• Abnova Corp., of Taipei, Taiwan, joined forces with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) for high-throughput monoclonal antibody production. EMBL's adjunctive technologies relating to automated platform and monoclonal antibody production are expected to augment Abnova's in-house capability and infrastructure for industrial-scale production of recombinant proteins and antibodies. The partnership also provides the framework for the marketing collaboration between EMBL Enterprise Management and Abnova for the custom monoclonal antibody business.

• Active Biotech AB, of Lund, Sweden, said shareholders approved the board's decision to issue a debenture loan at a nominal amount of about SEK150 million (US$21.3 million) through the issue of about 3.7 million convertible debentures. The debt shall convey the right for conversion into company shares, each with a par value of SEK10. Through conversion, the share capital in the company might be increased by about 37.5 million. The loan will carry a 2 percent interest rate from Jan. 1, and will mature for payment on June 30, 2009, if the debentures have not been converted by that time.

• Almirall Prodesfarma SA, of Barcelona, Spain, and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, entered a licensing agreement for A2A receptor antagonists for Parkinson's disease. The companies will share territorial rights and registration data for products identified during the research term. The compounds licensed from Almirall are selective small-molecule A2A receptor antagonists that have shown efficacy in preclinical models of Parkinson's disease. A2A is a subtype of receptors for the neuromodulator adenosine.

• Avecia Biotechnology Inc., of Billingham, UK, and Acuity Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Philadelphia, signed a long-term manufacturing agreement for pharmaceutical-grade supplies of Acuity's lead product Cand5. A small interfering RNA (siRNA), Cand5 is in Phase I trials in age-related macular degeneration. The company said they are the first clinical trials for an siRNA therapeutic. Avecia will supply Acuity with Cand5 through the clinical development process up to commercial launch. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

• Bionomics Ltd., of Adelaide, Australia, said it has new data that show that gene-silencing molecules developed by the company inhibit tumor growth in a breast cancer model. The gene-silencing molecules target BN069, one of Bionomics' drug targets. Tumors that were treated with BN069 gene-silencing molecules showed a reduction in size of more than 75 percent compared to untreated tumors in experiments conducted over 34 days.

• Biotie Therapies Corp., of Turku, Finland, granted Somaxon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, the North American rights to oral nalmefene hydrochloride for the treatment of impulse-control disorders. Nalmefene is a specific and selective opioid receptor antagonist. Somaxon previously entered an option agreement with Biotie in July. With the agreement, Somaxon exercised the option and will pay Biotie a license fee. Somaxon is responsible for all clinical development, and regulatory and commercial activities. It will pay Biotie certain milestone payments and royalties on product sales. Somaxon plans to initiate the first of two pivotal Phase III trials in 2005 of nalmefene to treat pathological gambling.

• Britannia Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of London, and airPharma, of Overland Park, Kan., signed a global licensing agreement in which airPharma will develop AP0016, a dry-powder formulation of Britannia's synthetic surfactant, Pumactant. AirPharma will begin a clinical program to study efficacy for seasonal allergic asthma, followed by additional respiratory indications such as perennial allergic asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. AirPharma will assume control of regulatory and marketing initiatives for AP0016, as well as activities related to commercialization of the product worldwide, except for the UK and Ireland, which will remain under Britannia's management. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Cellectricon AB, of Gothenburg, Sweden, launched the Dynaflow Proficient System for increased throughput in ion channel drug screening, following a beta-testing of the new 48-channel chip and software by GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London. The Dynaflow System is an add-on to conventional patch-clamp and is designed for increased throughput in ion channel drug screening, such as dose-response analysis.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) in New York signed an agreement whereby Crucell will develop AdVac vectors for use in IAVI's vaccine development program. Financial details were not disclosed. Earlier this year, Crucell and IAVI entered an exclusive license agreement to develop an AIDS vaccine based on Crucell's AdVac technology. Also, Crucell entered an agreement to allow the Netherlands Vaccine Institute to manufacture clinical trial-grade West Nile virus vaccine at its new BSL-3 (biosafety level 3) plant. The institute, an agency of the Dutch Ministry of Health, is responsible for the national vaccine supply in the Netherlands. Crucell has developed its vaccine for use in humans based on its PER.C6 technology, and has developed the vaccine's production process, concluded animal studies in geese and produced a West Nile virus veterinary vaccine.

• Eiffel Technologies Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, opened operations as a pharmaceutical re-engineering company. It will use its supercritical fluid technology to develop new versions of existing pharmaceuticals to improve their performance, particularly for asthma, as well as an inhalable form of insulin for diabetes. As well as its in-house projects, the company said it has collaborative development agreements with a number of undisclosed pharmaceutical and drug delivery companies.

• Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, and the Mayo Foundation in Rochester, Minn., entered an agreement related to each party's Alzheimer's disease research efforts. The agreement resolves a patent dispute regarding certain transgenic mice patents and facilitates use by both parties of an array of research tools in combating the disease. The Elan patents were acknowledged as valid and enforceable under the agreement and cover transgenic mice that express the human gene known as the Swedish mutation of the amyloid precursor protein. In other news, Elan priced an offering of $1.15 billion worth of senior notes by its wholly owned subsidiaries, Elan Finance public limited company and Elan Finance Corp. The notes consist of $850 million of 7.75 percent senior fixed-rate notes due 2011 and $300 million of senior floating-rate notes due 2011. The offering is expected to close on Nov. 16, subject to customary closing conditions. The net proceeds will be used to fund the previously announced tender offer by Elan International Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Elan, to purchase up to $351 million of Series B and C guaranteed notes, and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

• Exiqon A/S, of Vedbaek, Denmark, released two new ProbeLibrary expression-analysis kits covering the genomes of Arabidopsis thaliana and Drosophila melanogaster. The kits can respectively detect 99 and 98 percent of the Drosophila melanogaster and Arabidopsis thaliana transcripts currently in the Ensembl database, it said.

• ExonHit Therapeutics SA, of Paris, entered a research collaboration to combine its alternative RNA-splicing technologies with a microarray platform from Agilent Technologies Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif. The partners are working together to optimize microarray design, reagent protocols and data-analysis methods for splice variant studies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Galapagos Genomics NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, reached a research milestone in its osteoporosis discovery program with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the pharmaceutical division of Wyeth, of Madison, N.J. Within the year-old program, Galapagos has used its osteoporosis disease knowledge in combination with its SilenceSelect adenoviral siRNA platform to discover and validate targets that might affect bone remodeling. Wyeth selected a set of targets for internal development, triggering a financial milestone to Galapagos. As the targets are progressed by Wyeth, Galapagos has rights to additional milestone payments that could total up to $40 million.

• Gamida-Cell Ltd., of Jerusalem, said its Phase I/II study of StemEx for leukemia suggested its flagship product is safe. StemEx is composed of ex vivo expanded cord blood stem/progenitor cells combined with non-expanded cells from the same unit. It reduced the occurrence of GvHD and shortened the time to platelet engraftment. Other clinical parameters, such as short-term survival of patients who had undergone a transplant, also improved, the company said.

• GammaCan International Inc., of Givat Shmuel, Israel, said it may have discovered a therapy to keep certain cancers from spreading or returning in patients. The patented therapy, based on intravenous immunoglobulin, is a concentrated form of disease-fighting antibodies naturally occurring in human blood. GammaCan's therapy is based on GCAN 101, its IVIg product. The company expects to begin a Phase II trial soon.

• Golden Hand Resources Inc., of Tel Aviv, Israel, paid an initial license fee and a research and development installment to Ramot, the technology transfer arm of Tel Aviv University, pursuant to their agreement to collaborate on the development of technology for differentiation of bone marrow-derived stem cells into functional neuronal-like cells. To lead the new venture, the company named Yaffa Beck president and CEO. Most recently, she served as president and CEO of her own consulting company, VentuRx Holdings Ltd. Golden Hand's NurOwn technology involves induction of bone marrow stromal cells to differentiate into neural cells, capable of neurotransmitter release.

• Imugene Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, completed a pig trial finalizing the product composition and dose of Imugene's new PRRS (Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome) pig vaccine. Individual components of the vaccine were trialed and the efficacy of each component was determined. The final dose form for the commercial product was established. The optimized vaccine will be fast-tracked into commercial product development.

• Innogenetics NV, of Ghent, Belgium, named Frank Morich CEO following the decision of Philippe Archinard to step down. Most recently, he was CEO of AM Pharma. Archinard, who resigned for personal reasons, will remain a nonexecutive director. Innogenetics is focused on specialty diagnostics and therapeutic vaccines.

• IntegraGen SA, of Paris, has licensed gene-testing technology to test for maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) from Correlagen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass. IntegraGen has established a German subsidiary in Bonn to provide testing and counseling services to the German market. MODY is a uncommon type of the disease similar to Type II diabetes. It is a strongly inherited condition. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• LifeCycle Pharma A/S, of H rsholm, Denmark, began a clinical trial of a tablet formulation of the immunosuppressant drug tacrolimus, currently marketed as Prograf by Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, for treating organ transplant rejection. It is testing multiple tablet formulations with differing release profiles. The company plans to commence a Phase III trial next year. Last month, LifeCycle Pharma began a clinical study of a proprietary version of fenofibrate for treating patients with dislipidemia.

• LION bioscience AG, of Heidelberg, Germany, said it will voluntarily delist its American depository shares from the Nasdaq National Market and terminate its American depository receipt facility, effective at the close of trading on Dec. 22. LION remains listed on the Deutsche Boerse in Frankfurt, Germany, where it is listed in the Nemax 50 index. The company also appointed Friedrich von Bohlen, Christoph Mutter and Jan Traenckner as new members of its supervisory board, replacing members who resigned last month. (See BioWorld International, Oct. 20, 2004).

• Lonza Biologics plc, a unit of Lonza Group Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, and Inhibitex Inc., of Alpharetta, Ga., entered an agreement for the manufacture of Aurexis. The investigational monoclonal antibody is being developed as a first-line therapy, used in combination with standard-of-care antibiotics, for life-threatening Staphylococcus aureus infections. It is in a Phase II study. Under the agreement, Lonza agreed to perform process development-related services and manufacture Aurexis for future clinical trials using its glutamine synthetase expression system.

• MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, closed a capital increase announced in October, raising €21.6 million from existing shareholders and new institutional investors. The company said the injection raised its cash reserves to about €52 million. The company also presented positive preclinical data for two of its newly acquired drug candidates at a conference on vascular targeting agents in Cambridge, Mass. MediGene said that its compounds EndoTAG-1 and EndoTAG-2 showed preclinical efficacy in a range of solid tumors. The prospective drugs use a new method of attaching and destroying tumor blood vessels to anti-angiogenesis.

• Neuronova AG, of Munich, Germany, began a collaboration with Prestwick Chemical Inc., of Illkirch, France, to optimize one of Neuronova's small-molecule candidates with antidepressant properties. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Nitto Denko Corp., of Osaka, Japan, and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., said they jointly developed a high-performance solid support for the manufacture of oligonucleotides. Solid support is the base structure used in the synthesis of oligonucleotides, both aptamer drugs and antisense, including RNA and DNA-based and RNAi, and represents a substantial portion of the cost to manufacture those drugs. The product will be marketed by Kinovate Life Sciences Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Nitto Denko. Isis will receive royalties.

• Noray Bioinformatics SL, of Derio, Spain, launched a new bioinformatics software tool, BITIA, to aid decision-making in cancer therapy. BITIA is designed to assist prognosis by combining genomics data with clinico-pathological data derived from cancer patients. It can be adapted to areas of cancer research involving gene-expression analysis, and can provide a predictive measure of the risk of individual patients developing metastases in the future. The product was developed in collaboration with researchers at Autonomous University of Madrid and the Cancer Medical Service at the La Paz University Hospital, also of Madrid.

• Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, and Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., signed an agreement granting Merck the worldwide license for ONO-2506, an intravenous compound in Phase II development to treat acute stroke. Ono retains rights to the injectable form of ONO-2506 in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, and worldwide rights to other formulations. Ono will receive an initial payment and milestone payments, in addition to royalties on net sales. Ono also gains exclusive rights in Japan to develop and market EMEND (aprepitant), Merck's drug to prevent nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, and rights in Japan to co-market a second brand of MK-431, Merck's oral compound for diabetes.

• Pfizer Inc., of New York, completed its $125 million purchase of the remaining 90 percent ownership of Meridica Ltd. from PA Consulting Group, of London. Meridica is a drug delivery technology company. The transaction, which was announced in September, also includes a contingent payment.

• Pharmacopeia Drug Discovery Inc., of Princeton, N.J., said it would receive a payment after achieving a milestone in its research collaboration with NV Organon, of Oss, the Netherlands. Pharmacopeia delivered a lead against a target for Organon. They have worked together since 2002 to identify and optimize drug candidates, and Organon maintains rights to all lead and development candidates. Pharmacopeia would receive milestones and royalties should the compounds progress through development.

• Pharmaxis Ltd., of Sydney, Australia, said its Level One ADR Program was declared effective by the SEC, and its ADRs will trade on the Over-the-Counter exchange as "PHMXY." Under the program, one ADR is equivalent to 15 ordinary shares of Pharmaxis, which is developing products for respiratory and autoimmune diseases. The Bank of New York was named as the program's depository bank.

• Pharmexa A/S, of Hoersholm, Denmark, said it will initiate the first Phase II trial with the HER-2 Protein AutoVac breast cancer vaccine. The trial will include up to 50 breast cancer patients in Hungary and Poland. It is expected to conclude by mid-2006. The company also is preparing to conduct a Phase II trial with the vaccine formulated in a stronger adjuvant.

• Phytopharm plc, of Godmanchester, UK, said that the FDA granted fast-track designation for its drug candidate PYM50018 (Myogane) for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Myogane is a patented, orally active, neuroprotective and neuroregenerative compound.

• Probi AB, of Lund, Sweden, priced a new share issue and outlined plans to seek a full listing on the O-list of the Stockholmsbörsen (Stockholm Stock Exchange). It is seeking up to SEK77 million (US$11.1 million), primarily in order to accelerate its product development and commercialization efforts in clinical nutrition. The company, which was established in 1991, has been listed on the junior exchange, the Nordic Growth Market in Stockholm since December 1998. It reported SEK244 million in sales and a loss of SEK19.4 million for the first nine months of 2004.

• Promega Corp., of Madison, Wis., filed a motion in a U.S. district court to stop Benitec Ltd., of St. Lucia, Australia, from further licensing activities of ddRNAi technology in the areas in which Promega said it has exclusivity. The motion requests a preliminary injunction to prevent further license grants by Benitec until the court rules on the dispute.

• Protalix Biotherapeutics Ltd., of Carmiel, Israel, and Icon Genetics AG, of Halle, Germany, said they were selected as recipients of the BIO-DISC grant, a bi-national joint funding project to promote biotechnological know-how developed in Germany and Israel. The companies are involved in a collaboration to develop genetic constructs as the basis for a general platform system aimed at the ultra-high-level expression of recombinant proteins in plant cells. The two-year research program combines Icon's amplification technologies with Protalix's expression systems within plant cell cultures grown in bioreactors.

• SC BioSciences, of Tokyo, and Morphotek Inc., of Exton, Pa., entered a collaboration in which SCB will serve as the Japanese marketing partner for Morphotek's cell line-optimization services. That includes Morphotek's Morphodoma technology, which involves antibody production cell lines to generate subclones producing protein products with enhanced therapeutic efficacy, as well as genetically enhanced cells exhibiting high titers of protein for scaleable manufacturing.

• The Genetics Co., of Zurich, Switzerland, entered an agreement to supply its Alzheimer's disease diagnostic products to Funakoshi Co. Ltd., of Tokyo. Funakoshi will exclusively distribute the products in Japan. Financial terms were not disclosed.