• Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., completed its $1.3 billion acquisition of Tularik Inc., of South San Francisco. Final regulatory approvals were received in June, and Tularik stockholders approved the tax-free transaction last week. Tularik stockholders will be entitled to 0.451 shares of Amgen common stock for each share of Tularik common stock held. Any fractional shares will be paid in cash. A total of about 24 million Amgen shares will be issued as consideration. The deal was reported in the spring. (See BioWorld Today, March 30, 2004.)

• Cangene Corp., of Winnipeg, Manitoba, said it would process plasma to be collected from anthrax-vaccinated military personnel as part of a Department of Defense initiative. It will work with plasma-donation centers in Clarksville, Tenn., near the army installation of Fort Campbell, Ky., and other locations at a later date.

• Columbia Laboratories Inc., of Livingston, N.J., said the Kronos Longevity Research Institute (KLRI) revised the protocol of the Kronos Early Estrogen Prevention Study and will not use Columbia's Prochieve 4 percent progesterone gel. The protocol initially required a non-oral, low dose of natural progesterone in all study patients who had not undergone a hysterectomy and were receiving active estrogens. Columbia's gel is approved by the FDA to treat secondary amenorrhea. KLRI decided to use an oral progestin instead, one that is approved for hormone therapy in perimenopausal women, due to FDA requirements for collecting biopsy data. Columbia's stock (NASDAQ:CBRX) fell 38 cents Monday, or 17 percent, to close at $1.85.

• DOR BioPharma Inc., of Miami, said its board approved a program to repurchase up to $500,000 of its issued and outstanding shares of common stock over the next six months. DOR plans to repurchase its shares for cash from time to time through block trades or other methods. DOR's lead product, orBec, is being developed for intestinal graft-vs.-host disease.

• GenUs BioSystems Inc., of Chicago, launched its gene-expression profiling service for picogram quantities of RNA, offering the service to researchers who have as few as 10 cells or 100 picograms of total RNA.

• Lynx Therapeutics Inc., of Hayward, Calif., agreed to allow the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., to use Lynx's Massively Parallel Signature Sequencing technology to study the transcriptional regulation of renin, an enzyme produced by specific cells in the kidneys. Lynx will receive payment for genomics discovery services it performs on samples provided by the institute's Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Lynx's stock (NASDAQ:LYNX) fell 19 cents Monday, or 11.4 percent, to close at $1.48.

• Medinox Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., and PUMC Pharmaceutical Co., of Beijing, entered a partnership to develop and market NOX-100 to treat septic shock patients in China and South Korea. PUMC is responsible for registration, reimbursement, manufacturing and marketing of the product, while Medinox could receive milestone payments and royalties. NOX-100, or Norathiol, is the first in a series of small-molecule anti-nitric oxide agents. It has completed a Phase I/II trial.

• Micrologix Biotech Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, received a permit to proceed with its acquisition of MitoKor Inc., of San Diego, pursuant to a public fairness hearing held last week. The permit was a condition to be satisfied prior to completing the deal and, among other things, allows the shares of Micrologix stock issuable in connection with the acquisition to be exempt from registration. In April, Micrologix signed a definitive agreement to acquire the privately held biotechnology company focused on the research and development of products for degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, arthritis and glaucoma. The transaction is anticipated to close before the end of this month, subject to other conditions and approvals, including the approval of MitoKor's stockholders.

• MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, agreed to develop a therapeutic antibody against an undisclosed target molecule involved in cardiovascular diseases. MorphoSys will generate the antibody using its HuCAL GOLD technology. Boehringer Ingelheim will carry out preclinical and clinical development, as well as subsequent marketing of all resulting products. MorphoSys is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties.

• Neurochem Inc., of Montreal, entered a $10.5 million, five-year revolving decreasing term credit facility. The company, which is developing therapeutics for neurological disorders, said it would use the loan to finance a recent acquisition of facilities in Laval, Quebec. Neurochem reported about $49.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities through June 30.

• Pluristem Life Systems Inc., of Haifa, Israel, received financing from the Office of the Chief Scientist to collaborate with Technion, Israel's Institute of Technology. The collaboration will work to develop Pluristem's next phase platform technology using biodegradable scaffolding in the PluriX bioreactor. The stromal-coated biodegradable scaffolds will create a biocompatible 3-dimensional environment to support hematopoietic stem cell expansion within the PluriX bioreactor.

• Senetek plc, of Napa, Calif., formed a new agreement with the holders of its outstanding $4.9 million in senior secured notes and 6.3 million Series A and B warrants. The new agreement provides for a $1.6 million principal prepayment, with no further principal payments due until the notes' final maturity in April 2007. The terms of the original agreement announced in April remain in place, except that only 2.65 million Series B warrants will become exercisable at the reduced price of 50 cents per share in connection with exchanges or payment of the notes. The company expects to save $175,000 annually under the new agreement.