• Active Biotech AB, of Lund, Sweden, said it terminated arbitration proceedings with PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, of Oxford, UK, in relation to a share-purchase agreement in 2001 for the sale of SBL Vaccin AB, wherein PowderJect raised claims valuing $20 million against Active Biotech. The parties reached an amicable settlement. PowderJect agreed to withdraw its $20 million claim and to waive its rights under the disputed warranties of the share-purchase agreement. Active Biotech reduced its claim concerning the milestone payment for Dukoral vaccine achieving European approval, which was part of the previous royalty agreement between SBL Vaccin and Active Biotech, to $4.5 million. Upon that payment, Active Biotech agreed to waive all rights to further royalty and milestone payments. PowderJect was acquired by Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron Corp. in July.

Affibody AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, and Mabtech AB, also of Stockholm, entered a collaboration to develop diagnostic kits for the research market. The kits will incorporate Affibody's antibody mimics - affibodies - that are generated by making single-amino-acid substitutions at the binding site of a Staphylococcus aureus protein A domain. Affibody said the kits would circumvent the cross-reactivity problems that can arise with traditional antibody-based kits.

• Agendia BV, of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, closed a Series A financing round led by Gilde Investment Management, of Utrecht, the Netherlands. Global Life Science Ventures and AXA Private Equity Venture Funds also participated. The company will use funds to market its microarray-based breast cancer test and to develop microarray-based diagnostic tests for other cancers based on gene expression profiles. Agendia is a pharmacogenomics company founded by scientists from the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam. Wim van Harten and Pieter van der Meer, of Gilde Investment Management, are joining the company's board. The amount raised in the financing was not disclosed.

• Biobase GmbH, of Wolfenbuttel, Germany, released its Transpath-NetPro product, a database of molecular regulation mechanisms in human and mammalian cells. It combines Transpath, which is used to analyze biological networks and gene expression arrays, and for identification of molecules in signal networks, with NetPro, a protein-protein database.

• Biofrontera AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, reported positive interim Phase II results showing that BF-Derm1 reduced urticaria symptoms by 30 percent to 40 percent, on average, with no relevant side effects. The product is a histidine decarboxylase inhibitor.

• Bionomics Ltd., of Adelaide, Australia, and Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia, established a collaboration to discover new drugs targeting epilepsy and anxiety. Under the terms, SCU will provide Bionomics with extracts from its collection of Australian-based natural products, together with expertise in natural products chemistry. Bionomics will screen for activity against biological targets associated with the two indications, and will use SCU's natural products library and chemistry know-how to support its drug discovery program.

• Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd., of Petach-Tikvah, Israel, presented at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) meeting interim Phase II results that showed treatment with CF101 in 56 colorectal cancer patients resulted in stable disease in 20 who continued after eight weeks. Of them, six were stable after 16 weeks and two remained stable and continued after 24 weeks. In addition, confirming data showed CF101 to be safe and without side effects in therapeutic doses.

• Celltech Pharmaceuticals, a division of Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, and Orphan Medical Inc., of Minneapolis, received notice that the European Medicines Evaluation Agency accepted the marketing authorization application for Xyrem for review. Xyrem (sodium oxybate) oral solution is a treatment for the symptoms of narcolepsy. The drug has orphan drug designation in Europe. Celltech plans to market the product to neurologists and sleep specialists across Europe following an expected approval in 2005. Celltech licensed the European rights from Orphan Medical in October.

• Cognitive Drug Research Ltd., of Goring-on-Thames, UK, reported the availability of the CDRSystem for multiple sclerosis. The system is specific to areas of cognitive function impairment in MS, and a single-test session typically lasts about 30 minutes, it said. The system is automated and the computer controls stimuli presentation, automatically captures data and prepares the data for processing.

• Cosmix Molecular Biologicals GmbH, of Braunschweig, Germany, said it acquired nonexclusive rights to an mRNA peptide display technology useful for the discovery of peptides with high affinity for selected targets. The technology, sometimes called the PROfusion technology, was licensed from Phylos Inc., of Lexington, Mass., by Gryphon Therapeutics, an affiliate of Cosmix. The Cosmix team has been expanded to include scientists experienced in the application of the technology. Cosmix is focused on peptides for applications in health care, research and industry.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said it would receive up to about $3.5 million from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., to support the development of a malaria vaccine candidate. The funds will cover process development of the AdVac-based malaria vaccine, including the production of clinical trial material and an investigational new drug filing.

• CSL Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, completed its acquisition of Aventis Behring from Aventis SA, of Strasbourg, France. CSL will combine Aventis Behring with ZLB Bioplasma to create a new business, ZLB Behring, to be headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa. The company will combine ZLB Bioplasma's IVIG production capabilities with Aventis Behring's coagulation products, hemophilia expertise and specialty products. In order to finalize the financials of the combined entity for the first time, the company's full-year result report was changed from Aug. 18 to Aug. 26.

• DakoCytomation A/S, of Glostrup, Denmark, and Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Rockville, Md., said at the AACR meeting last week that new assays distinguish between expression of the TRAIL Receptor-1 and TRAIL Receptor-2 proteins, and are suitable for further exploration of the relationship between TRAIL-R1 and TRAIL-R2 expression and therapeutic response to agonistic antibodies. The companies entered an agreement under which DakoCytomation acquired exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize pharmacogenomic diagnostic tests in the field of oncology based on TRAIL-R1 and TRAIL-R2. DakoCytomation will be the exclusive partner of HGS for any licensed immunohistochemical diagnostic products based on the TRAIL-R1 or TRAIL-R2 proteins.

• Flamel Technologies, of Lyon, France, received a $5 million milestone payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, as part of their August licensing agreement for Flamel's formulation of long-acting human insulin. The companies did not disclose what triggered the payment. Flamel is engaged in the development of its Medusa technology designed to deliver therapeutic proteins, and its Micropump technology for the oral administration of small-molecule drugs.

• Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, of Mainz, Germany, named Rainer Wessel president and CEO. He succeeds James Ratigan, who had been the company's interim CEO since July 2003. Ratigan will remain a consultant to Ganymed and will join its supervisory board in July 2004. Wessel previously was president and CEO of Axxima Pharmaceuticals AG. He began his career at Boehringer Ingelheim, and has also handled intellectual property and licensing for Qiagen GmbH.

• GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said it is planning an equity offering and a listing on the Nasdaq exchange. The company noted that the offering's timing and details have to be finalized and would depend on market conditions.

• Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG, of Munich, Germany, entered an agreement to provide genetic rat models to Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J. The models, which will have alterations in a gene specified by Merck, will be developed using Ingenium's Ingenotyping technology. No financial terms or further details were disclosed.

• IntegraGen SA, of Paris, said its scientists identified a gene associated with autism. Though it has never been implicated in autism before, the gene is known to be involved in synaptic signal transmission processes. More specifically, it codes for a synaptic protein that is involved in modulating neuronal signals.

• LifeCycle Pharma A/S, of H rsholm, Denmark, entered a collaboration with Recordati SpA, of Milan, Italy, to develop a modified-release version of the latter's Zandip, an oral calcium channel blocker used for treatment of hypertension. LifeCycle will employ its MeltDose technology, which improves the bioavailability of compounds with poor water solubility, in the new formulation. It also will be responsible for manufacturing. LifeCycle is entitled to undisclosed milestone payments and royalties.

• Lonza Biologics plc, of Slough, UK, and Chromos Molecular Systems Inc., of Burnaby, British Columbia, extended their collaboration agreement. Lonza researchers gain continued nonexclusive access to Chromos' ACE System for evaluation in its contract manufacturing business. Chromos' chromosome-based technology enables the rapid engineering of cell lines to express specific genes. The collaboration is extended until the fourth quarter of this year, and it includes an option to license Chromos' ACE System with Lonza's GS System for use in cellular protein production.

• MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said a Phase III trial of Polyphenon E Ointment for genital warts produced statistically significant results as more than 500 patients showed a high and lasting efficacy of the drug with low systemic adverse reactions. About 53 percent treated with 15 percent Polyphenon E Ointment showed complete clearance of all external genital warts. Results of the European trial, along with data from an ongoing Phase III study in the U.S., will be prerequisites for the company's application for approval. MediGene said pooled results from both trials are expected at the end of this year.

• Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, and the Population Council in New York reported preclinical findings at the Microbicides 2004 International Congress in London on a combination of MIV-150 and Carraguard against HIV transmission. Developed by Medivir, MIV-150 is an inhibitor of HIV, while Carraguard is a microbicide gel developed by the nonprofit organization for women in order to prevent sexual transmission of HIV. Findings showed that MIV-150 inactivates HIV outside the cell, Carraguard prevents HIV from penetrating into a cell and MIV-150 blocks the multiplication of HIV that could have penetrated into a cell.

• Merck KGaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, and Biomira Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, reported preliminary Phase IIb results indicating that the median survival of Stage IIIb and Stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with BLP25 liposomal vaccine was 4.4 months longer than those in the control arm. Although not statistically significant, the overall median survival seen in the randomized, open-label trial was 17.4 months for patients in the vaccine arm vs. 13 months for the control arm. The observed two-year survival for patients with locoregional Stage IIIb disease was 60 percent for the vaccine arm (median survival not yet reached) vs. 36.7 percent for the control arm (median survival of 13.3 months). Though not finalized, the companies said future plans likely would include a multinational Phase III registration trial.

• MWG Biotech AG, of Ebersberg, Germany, entered a supply agreement to allow Government Scientific Source Inc., of Vienna, Va., to distribute all products from MWG's four business units to U.S. federal customers. MWG provides technologies, instruments, products and services to pharma, biotechnology, diagnostics and agrobio businesses, while Government Scientific is a certified distributor of scientific equipment and supplies to federal, state and municipal government laboratories. Financial and other details were not disclosed.

• The National Institute for Biotechnology at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, located in Beersheba, Israel, received a new executive director, Aaron Klug, professor of biological chemistry and a 1982 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry. Klug has been chairman of the institute's international advisory committee since it was founded in May 2001. His current research is on binding proteins regulating gene expression, in particular the zinc finger family of transcription factors, which he discovered. Also this week at BGU, the Ilse Katz Center for Meso- and Nano-Scale Science and Technology celebrated the inauguration of its new Electron Microscopy Laboratory, with a one-day workshop for more than 100 participants, on advanced analytical techniques in electron microscopy.

• Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland, acknowledged an invitation by the board of Aventis SA, of Strasbourg, France, to enter negotiations regarding a potential transaction. Novartis added that it expects Aventis will clarify with the French government the positives of such a transaction for Aventis shareholders, as well as for employment, research and development. Aventis has been the subject of a takeover by Sanofi-Synthelabo SA, of Paris. Also, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., said it would receive $42.75 million from Novartis to satisfy its obligation to fund costs of Interleukin-1 Trap after opting out of a joint development agreement. Novartis also forgave all its outstanding loans to Regeneron upon the latter's achievement of a development milestone. All rights to IL-1 Trap will revert to Regeneron, though both parties retain rights under the agreement to collaborate in the future on other IL-1 antagonists.

• PharmaMar SA, of Madrid, Spain, reported data at the AACR meeting showing a molecular fingerprint demonstrative of a Yondelis-induced inhibition of transcription. Other findings showed Aplidin to be significantly more potent than Idarubicin on acute myeloid leukemia cells lines and on fresh leukemic blasts explanted from 30 such patients. Additional data indicated that tumor cells with higher HER2/neu and/or HER3 expression are particularly sensitive to Kahalalide F, also demonstrating that the product induces down-regulation of the erbB pathway. All three products are in clinical trials.

• ProQinase GmbH, of Freiburg, Germany, and Cell Signaling Technology Inc., of Beverly, Mass., entered a distribution and co-marketing agreement for the full line of ProQinase purified enzymes. Cell Signaling will distribute the 70 kinases on a scale for high-throughput screening and research, and in validated kinase assays for the drug discovery market. ProQinase's enzymes together with Cell Signaling's phospho-specific antibody reagents will create assay systems enabling kinase inhibitor drug discovery, lead optimization and profiling.

• St. James' Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, is collaborating with the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., on a two-year clinical trial aimed at identifying genetic markers in esophageal cancer that predict response to treatment. The aim is to identify a small subset of patients who are poor responders to the center's existing protocol, which is based on preoperative radiation and chemotherapy, in order to provide them with a more aggressive, individualized treatment regimen. The project will provide the St. James's unit with access to the NCI's advanced proteomics and bioinformatics platforms.

• The Genetics Co. Inc., of Zurich-Schlieren, Switzerland, entered a research collaboration to use structural biology tools belonging to Morphochem AG, of Munich, Germany, to support the ß-Secretase program of The Genetics Co. More specifically, Morphochem will apply its protein expression, purification, crystallization and structure determination capabilities (all part of its MOREsystem) to generate biostructural information for further optimization of inhibitor compounds against ß-Secretase identified by The Genetics Co. as potential new therapeutic agents for Alzheimer's disease. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• ThromboGenics Ltd., of Dublin, Ireland, was granted orphan drug designation by the FDA for use of its microplasmin compound in pediatric eye surgery to treat retinal disorders that cause visual impairment and blindness in children. Microplasmin has the potential to simplify a surgical procedure called vitrectomy, as use of the drug has shown effectiveness in inducing posterior vitreous detachment, a critical part of the procedure.

• Zellera AG, the Berlin-based subsidiary of Aastrom Biosciences Inc., of Ann Arbor, started a bone grafting clinical trial to be conducted by the Institut de Terapia Regenerativa Tisular at Hospital General de l'Hospitalet, Hospital de Barcelona and Centro Medico Teknon, located in Barcelona, Spain. The feasibility trial is designed to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of Aastrom's Tissue Repair Cells to regenerate new, healthy bone in the repair of non-union large bone fractures.