• Active Biotech AB, of Lund, Sweden, said its board intends to raise a debenture loan for about SEK150 million (US$20.9 million) through the issue of about 3.7 million convertible debentures. The loan will carry 2 percent interest from Jan. 1, and will mature on June 30, 2009, if the debentures have not yet been converted. The conversion price will be SEK40. The transaction is subject to approval by a general meeting.

• Advanced Magnetics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., and Cytogen Corp., of Princeton, N.J., said an article to be published in next month's issue of Radiology reports that MRI in conjunction with Combidex (ferumoxtran-10) improves sensitivity in detecting the spread of cancer to lymph nodes in urinary bladder cancer patients. Combidex, an investigational molecular imaging agent to aid in the noninvasive diagnosis of metastatic lymph nodes, was shown to improve detection of lymph node metastases, particularly in normal-sized nodes.

• Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., announced early technology access to the GeneChip microarray used in the government-funded ENCODE (Encyclopedia of Complete DNA Elements) initiative, the next step of the Human Genome Project. The company said its array contains millions of DNA probes evenly spaced, or tiled, across 35 million base pairs of DNA. The tiling arrays allow for genome-wide analyses of biological functions such as transcription, transcription factor binding sites, sites of chromatin modification, sites of DNA methylation and chromosomal origins of replication.

• Bioscience Managers Ltd., of London, and Teachers' Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, closed the BML International Maple Leaf Fund I to focus on private equity investments in mid-stage Canadian life science companies. The fund is expected to be a lead investor in syndicated rounds worth $20 million to $30 million.

• Callisto Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, said its common stock was approved for listing on the American Stock Exchange and scheduled to begin trading today under the ticker "KAL." The company focuses on the development of drugs to treat cancer and osteolytic bone disease.

• CollaGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newtown, Pa., said its wholly owned UK subsidiary, CollaGenex International Ltd., will receive $3.3 million for selling rights to its UK and European dental assets to Alliance Pharma plc, of Chippenham, UK. The assets primarily consist of trademarks, UK and European governmental marketing authorizations, distribution agreements and other intangible assets related to the sale of Periostat in Europe; the compounds sales in that territory last year were about $560,000. CollaGenex also agreed to supply Periostat tablets to Alliance, which received an option to acquire a license to register and market Periostat MR, a once-daily, modified-release form of Periostat in Phase III trials in the U.S. and UK for adult periodontitis. CollaGenex retains all rights to Periostat MR in other indications.

• Durect Corp., of Cupertino, Calif., began a Phase I trial to test the safety and tolerability of a transdermal sufentanil product. The trial is designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of sufentanil following transdermal administration. Sufentanil is a pain-relief medication that is FDA approved for use in hospitals as an analgesic and is the active ingredient in Durect's Chronogesic.

• DUSA Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Wilmington, Mass., began a Phase II study of its Levulan Kerastick (aminolevulinic acid HCL) and BLU-U photodynamic therapy for moderate to severe facial acne vulgaris. It will enroll up to 80 patients to examine the effect of varying drug incubation times, followed by a standardized light dose using the BLU-U. Primary efficacy parameters will be acne lesion count and acne severity score.

• Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bridgewater, N.J., said the Japanese subsidiary of Schering-Plough Corp., of Kenilworth, N.J., received approval in that country for Peg-Intron (peginterferon alfa-2b) powder for injection for use in combination with Rebetol (ribavirin) capsules for chronic hepatitis C. The combination therapy is the first and only pegylated interferon-based combination therapy approved in Japan.

• Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, said data reported at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans showed that the treatment effect with Macugen (pegaptanib sodium injection) extends for two years in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration who are at risk of losing vision. A treatment benefit also was seen in patients who received Macugen for two years compared to those receiving only one year of therapy.

• Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, still owes $500 million after a California Court of Appeal upheld a 2002 judgment from the Los Angeles County Superior Court award for City of Hope. The award of about $300 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages resulted from a re-trial of a 1999 contract-dispute lawsuit brought by City of Hope against Genentech. Questioning the parties' 1976 agreement, Genentech said it paid City of Hope more than $300 million over 20 years in royalty payments for sales of products made using DNA, which City of Hope produced, that used the technology that resulted from the sponsored research. Then City of Hope filed a contract-dispute suit against Genentech in 1999. The company said it would seek review by the California Supreme Court.

• GenVec Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said Phase I data reported at the American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting in New Orleans showed no dose-limiting toxicities, adverse events or cases of infection in the eye in a trial evaluating AdPEDF in patients with severe wet age-related macular degeneration. The multicenter, open-label study involved 28 patients.

• Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it plans to respond before the Dec. 20 deadline to a request for information issued by the Department of Health and Human Services for therapeutics to treat neutropenia and thrombocytopenia associated with acute radiation syndrome. Hollis-Eden is developing Neumune (HE2100), an investigational immune-regulating hormone, for acute radiation injury.

• MedImmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said it is increasing its planned delivery of FluMist (influenza virus vaccine live, intranasal) up to a total of 3 million doses. Originally the company had completed production of 1.1 million doses and said it would produce up to 2.1 million doses in response to the shortage of the injectable influenza vaccine. The company also said it discussed production plans for the future.

• Nanogen Inc., of San Diego, and Epoch Biosciences Inc., of Bothell, Wash., said they would hold stockholder meetings Dec. 8 to consider and vote on matters related to their proposed merger. The $58 million stock deal that would combine Nanogen's diagnostic products with Epoch's products for genomic analysis was reported last month. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 9, 2004.)

• Othera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Exton, Pa., raised $3 million to complete a $16 million Series B round of financing. In August, the company closed on $13 million to fund further development of its ophthalmic drug pipeline. Its lead drug is OT-551, an eye-drop formulation that is being developed to prevent or delay cataract formation. The company plans to file an investigational new drug application in the indication this quarter. Othera's next product, OT-730, is in preclinical development for glaucoma. The first close of its financing was led by NewSpring Ventures and Commerce Health Ventures, with additional participants including Johnson & Johnson Development Corp., Liberty Venture Partners, private investors and members of management. Participants in the second closing included NJTC Venture Fund, Fletcher Spaght Ventures and Liberty Venture Partners.

• Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tustin, Calif., said initial clinical data to be reported at the Conference on Cancer Therapy with Antibodies & Immunoconjugates in Princeton, N.J., showed that a single intravenous dose of Cotara (131I-chTNT-1/B) was generally well tolerated, with the expected dose-limiting toxicity - bone marrow suppression. Although no objective responses were reported in the dose-escalation study in advanced colorectal cancer, known sites of disease were imaged in all patients receiving the maximum tolerated dose while achieving calculated absorbed radiation doses many times higher than normal organs. Significant antitumor effects of the single-agent therapy were not anticipated.

• Syrrx Inc., of San Diego, said an article published in last month's issue of Current Opinions in Drug Discovery and Development further describes the atomic structure of c-Kit kinase in complex with Gleevec (STI-571, Novartis AG). The c-Kit structure was determined with Syrrx's high-throughput structural biology platform that uses automation technology to crystallize disease-causing proteins. The companies are independently using the structure to design cancer agents.

• Theratechnologies Inc., of Montreal, named Yves Rosconi president and CEO. He replaces Luc Tanguay, who will become senior executive vice president and chief financial officer. The company said it is reorganizing senior management responsibilities in order to strengthen its position for late-stage development and commercialization of its lead product, ThGRF, a growth hormone-releasing factor analogue scheduled to enter late-stage development next year for HIV-associated lipodystrophy. Rosconi has more than 25 years of global pharmaceutical experience, including a recent stint as senior vice president of Aventis Intercontinental Africa Middle East.

• Transkaryotic Therapies Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., paid $61 million to complete the purchase of the 20 percent equity interest in TKT Europe-5S AB held by the founding European executives of TKT Europe-5S. The purchase price in the transaction, which gives TKT complete ownership, was based on a predefined formula. TKT formed TKT Europe-5S in April 2000 to market, sell and distribute Replagal (agalsidase alfa), its enzyme-replacement therapy for Fabry's disease, in Europe. The company will account for the acquisition of TKT Europe-5S's minority interest as a step acquisition in the fourth quarter and expects that the majority of the purchase price will be allocated to tangible and intangible assets.