• Abbott Laboratories, of Abbott Park, Ill., began a global Phase III study evaluating Humira (adalimumab) for ankylosing spondylitis, or arthritis of the spine. Already approved for rheumatoid arthritis, the fully human monoclonal antibody works by specifically blocking tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a). The study will evaluate Humira's efficacy and safety in adult patients who have had inadequate response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Patients will be randomized to receive the drug or placebo, and responses will be measured by improvement in signs and symptoms, disease progression and quality of life.

• AltaRex Corp., of Edmonton, Alberta, was transformed into an oil-and-gas exploration, development and marketing company named Twin Butte Energy Ltd. after transferring its biotechnology assets, together with all associated contractual obligations and liabilities, to AltaRex Medical Corp. It will carry on substantially the same business that AltaRex did before the plan of arrangement, which also involved Nova Bancorp Investments Ltd. AltaRex Medical will pursue the same commercialization strategy that AltaRex had for OvaRex and all other products in development through the same business plan. Its board and management are comprised of the same individuals from AltaRex.

• Avalon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Germantown, Md., said it discovered a prostate cancer biomarker. The discovery was reported in a paper titled "D-PCa-2: A novel transcript highly overexpressed in human prostate and prostate cancer" in the International Journal of Cancer. The study was conducted with scientists from the Technical University of Dresden in Germany and could result in the creation of a more effective prostate cancer diagnostic tool, Avalon said. The gene appears to be more specific for prostate cells than prostate-specific antigen.

• AVAX Technologies Inc., of Overland Park, Kan., said a proposed amendment to its certificate of incorporation to increase its number of authorized shares of common stock from 50 million to 150 million was approved at its special meeting of shareholders held Jan. 29. AVAX is engaged in the research, clinical and commercial development of biological products and cancer therapeutics.

• Biotech Holdings Ltd., of Richmond, British Columbia, closed a C$266,000 (US$199,558) private placement, which will be used to complete all machinery and facilities requirements at the company's new pre-mix facility for its diabetes drug Sucanon. The private placement includes third-party funding of C$50,000 and insider funding of C$216,000

• Dendreon Corp., of Seattle, said that the underwriters of its recent public offering of about 10.3 million shares of common stock purchased about 1.5 million shares pursuant to the exercise of their overallotment option in full, resulting in total gross proceeds to Dendreon of about $150 million in the offering. Dendreon raised $130.7 million in January with its public offering, money it said would be used for a commercial infrastructure for Provenge, a therapeutic vaccine designed to treat prostate cancer. Dendreon's product pipeline also includes monoclonal antibody, small-molecule and prodrug product candidates. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 28, 2004.)

• Discovery Partners International Inc., of San Diego, entered a research collaboration with Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, to discover potential new lead compounds for one of Celltech's selected targets involved in intracellular signal transduction. Discovery Partners will use its compound collection and its process and data management tools in the collaboration. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• DOR BioPharma Inc., of Miami, said its ricin vaccine licensee, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, plans to file an investigational new drug application with the FDA in the first half of this year. The school, which has a $2.8 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., plans to move the recombinant vaccine antigen into clinical testing in the summer.

• Entelos Inc., of Foster City, Calif., developed a new software engine designed to triple the speed at which simulation results can be generated from its high-throughput PhysioLab systems biology platforms. The simulation engine already was placed in PhysioLab platforms at one of Entelos' pharmaceutical partners. The systems biology platforms consist of a biological model and the software used to build, modify and conduct research in the models.

• Fluidigm Corp., of South San Francisco, and Syrrx Inc., of South San Francisco, said Fluidigm obtained license rights for the submicroliter crystallization of proteins. Syrrx obtained broad patent protection for the crystallization of proteins in submicroliter volumes through its exclusive license with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Fluidigm's nonexclusive license with Syrrx will support the commercialization of Fluidigm's Topaz system for protein crystallization. Pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions use the system to elucidate the 3-dimensional structure of protein drug targets.

• Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., said three-year data from a double-blind Phase III trial of Viread showed similar levels of viral load suppression and a similar renal safety profile when compared to treatment with stavudine. Treatment with stavudine had greater elevations in fasting triglyceride and cholesterol levels and a higher incidence of lipodystrophy. The trial involved 600 patients and the most common adverse events were viral infection, diarrhea and headache. The data suggest that resistance to Viread is slow to develop and does not occur very often in treatment-na ve patients. Viread was approved in 2001 in the U.S. for HIV infection in adults. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 30, 2001.)

• GlycoGenesys Inc., of Boston, received a complaint from David Platt, its former CEO and chairman, alleging breach of his termination agreement and breach of fiduciary duties, among other claims. The company said it believes the lawsuit is without merit. GlycoGenesys said it intends to vigorously defend the suit and pursue all legal options against Platt. GlycoGenesys develops and licenses products based on glycobiology.

• ICOS Corp., of Bothell, Wash., reported a net loss of $125.5 million or $2.01 per share for the year ended Dec. 31, the first year the company received revenue from sales of Cialis (tadalafil) for erectile dysfunction. The loss improved from the year before, in which ICOS posted a net loss of $161.6 million or $2.64 per share. Total 2003 revenue was $75.1 million, down from $92.9 million in 2002. Cialis was launched in 55 countries during 2003, including Europe, New Zealand and Australia in February, followed by the U.S. and Canada in November. Its worldwide sales surpassed $200 million in less than 12 months. Cialis is marketed in North America and Europe by Lilly ICOS LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between ICOS and Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis. Such territories generated $129.8 million in full-year sales, including $27.9 million in the U.S., $95.1 million in Europe and $6.8 million in Canada and Mexico combined. Elsewhere, Lilly has rights to market Cialis and pays a royalty to Lilly ICOS equal to 20 percent of net product sales in those territories. Those sales totaled $73.5 million. For the three months ended Dec. 31, ICOS reported a net loss of $34.2 million, or 54 cents per share, along with $29.2 million in revenue. The company ended the year with $469.5 million in cash, cash equivalents, investment securities and associated interest receivable.

• IDC, of Framingham, Mass., established a subsidiary called Life Science Insights as an independent research and advisory practice focused on providing life science companies with market and technology intelligence, commentary and analysis. Life Science Insights will work with pharmaceutical and biotech companies, life science tools and technology vendors, IT vendors, and consultant and professional services companies, and will provide market sizing and intelligence.

• ImmuneRegen BioSciences, a wholly owned subsidiary of IR Biosciences Holdings Inc., of Scottsdale, Ariz., completed testing on the Hong Kong influenza virus, which is similar to that of severe acute respiratory syndrome and the avian flu. The company said it expects the research might indicate efficacy of its compound, Homspera, in treating the Hong Kong respiratory virus in mice.

• Martek Biosciences Corp., of Columbia, Md., offered and sold about 177,000 shares of its common stock to Citigroup Global Markets Inc., of New York, in an underwritten public offering. Martek expects to receive net proceeds of about $11.2 million from the sale. It expects to use the proceeds, together with funds on hand and borrowings from its bank credit facility, to finance the expansion of its manufacturing capacity to meet increased demand for DHA and ARA oils and for various general corporate purposes. Martek makes products from microalgae, including fluorescent markers for diagnostics, rapid miniaturized screening and gene and protein detection.

• Norwood Abbey Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, has listed on the Nasdaq National Market using American depository receipts (ADR). The company expects the program to open up important U.S. capital markets for the company. The Bank of New York is the depository bank for the ADR program, and Global Markets Capital Group, of New York, is managing the listing process. The symbol for Norwood Abbey's ADR is "NABYY." Each Norwood Abbey ADR represents 10 ordinary shares of the company, as traded in the Australian market.

• Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tustin, Calif., said Phase I data published in Cancer Therapy highlighted the utility of Cotara when used in combination with radiofrequency ablation in treating hepatic cancer metastases. The company said it received FDA approval to start a U.S.-based registration trial of Cotara, its radiolabeled tumor necrosis therapy-targeting monoclonal antibody, in brain cancer patients. Radiolabeled tumor necrosis therapy has received marketing approval for advanced lung cancer in China.

• Pharmacopoeia Inc., of Princeton, N.J., entered a collaboration with Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, to identify small-molecule lead compounds. Pharmacopeia will provide its small-molecule discovery expertise to identify leads in a key area of research focus for Taiho. It will receive funding for providing research activities and will be entitled to receive milestone payments and royalties.

• Pozen Inc., of Chapel Hill, N.C., filed a shelf registration Tuesday with the SEC to offer up to about 8 million common shares. Any net proceeds would be added to the company's general funds, which might be used for product acquisitions or to fund research, the company said. Pozen's stock (NASDAQ: POZN) fell 75 cents Wednesday to close at $13.65.

• Samaritan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Las Vegas, said its research with Samaritan Research Labs at Georgetown University suggests naturally occurring spirostenols offer a possible approach to treat Alzheimer's. Data show the neuroprotective effects of SP-233 lie in its ability to bind and inactivate the beta-amyloid peptide. SP-233 inhibits the formation of the highly neurotoxic beta-amyloid oligomers, which contribute to the formation of amyloid or senile plaques found in Alzheimer's.

• Sinovac Biotech Ltd., of Beijing, said it acquired Tangshan Yian Biological Engineering Co. Ltd., of Tangshan, China, to supply large-scale quantities of new and updated vaccines for the domestic Chinese and international markets. Since its 1993 inception, Tangshan has specialized in the development and manufacturing of vaccines for various infections including flu and hepatitis A and B. It also is developing a potential vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome.

• SuperGen Inc., of Dublin, Calif., filed a registration statement with the SEC for a proposed offering of 9.5 million shares. A selling stockholder also will sell 250,000 shares in the offering. The company will grant underwriters an overallotment option for up to an additional about 1.5 million shares. William Blair & Co. LLC is the lead underwriter. Needham & Co. Inc. and Rodman & Renshaw LLC are co-managing underwriters of the offering. The company plans to use proceeds to commercialize Orathecin, to further develop and commercialize Dacogen (both are cancer products), to expand the company's sales and marketing organization in the U.S. and Europe, and to continue product development. It also could use the funds to acquire or license other products or businesses and for working capital and other general corporate purposes. SuperGen's stock (NASDAQ:SUPG) fell $1.58 Wednesday, or 15.1 percent, to close at $8.90.

• The ALS Foundation, of Calabasas Hills, Calif., is funding a new study to find a more rapid and accurate diagnostic test for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using biomarkers found in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood. Researchers believe that biomarkers for ALS more likely are to be detected in the CSF that is contained in the central nervous system. The foundation said that the research also might yield new methods to determine the progression of the disease.

• The Alzheimer Research Consortium, of Chicago, awarded grants to Emory University and Harvard University. The grant to Emory is for funding of Anthony Chan's project, "Transgenic rat models of Alzheimer's disease," while the grant to Harvard will fund Li-Huei Tsai's project, "Novel fly and mouse models for the p25/Cdk5 kinase."

• Valentis Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., completed the sale of the remaining shares from the maximum allocation in its private placement. The company raised $10 million in a private placement of its common stock and warrants. About $6.5 million was received in December; the subsequent amount of about $3.5 million was received in January. The stock was sold to current investors; Perseus-Soros Biopharmaceutical Fund LP, of New York; and to new investors. It issued about 4.9 million common shares and five-year warrants exercisable for about 2 million additional shares in December and January. Valentis plans to use the funds to complete the ongoing Phase II trial of its lead product, Deltavasc, designed to grow new blood vessels in patients with peripheral arterial disease.