• BioCurex Inc., of Richmond, British Columbia, updated shareholders concerning the status of its stock. On April 8, the SEC temporarily suspended trading in the stock for 10 days, but after four days without trading activity, the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) moves Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board stocks to the Pink Sheets. To restart trading, a dealer/broker needs to file Form 2-11 with the NASD to demonstrate compliance a securities rule. The company, which is developing technology that identifies a cancer marker known as Recaf, said it is working to correct an incorrect posting of its stock price.

• Bruker BioSciences Corp., of Billerica, Mass., raised about $12.6 million in net proceeds as part of a 15 million-share public offering in which it sold 3 million shares at $4.50 apiece. Four stockholders in the company, which develops life sciences tools through its subsidiaries, offered 12 million shares at the same price to generate about $50.5 million for themselves. Bruker, which plans to use its funds for general corporate purposes, potential acquisitions and possibly for the repayment of debt, granted the underwriters a 450,000-share overallotment option. The selling stockholders granted them a 1.8 million-share option. Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and UBS Securities LLC are acting as joint book-runners, and SG Cowen Securities Corp. is acting as co-manager.

• Dragon Pharmaceutical Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, entered an agreement with Suzhou Zhongkai Bio-Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of China, to in-license the exclusive right to commercialize its recombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) product worldwide, excluding the People's Republic of China. Zhongkai's rhG-CSF is approved in China for an oncology indication. Human G-CSF is a glycoprotein that regulates the production and release of functional neutrophils from bone marrow.

• Draxis Health Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, completed its recently reported transaction to purchase from SGF Sante Inc., a subsidiary of Societe generale de financement du Quebec, its 32.7 percent minority interest in Draxis Pharma Inc., the company's pharmaceutical contract manufacturing subsidiary. Draxis paid C$13 million (US$9.6 million) in cash to SGF for the interest in DPI that it did not already own. In addition, as part of the transaction, Draxis also repaid outstanding loans owed by DPI of about C$4.2 million to SGF and C$2.3 million to Investissment Quebec.

• Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., moved into new global headquarters called Genzyme Center. The 12-story, 350,000-square-foot building was designed with energy efficiency in mind, with much of its light supplied through a system that filters outdoor light throughout the structure, solar panels, use of waste steam from a nearby power plant for cooling and heating, an insulating second layer of glass over much of the exterior and plumbing designed for efficiency, as well.

• Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., reported first-quarter financial results for the period ended March 31, including net income of $114.4 million, or 50 cents per diluted share. That figure included a pre-tax gain of $20.6 million related to an equity position in Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New York, following the completion of Eyetech's initial public offering. A year ago, the company posted a net loss of $438.1 million, or $2.21 per share. Gilead's total revenues were $309.1 million, up 87 percent over last year's first quarter. Boosting revenue were sales of Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), which climbed 80 percent to $193.1 million. The company closed the three-month period with $837.6 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities.

• IMCOR Pharmaceutical Co., of San Diego, formerly known as Photogen Technologies Inc., closed the first tranche of its $10 million private placement equity financing. The company issued about 2.7 million shares and associated warrants for gross proceeds of about $2 million. Purchasers received one share of common stock and one-half warrant to purchase its common stock. Shares in the financing were sold at 75 cents a share. Warrants will be exercisable for five years at an exercise price of $1 per full warrant, subject to a call for a mandatory exercise of the warrants under certain conditions.

• La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology in San Diego said its researchers identified two molecules, TL and CD8aa, which fight recurring infections by cooperating to trigger immune cells to develop into long-lived memory cells. The finding might have implications for developing longer-lasting and more potent vaccines for HIV and West Nile viruses.

• MJ Research Inc., of Waltham, Mass., said it received a verdict of between $17.8 million and $19.8 million in damages against the company from its antitrust litigation with Applera Corp., of Norwalk, Conn., and Roche Molecular Systems Inc., of Pleasanton, Calif. The second phase of the trial, expected to begin in July, will involve MJ asserting the defense of patent misuse to the claims litigated in the first phase. MJ plans to challenge the legality of the thermal cycler authorization program and will seek monetary damages for various antitrust counterclaims against Applera and Roche. MJ's president, John Finney, said the company is confident it will be found innocent of any improper conduct following the second phase of the trial and any appeals. In the meantime, the company plans to file for voluntary bankruptcy protection.

• QLT Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said that Visudyne (verteporfin) is now reimbursed in Japan after approval by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in October 2003 for the "wet" form of age-related macular degeneration with all types of subfoveal choroidal neovascularization. Approval was based on a 12-month study conducted in Japan that confirmed the efficacy and safety profile of Visudyne.

• Schering-Plough Corp., of Kenilworth, N.J., said European regulatory authorities issued a positive opinion recommending approval of expanded labeling for Remicade (infliximab) as first-line therapy, in combination with methotrexate or other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, for early rheumatoid arthritis patients with severe, active and progressive disease. In the European Union, the monoclonal antibody is indicated for rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and ankylosing spondylitis. Schering-Plough markets Remicade in all countries outside the U.S., except in Japan and parts of the Far East where it is sold by Tanabe Seiyaku Ltd., of Osaka, Japan. Exclusive U.S. rights are held by Centocor Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, N.J.

• Syngenta Seeds, of Golden Valley, Minn., gained approval in China for the import of its NK Brand YieldGard hybrids as food and feed. Corn stocks are down an estimated 60 percent in China, creating a significant market opportunity for North American corn growers, the company said. The hybrids control a European corn borer, a pest that costs corn growers $1 billion to $2 billion annually.