosis. Corixa will receive an undisclosed up-front payment, annual maintenance payments and royalties on future product sales. The agreement also will transfer to Panbio a portfolio of recombinant proteins that are specific to those infections. Panbio will be responsible for all product development and commercialization.

• Pharmexa A/S, of Hoersholm, Denmark, entered an agreement to acquire peptide-based tumor vaccines company GemVax AS, of Oslo, Norway, through the issuance of shares and a convertible debt instrument. To finance the combined product pipeline, including two large Phase III studies in pancreatic cancer, Pharmexa intends to launch a rights issue with proceeds of between DKK150 million (US$26 million) and DKK320 million. Pharmexa's shareholders will vote on the acquisition and rights issue at the end of this month.

• Provectus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., expects to start Phase II trials for Xantryl in psoriasis later this year and in eczema in 2006. The company has completed preclinical and Phase I studies in Denmark and the U.S. of Xantryl to treat psoriasis.

• Scios Inc., of Fremont, Calif., a Johnson & Johnson company, said a panel of external cardiology and heart failure experts will be convened to review and assess data associated with its acute heart failure drug, Natrecor (nesiritide), to provide guidance for ongoing clinical development. Natrecor is indicated for the intravenous treatment of patients with acutely decompensated congestive heart failure, who have dyspnea at rest or with minimal activity.

• Targeted Genetics Corp., of Seattle, said a University of Iowa scientist who is collaborating with the company's partner, Sirna Therapeutics Inc., of Boulder, Colo., published encouraging preclinical results for a potential treatment of Huntington's disease. Results demonstrate that RNA interference therapy may have a beneficial impact on the symptoms and progression of the disease. The study appeared April 5 in the online early edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and will be in the April 19 print edition. In January, Targeted Genetics and Sirna formed their collaboration to combine AAV delivery capabilities and RNAi expertise to find a compound for Huntington's disease.

• Xenogen Corp., of Alameda, Calif., entered a partnership with MIR Preclinical Services, a contract research organization, for the purchase and sublicense of Xenogen's biophotonic imaging, or real-time in vivo imaging, technologies. MIR is purchasing one of Xenogen's biophotonic imaging systems, IVIS Imaging System, and licensing its patented methods of biophotonic imaging.