• A.P. Pharma Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., said pharmacokinetic results of the first part of its Phase II study of its pain relief product, APF112, demonstrated meaningful levels of mepivacaine over a three-day period, consistent with observations made in preclinical studies. APF112 combines the company's Biochronomer bioerodible drug delivery system with mepivacaine, an off-patent analgesic. A.P. Pharma added that there was good patient-to-patient consistency in the group. No adverse events were reported in the 10 patient, open-label study. Both patients and physicians reported good to very good quality of pain control. The trial's second part is a 90-patient study comparing two doses of APF112 with current standard treatments for post-surgical pain.

• Aerogen Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., said it would raise $32.5 million after signing definitive documents for an equity financing that includes the sale and issuance of Series A-1 preferred stock, initially convertible into about 11.4 million common shares, as well as the issuance of warrants to purchase up to about 11.2 million shares at an exercise price of $3.25 apiece. The Xmark Funds served as lead investor for the financing, which also included HealthCap, Orbimed Advisors, Perceptive Life Sciences Fund Ltd., SF Capital Partners and other investors. CIBC World Markets Corp. acted as the transaction's placement agent. Aerogen develops devices to deliver inhaled drugs.

• AEterna Laboratories Inc., of Quebec City, Quebec, said its Zentaris GmbH subsidiary entered agreements to develop ghrelin antagonist compounds for the management of obesity, as well as targets for potential cancer agents. Zentaris' agreements with the University of Montpellier in France and the University of Milan in Italy will focus on projects targeting the chemical synthesis and pharmacological investigation of new compounds acting as ghrelin antagonists. By way of oncology agreements with the Institute for Molecular Biotechnology of Jena and the University of Munster, both in Germany, Zentaris gained access to specific university knowledge and screening technologies in the field of proteins of the cytoskeleton. The new substances, available either by the collaborators or synthesized by Zentaris, will be investigated for their ability to interact with mitotic and motor proteins, including the kinesin family.

• Allos Therapeutics Inc., of Westminster, Colo., said the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee is planning a May 3 review of the company's new drug application for RSR13 (efaproxiral), its investigational radiation sensitizer. Last month, the agency accepted for priority review the NDA seeking approval to market RSR13 as an adjunct to whole-brain radiation therapy for the treatment of patients with brain metastases originating from breast cancer. The FDA has set June 4 as a target date to take action on the application. Allos began submitting the rolling NDA in August.

• Biomira Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, updated data from a Phase II colorectal study of its Theratope vaccine. A Kaplan-Meier Survival and Time to Disease Progression Curve of the 20 colorectal cancer patients who received combination chemotherapy plus Theratope showed a median survival of 17.8 months and a median time to disease progression of 8.4 months. The median time to disease progression remains unchanged from data reported last June.

• Boston Life Sciences Inc., of Boston, said a lawsuit against the company was dismissed after the plaintiffs moved to dismiss their own lawsuit without prejudice. They filed suit against the company and its directors, challenging its recent Series E preferred stock financing. Boston Life Sciences is developing products for central nervous system diseases and cancer.

• Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, detailed its long-range growth strategy. Among other goals, Genentech said it would maintain 25 percent average growth of its annual earnings per share, on a non-GAAP basis, through next year. The company also said it would have more than five significant products in late-stage clinical development by the end of next year. For this year, Genentech said it expects a minimum of 20 percent annual non-GAAP EPS growth year over year.

• Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, gained a public listing on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board under the ticker symbol "HZYM," after completing a reverse merger with Global Yacht Services, which previously traded on the exchange as "GYHT." It also changed its name from Hyalozyme to Halozyme. The board of Halozyme, which is developing recombinant human enzymes, assumed operational control of the surviving entity. Its technology, which has produced its first product, called rHuPH20, replaces current animal slaughterhouse-derived enzymes that carry risks of animal pathogen contamination and immunogenicity. Last month, Halozyme completed a $9.2 million private investment round, which included warrants callable by Halozyme for up to an additional $15.9 million.

• ImClone Systems Inc., of New York, received $250 million as a milestone payment from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., also of New York, related to last month's FDA approval of Erbitux (cetuximab). The product received clearance to treat irinotecan-refractory or -intolerant metastatic EGFR-expressing colorectal cancer. The companies signed a potential $2 billion partnership in September 2001 to develop Erbitux. An approval in a second indication would bring ImClone another $250 million. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 20, 2001; March 7, 2002; and Feb. 13, 2004.)

• Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore said two of its biomedical engineering students are mapping the interaction of molecules within a cardiac cell, describing microscopic movements that could be critical for maintaining a healthy heartbeat. More specifically, they have tracked the activity of molecules in a small region inside cardiac myocytes, the muscle cells that mediate contractions of the heart. By modeling the interaction between single molecules in tiny subsections of the cell, they believe they can predict what will happen to the entire heart.

• Paradigm Genetics Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., closed its all-stock acquisition of TissueInformatics Inc., of Pittsburgh. Paradigm will issue about 3.4 million common shares to TissueInformatics shareholders, with a value of about $4.5 million. An additional 2.7 million shares will be available on an earn-out basis for the successful achievement of performance milestones on or before Dec. 31. Privately held TissueInformatics specializes in automated pathology software for the quantitative analysis of tissue changes in drug discovery, disease assessment, toxicology and tissue-engineering research. Paradigm is focused on the discovery and validation of genes, targets and biomarkers for product development in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries, with an internal focus on metabolic disorders, pathway engineering and chemical genetics. The combined organization, with 212 employees, will be headquartered in Research Triangle Park, while maintaining current operations in Pittsburgh.

• Praecis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Waltham, Mass., said the FDA suspended its Phase I trial of PPI-2458 for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma until questions relating to a finding in a recently completed animal safety study have been resolved. The finding consisted of a neuropathological abnormality in some of the animals tested, which the company labeled as similar to findings reported in connection with other approved products. The agency indicated that Praecis will need to submit a detailed plan to address the finding, and the company said it expects to receive a letter confirming the clinical hold and providing details of the actions that will be required prior to proceeding with the study. Praecis' stock (NASDAQ:PRCS) fell 2 cents Friday to close at $5.98.