• Agilent Technologies Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., entered a one-year agreement to provide microarray and gene-expression products to Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, both in Boston. More specifically, Agilent will supply instrumentation that includes a scanner for analyzing microarrays and a bioanalyzer for evaluating sample quality.

• Australian Cancer Technology, of Perth, Australia, said it is about to begin Phase II testing of its Pentrix anti-idiotypic cancer vaccine following last week's arrival of the product from Prima Pharm Inc., of San Diego. The formulated Pentrix vaccine was delivered to the Melbourne-based trial centers from the U.S. manufacturer, allowing recruitment of 40 hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients to begin.

• Axon Instruments Inc., of Union City, Calif., signed a multiyear private-label resale agreement with Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., to supply scanners for the latter's GeneChip high-throughput array gene-scanning technology. Affymetrix will purchase an agreed-upon minimum number of modified ImageXpress scanners and software from Axon for inclusion as part of a complete GeneChip system. Axon gained rights to certain Affymetrix intellectual property covering the manufacture and sale of scanners and software for conventional spotted microarrays. The agreement also includes an option for future extension to cover diagnostic applications of spotted microarrays.

• BioDelivery Sciences International Inc., of Newark, N.J., licensed a topical formulation of its lead product, encochleated amphotericin B, to Accentia Inc., of Tampa, Fla. Accentia, which will pay BioDelivery a running royalty of 12 percent to 14 percent on net sales in the U.S., is responsible for all expenses related to the development of an encochleated BioNasal amphotericin B for chronic rhinosinusitis in the U.S. and Europe. BioDelivery Sciences retains worldwide rights to the oral and intravenous formulations of encochleated amphotericin B, and non-U.S. and non-European rights to a topical formulation of BioNasal encochleated amphotericin B.

• CalbaTech Inc., of Irvine, Calif., said it achieved its first technical milestone in cooperative effort with the University of California at Irvine, concerning the development of a respiratory pathogen chip. The joint project has produced the first prototype of a DNA array that can detect the presence of a range of respiratory pathogens, including influenza viruses, rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, respiratory syncytial virus, Chlamydia pneumoniae and other pathogens. Once fully optimized, the panel will be made available for pathogen detection in clinical pathology laboratories, disease surveillance and research.

• Cephalon Inc., of West Chester, Pa., plans to begin a Phase III program in the second half of this year to evaluate Gabitril (tiagabine hydrochloride) to treat anxiety disorders. Gabitril is a selective GABA-reuptake inhibitor. In other news, Cephalon said it received marketing approval in the UK to expand the label of Provigil (modafinil) tablets to include the treatment of excessive sleepiness in patients with chronic pathological conditions, including narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome and moderate to severe chronic shift-work sleep disorder. Cephalon UK Ltd. plans to launch the new indication later this month. Provigil initially was approved in the UK in 1998 to treat narcolepsy.

• ConjuChem Inc., of Montreal, reported positive interim results from its ongoing monotherapy Phase II trial evaluating its DAC:GLP-1 compound to treat Type II diabetes. Findings showed a 0.8 percent reduction of HbA1c (A1c) after a month (p=0.001). A1c reflects the previous three months average plasma glucose level. Glucose normalization or a therapeutically meaningful improvement, as measured by A1c levels was achieved in 80 percent of the patients; furthermore, 27 percent of patients have reached the target of 7 percent or less. The company's stock (TSX:CJC) gained C$1.69 (US$1.27) Tuesday, or 13.5 percent, to close at C$14.19.

• Ecopia BioSciences Inc., of Montreal, said it discovered two more compounds, ECO-13901 and ECO-26301, using its Decipher technology. The platform is designed for the discovery of drugs from bacteria and scans microbial DNA to predict the structure of a compound. The newly discovered compounds will be further characterized before the company plans to add them to its pipeline, which is focused on cancer, antibacterial and antifungal compounds.

• Endovasc Inc., of Montgomery, Texas, said patients enrolled in Phase II trials of Liprostin are showing significant improvement in a test measuring their transcutaneous oxygen pressure. The study is for patients with critical limb ischemia and intermittent claudication who do not require angioplasty. The study also has primary endpoints of maximum walking distance and pain-free walking distance. Liprostin is a liposome-encapsulated form of prostaglandin E-1.

• Epimmune Inc., of San Diego, completed a private placement of common stock and warrants to selected institutional and accredited investors. The company received gross proceeds of about $5.5 million with the sale of 2.5 million shares and warrants to purchase up to about 1.2 million shares at about $2.21 per unit. The warrants are exercisable at a price of about $2.66 per share. Jefferies & Co. Inc. acted as sole placement agent and exclusive financial advisor. Epimmune said it will use net proceeds to conduct clinical trials and for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

• Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany, entered an integrated virtual screening and medicinal chemistry collaboration with Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, to identify, synthesize and optimize compounds that show biological activity against an undisclosed Fujisawa drug target. Evotec's chemists will mine the company's chemical databases to identify compounds in which Fujisawa will conduct biological screening. Evotec will receive service fees and milestone payments. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• FASgen Inc., of Baltimore, reported various results presented by Johns Hopkins University researchers in the field of obesity therapeutic research using the company's C-75 compound. The findings showed that fatty acid synthase (FAS) co-localizes with neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons in arcuate nucleus, and inhibition of FAS with C-75 alters food intake by interactions with the arcuate-PVN pathway mediated by NPY. Significant weight loss resulted in the animals, with no evidence of neurotoxicity. Other data showed that C-75 inhibits fasting-induced increases in NPY.

• Gloucester Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., named Joseph Mohr president and CEO. Most recently, he was the president and chief business officer at Variagenics Inc., also of Cambridge. Mohr also was appointed to the board of Gloucester, which was founded last year to develop cancer products. Apple Tree Partners, of New York, provided the company's initial funding.

• Interleukin Genetics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., expanded its facilities from 6,000 square feet to 19,000 square feet to accommodate growth, and is building a CLIA-approved DNA-testing laboratory. The company uses functional genomics to develop risk assessment, nutritional and therapeutic products based on genetic variations for diseases involving inflammation.

• Introgen Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, recei-ved a Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., to support a recently initiated Phase II trial of INGN 241 in patients with malignant melanoma. The grant will provide more than $1.8 million in funding and will support a study designed to evaluate the compound's efficacy and biologic activity in that indication. The grant also covers costs associated with the performance of assays to measure induction of tumor-cell death and antitumor immune system activation in patients with metastatic melanoma.

• Kosan Biosciences Inc., of Hayward, Calif., received a two-year $750,000 Phase II Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National Cancer Institute to support the company's development of next-generation inhibitors of Hsp90 as cancer agents. The company plans to use its genetic engineering technology to alter the scaffold of geldanamycin. Kosan and the institute are collaborating in multiple Phase Ib studies and plan to begin Phase II single-agent trials of the geldanamycin analogue, 17-AAG. A backup analogue is expected to enter the clinic this year. Hsp90 is designed to bind to several sets of signaling proteins that include cancer-relevant targets and steroid hormone receptors.

• MacroPore Biosurgery Inc., of San Diego, reported preclinical findings at the Cardiovascular Cell and Gene Therapy Conference II in Cambridge, Mass., suggesting that adipose-derived regenerative cells it discovered have the potential to engraft injured myocardium and express markers consistent with differentiation into cardiac myocytes. The company said the results provide early indication that adipose-derived regenerative cells, which include adult stem cells, endothelial progenitor cells and other growth factor producing cells, have the potential to repair damage associated with injured cardiac muscle following heart attack.

• Nanosphere Inc., of Northbrook, Ill., will receive $2.5 million as part of an 18-month contract to develop a field-deployable detection technology for the identification of biological toxins. Nanosphere is adapting its Verigene biomolecular detection technology into a field-deployable system that enables emergency first responders and hospital triage personnel to test for hazardous biological toxins, including ricin and botulinium toxin.

• Nexia Biotechnologies Inc., of Montreal, said the U.S. Army's Institute for Chemical Defense and Defense R&D Canada-Suffield completed the pharmacokinetic studies for Protexia. The studies confirmed the pharmacokinetic profile in animal models. The company now plans to file an investigational new drug application with the FDA. Protexia has demonstrated effectiveness as a countermeasure for chemical weapons. Nexia is expanding its Protexia program to add the civilian post-exposure therapy indication, in addition to the military battlefield prophylaxis indication. The company's stock (TSX:NXB) gained C21 cents (US13 cents) Tuesday, or 16.9 percent, to close at C$1.45.

• Norak Biosciences Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., and Scynexis Inc., also of Research Triangle Park, entered a research collaboration to discover and develop drugs. Norak transferred certain active compounds and chemical structures to Scynexis from its Transfluor screening exercise of its chemical libraries against desensitization targets. Norak gains access to a Scynexis research unit, including Medchem-Factory technology, HEOS Hit Explorer Operating System software and medicinal chemistry expertise. While financial terms were not disclosed, Norak will receive exclusive worldwide rights to products developed in exchange for technology access fees and other compensation.

• Oxxon Therapeutics Ltd., of Oxford, England, changed its name from Oxxon Pharmaccines and opened a new U.S. operation in Boston. The new facility places the company closer to medical and commercial opportunities, where a large biotech environment exists with specialized professionals. The Boston facility will initially staff four people and grow to 10 over the next three years. The laboratory-based research, early stage development and administration will continue to be run from the headquarters in Oxford.

• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., said findings published in this month's issue of Structure reveal new insights into the structure of a virus enzyme called UvsW that orchestrates a natural type of genetic engineering in bacteria, providing clues into how similar enzymes control the same process in human cells during DNA replication and repair. Researchers showed that UvsW is vital to the processes of DNA replication and repair, keeping the genetic material stable so mutations do not occur. UvsW also triggers recombinant-dependent replication as part of a rescue mission to repair a snag in DNA replication, called a stalled replication fork.

• Toxin Alert Inc., of Toronto, signed an agreement with Mississippi State University in Starkville for the development of large-scale antibody production from plants. The five-year agreement includes $2 million in annual U.S. government funding to develop commercially viable growing and extraction methods to produce antibodies and other proteins from plants. The antibodies can be used in Toxin Alert's Toxin Guard product to detect the presence of food-borne pathogens such as Listeria and E. coli.

• Xcel Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, withdrew plans for its initial public offering. The specialty pharmaceutical company, which is developing products that treat disorders of the central nervous system, filed for a proposed $75 million IPO last August.