• Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, set the price range for its initial public offering at $11 to $13. The company, which first registered for its IPO in the fall, said it plans to offer 6.25 million shares. Anadys is developing products to treat hepatitis C and infections. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 18, 2003.)

• Arachnova Therapeutics Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, entered a licensing deal with Sosei Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, involving the therapeutic use of AA10020/SOU001 for stress urinary incontinence. In a Phase Ib mechanism trial, the compound demonstrated potential efficacy in increasing urethral pressure compared to placebo, without a significant increase in blood pressure. The compound previously was developed up to Phase II trials as an intravenous injection for a cardiovascular indication. Arachnova will receive an up-front license fee and developmental milestones together with royalties on sales, while Sosei has secured exclusive, worldwide development and marketing rights, and will share intellectual property with Arachnova. Sosei intends to continue development into Phase II efficacy trials and retains the right to sublicense the project at a later stage in development. More specific financial terms were not disclosed.

• Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, received a $4 million milestone payment from Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., related to animal testing of small molecules that act upon selected G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), which might represent targets for cardiovascular disease. The companies have been collaborating since October 2002 on a group of GPCR targets discovered by Arena. Arena received the milestone for advancing the potency and profile of identified small molecules in animal testing.

• Basilea Pharmaceutica AG, of Basel, Switzerland, said it successfully completed Phase I development of BAL8557, a water-soluble azole suitable for both oral and intravenous administration. Data demonstrated that the compound was rapidly converted to the active drug moiety following oral or intravenous administration. BAL8557 is active against a range of fungal pathogens, including strains resistant to current antifungal treatments. Basilea is preparing a Phase II development program.

• Bionomics Ltd., of Adelaide, Australia, signed a letter of intent with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Parkville, Australia, to establish a drug discovery collaboration in ion channels. The parties plan to identify new lead molecules to treat central nervous system disorders, including epilepsy and anxiety. The collaboration would be focused on Bionomics' ion channel targets and animal models.

• Cellectis SA, of Paris, expanded its agreement with BASF Plant Science GmbH, of Ludwigshafen, Germany. The deal, which covers the evaluation and use of Cellectis' Meganuclease I-SceI for the deletion/excision of nucleotide sequences, such as marker genes in plants for agricultural and nutritional applications, was extended to further crops of interest to BASF. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• CuraGen Corp., of New Haven, Conn., received orphan drug designation for CG53135 from the FDA to treat radiation-induced oral mucositis. The protein, which promotes epithelial and mesenchymal cell proliferation in vitro and is active in animal models of oral mucositis, is in Phase I trials. The company expects to begin Phase II trials this year.

• Diatos SA, of Paris, secured €7 million in a new financing round. The company plans to use proceeds to support the clinical development of its lead product, DTS-201, and to expand its operations in Europe and the U.S. Innoven Partenaires and Belgium-based Biotech Fund Flanders led the financing. Existing investors include Credit Lyonnais Private Equity and NIF Ventures, as well as others.

• eXegenics Inc., of Dallas, said Ronald Goode resigned his position as the company's CEO and president, terminating his employment agreement that was to expire March 21. eXegenics said Goode claims that he left his positions, in part, because the board has created an environment where his ability to perform his job functions has been diminished. The board disputes that claim.

• GenVec Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., expanded its multiyear subcontract with SAIC-Frederick Inc., of Frederick, Md., resulting in $1.3 million more in revenue. GenVec will manufacture a severe acute respiratory syndrome vaccine, based on its adenovector technology, to support early stage clinical development. Phase I trials will be conducted by the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

• Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, acquired all of the capital stock of Congressional Pharmaceutical Corp., of Bethesda, Md., which has intellectual property rights licensed from the University of Chicago. The rights are to develop a series of compounds to protect against DNA mutations that can occur as a result of radiation injury or chemotherapy. CPC stockholders are receiving shares of Hollis-Eden common stock, as well as the right to receive additional shares of stock based on the achievement of certain development milestones. CPC stockholders also might be entitled to royalty payments upon regulatory approval and commercialization of products covered by the IP.

• Hybridon Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., reported the publication of a preclinical research report presenting evidence in cells and cell lysates that the MDM2 oncoprotein decreases the activity of the tumor suppressor protein p21 through direct physical interaction. MDM2 is the target of Hybridon's second-generation antisense drug, GEM240. The paper was published in the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

• Illumina Inc., of San Diego, sold a BeadLab unit to the Centre National de Genotypage in Evry, France. The BeadLab is a genotyping solution built around Illumina's BeadArray technology, and features high-sample throughput with low-running cost per nucleotide polymorphism scored, it said.

• Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., initiated a Phase I trial with aminocandin, a member of a new class of antifungal compounds under development for the treatment of a broad spectrum of systemic, invasive infections. The trial will test the safety and tolerability of escalating single doses of aminocandin administered intravenously in healthy volunteers. Results of the trial are expected in the second half of 2004.

• Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG, of Munich, Germany, and Gruenenthal GmbH, of Aachen, Germany, collaborated to use Ingenium's Ingenotyping technology platform to develop animal models with defined gene alterations. The companies will focus on developing animal models for genes relating to therapeutic discoveries in pain. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• InKine Pharmaceutical Co. Inc., of Blue Bell, Pa., completed enrollment in its Phase IV study using Visicol tablets as a laxative in patients with constipation. The product is marketed in the U.S. for cleansing of the bowel prior to colonoscopy in adults. The constipation study involves about 40 patients with either chronic functional constipation or constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. Patients are treated for up to 28 days. The last patient will complete treatment later this quarter, and InKine said data are expected shortly thereafter.

• Isotechnika Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, said the FDA agreed to the proposed dose-range-finding study for trans-ISA247 in humans. The study will involve 46 people and will be done over six weeks by MDS Pharma Services, of Phoenix. It will be used as the foundation to determine dosing in clinical trials for psoriasis and renal transplantation. The company expects to file applications later this year to begin a Phase III psoriasis trial and a Phase IIb renal transplant trial.

• MediciNova Inc., of San Diego, gained exclusive worldwide rights outside of Japan to KUR-1246 for premature labor from Kissei Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo. The compound, to be renamed MN-221, is in Phase II trials. The privately held specialty pharmaceutical company obtained it in exchange for up-front, milestone and royalty payments to Kissei. More specific financial terms were not disclosed.

• MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, said it plans to offer senior subordinated convertible notes due 2024 for gross proceeds of about $200 million. The interest rate, number of shares issuable upon conversion of the notes, investor put rights and company redemption rights are to be determined by negotiations between the company and the initial purchasers of the notes. The company granted the initial purchasers a 30-day option to purchase additional notes for gross proceeds of up to $30 million. It intends to use proceeds to acquire U.S. government securities that will be pledged as collateral for the payment of the first six scheduled interest payments on the notes.

• Millenia Hope Inc., of Montreal, said results of antimalarial tests in Africa revealed that 93.5 percent of 31 patients treated with its MMH Malarex product showed positive clinical responses, as measured by the World Health Organization guidelines. The company noted side effects were slight, including some dizziness, headaches and vomiting.

• Nabi Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla., reported findings from its double-blinded, placebo-controlled Phase I/II trial with NicVAX, an investigational vaccine being developed to prevent and treat nicotine addiction. Subjects comprised of 21 healthy smoking and nine healthy nonsmoking volunteers were in the study. Results showed NicVAX was well tolerated and able to generate nicotine-specific antibodies.

• Neurome Inc., of San Diego, received a Phase I grant from the Bethesda, Md.-based National Institute of Health's SBIR program to develop better predictive test systems along with specific biological markers for drug target expression patterns that will allow pharmaceutical companies to screen new chemical entities to obtain corresponding behavioral readouts and their neurobiological, gene- or protein-expression signatures.

• OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Melville, N.Y., expanded an ongoing Phase I dose-escalating and pharmacokinetic trial of OSI-461 in patients with advanced solid tumors. The study was amended to explore the possibility that administering OSI-461 with food might increase drug exposure levels achievable in humans following oral dosing of OSI-461. OSI-461 is a second-generation molecule belonging to a new class of drugs termed selective apoptotic anti-neoplastic drugs and is part of the Saands technology platform that OSI acquired from Cell Pathways Inc. in June. (See BioWorld Today, Feb. 11, 2003.)

• Research Corporation Technologies, of Tucson, Ariz., consolidated its regional biomedical investment entities into one early stage investment program. The move incorporates its San Francisco and Boston area units into RCT BioVentures, which will have resources to invest worldwide. Within the UK and Australia, RCT BioVentures will continue to make early stage investments through Cambridge Research BioVentures Ltd. and BioVentures Australia Pty.

• Serono SA, of Geneva, said European regulatory authorities approved its Gonal-f Filled-by-Mass solution for injection in a prefilled pen, which delivers its recombinant human follicle-stimulating hormone. The product will carry the same indications as the currently marketed infertility treatment.

• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., said its researchers and those at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that inactivation of the gene CBP in certain immature white blood cells of mice caused lymphoma. The cancer is accompanied by changes in the expression of specific genes associated with development of the disease. The findings were published in the Feb. 24, 2004, issue of Cancer Cell. The key to the work was the conditional knockout mouse developed by the joint St. Jude-Mayo team.

• Tech Coast Angels, of San Diego, recently funded Angstrom Pharmaceuticals Inc. and DermTech International Inc., both of San Diego. Angstrom, the first therapeutic drug company to be funded by the angel investors, develops compounds for cancer and macular degeneration. DermTech, which specializes in dermatology safety and efficacy testing, was initially funded by the angels last year and received additional financing in a follow-on round at the end of last month. Tech Coast said it is seeking additional life science investment opportunities.

• Weill Cornell Medical College in New York said its researchers published findings in Nature pointing to their discovery that the protein Sortilin plays a role in apoptosis. A cell-surface receptor, the protein receives signals from outside the cell to modify the cell's behavior. The researchers identified Sortilin as a receptor for proneurotrophins, and that the two proteins work together with a receptor called p75 to begin the death of neurons and glia.