• Affimed Therapeutics AG, of Heidelberg, Germany, signed a partnership to co-develop one of its Tandab antibodies with the biopharmaceutical unit of Syngenta AG, of Basel, Switzerland. Tandabs recruit the body's immune system to fight cancers and other disease. The molecules have been engineered to have four binding sites, two of which are for antigens on the cancer or diseased cell, while the other two are specific for immune system killer cells. The parties will use Affimed's technology platform to identify and develop Tandabs for cancer and other indications through research supported in part by a €1 million grant recently awarded to Affimed by the German government. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc., of Needham, Mass., opened a pilot manufacturing facility in Fall River, Mass. The site will be used to develop and manufacture Avant's next-generation vaccines for clinical trials and eventual commercial sales.

• CalbaTech Inc., of Irvine, Calif., created LifeStem Inc. as a subsidiary to further develop its stem cell programs. Dan Fulkerson will be LifeStem's president. It has three stem cell projects in various stages of development, including a stem cell delivery system.

• The University of Leeds in the UK said researchers published findings in Arthritis & Rheumatism showing that Remicade is able to reverse the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in newly diagnosed patients. The study, which was conducted in patients who had not been treated with disease-modifying, anti-rheumatic drugs, also showed that those receiving infusions of Remicade in combination with methotrexate demonstrated a significantly greater reduction in synovitis, bone erosions and bone edema. The drug was developed by Centocor Inc., of Malvern, Pa.

• Cortical Pty. Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, was awarded a federal government grant of more than A$3 million (US$2.3 million) to develop drugs against inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, multiple sclerosis and colitis. The research and development grant will help the company conduct Phase I trials on its small-molecule macrophage migration inhibitory factor antagonist for such inflammatory conditions.

• Dyadic International Inc., of Jupiter, Fla., raised $25.3 million in gross proceeds through a series of related financing transactions and began listing its shares on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board as "DYAD." The company said it would use the funds, along with $6.7 million raised earlier this year, to continue to develop its C1 Host Technology for industrial enzyme products. The company is developing proteins, enzymes, peptides and other biomolecules, as well as services, for applications in the textile, chemical, agricultural, pulp and paper, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other industries. It gained its public listing through a stock-for-stock merger with CCP Worldwide Inc., an SEC-reporting company. The financing was led by the Pinnacle Fund LP, Mercantile Capital Group, Knott Partners and Crestview Capital Funds, and included other institutional and individual accredited investors. Brean Murray & Co. Inc. and Sanders Morris Harris acted as placement agents.

• Elite Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Northvale, N.J., concluded its private offering of Series A preferred stock, which was sold in three tranches for gross proceeds of $6.6 million. The first tranche involved the sale of 379,122 shares for $4.7 million at a price of $12.30 per share. The second tranche involved the sale of 119,286 shares for $1.67 million at $14 per share, and the third tranche involved the sale of 18,150 shares for $266,804 at a price of $14.70 per share. Each of the 516,558 shares is convertible into 10 shares of common stock. Purchasers included institutional and other private investors, including S.A.C. Capital Associates LLC, the Marlin Funds, Jess Morgan & Co. and Valor Capital Management. Each purchaser also received two common stock purchase warrants for each share of preferred stock acquired. LP Indigo Securities LLC acted as placement agent.

• Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bridgewater, N.J., and Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, filed a new drug submission with Canadian regulatory authorities for Marqibo (formerly referred to as Onco TCS). The application is seeking approval of the product as a single-agent treatment. Marqibo is comprised of the off-patent cancer drug vincristine encapsulated in Inex's sphingosomal drug delivery technology.

• InNexus Biotechnology Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, raised C$940,500 (US$784,000) in gross proceeds through a non-brokered private placement of about 2.1 million shares at C45 cents apiece. The company, which is developing next-generation monoclonal antibodies using its SuperAntibody Technology Platform, said it would use the funds for general working capital. The shares will be subject to a hold period expiring on March 5.

• IT.Omics, of Lille, France, agreed to grant Galderma SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, access to the LSGraph technology for dermatology-related marker and target discovery. The technology is used to mine functional relationships between known genes, proteins and compounds; the graph includes more than 50,000 biological entities and more than a million relationships. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, established new business units focused on therapeutics for pain and oncology. The company also has promoted two employees to lead the units. Patrick Shea will serve as vice president of marketing and sales for the oncology products unit, while Matthew Witte will become vice president for marketing and sales for the pain products unit. Ligand's marketed products include Avinza for pain and Targretin, Ontak and Panretin for oncology indications.

• Nabi Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla., submitted a filing in Europe for approval to use PhosLo (calcium acetate) in controlling elevated phosphorus levels in patients with end-stage renal disease. Nabi currently markets PhosLo in the U.S. for that indication. The filing uses the Common Technical Document format, which can be readily submitted in other countries around the world. PhosLo is a calcium acetate-based product.

• PA Early Stage Partners in Wayne, Pa., closed its third fund at $86 million. Investors in the PA Early Stage III fund include state and city pension funds, university endowments, medical centers, corporations and individuals. PA Early Stage is a family of venture funds that makes investments in early stage technology and life sciences companies.

• Resverlogix Corp., of Calgary, Alberta, priced at C$3 per share its private offering entered in October, raising C$9 million (US$7.5 million). First Associates Investments Inc. acted as lead agent, on behalf of Haywood Securities Inc., Sprott Securities Inc. and Jennings Capital Inc. Resverlogix has agreed to grant an overallotment option that could increase the offering to C$11 million. The offering is expected to close this month.

• Syrrx Inc., of San Diego, said the Journal of Biological Chemistry published the atomic structure of human 11(beta)-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type-1 (HSD-1). Researchers are investigating HSD-1 inhibitors in the clinic for the treatment of Type II diabetes. Studies to date indicate that HSD-1 helps regulate levels of cortisol. The structure reported formed part of the basis for the drug discovery collaboration between Syrrx and Basel, Switzerland-based F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. announced in May. (See BioWorld Today, May 13, 2004.)

• Vical Inc., of San Francisco, reported safety and efficacy data from its high-dose Phase II trial of Allovectin, at the annual meeting of the International Society for Biological Therapy of Cancer. The trial was conducted in patients with metastatic melanoma, and the new data update interim data reported in June. Surgical resection of lesions at the end of the study found there were 15 responders, with four having complete responses. The estimated median duration of response was 12.7 months, and the median survival was 21.3 months. The therapy was found to be safe with no serious adverse events reported.

• ViroPharma Inc., of Exton, Pa., received a notice of early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act waiting period regarding its acquisition of Vancocin in the U.S. from Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis. As previously reported, ViroPharma entered a $116 million agreement to acquire all U.S. rights to manufacture, market and sell Vancocin Pulvules, the oral capsule formulation of Vancocin, as well as rights to certain related Vancocin products. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 20, 2004.)