• Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., said it is offering a new line of GeneChip-brand expression reagents including two new cDNA Synthesis Kits, which have been developed in collaboration with reagent provider Invitrogen Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif. The reagents were optimized for use with Affymetrix's GeneChip technology.

• Allos Therapeutics Inc., of Westminster, Colo., began a Phase I trial of RSR13 (efaproxiral) and supplemental oxygen with concurrent chemoradiation therapy in patients with locally advanced, unresectable (Stage IIIA/Stage IIIB) non-small-cell lung cancer. The open-label, multicenter study will enroll up to 22 patients in three cohorts to test the safety and tolerability of escalating doses of RSR13 as an adjunct to thoracic radiation therapy.

• Atrix Laboratories Inc., of Fort Collins, Colo., signed an agreement to exclusively license Korean development and commercialization rights to Eligard (leuprolide acetate for injectable suspension) to Han All Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Taejon, Korea. In return, Atrix will receive royalty payments based on sales of the luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonist upon approval, before which Han All will be responsible for any required preclinical and clinical studies, as well as submission of necessary documents for marketing authorization. Atrix will manufacture the Eligard products for Han All and earn manufacturing profits on each unit made.

• Beyond Genomics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., entered a research collaboration, option and license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, to apply the former's Systems Biology technologies to the latter's ongoing study of disease and drug response in several metabolic disorders. The arrangement follows a successful pilot relationship between the companies that began in December 2002 and involved the use of the Systems Biology platform to elucidate disease pathways and identify biomarkers of disease state and drug response. The agreement calls for GlaxoSmithKline to pay an up-front fee and fund the research program for its full term. Beyond Genomics also is eligible to receive additional payments and will retain certain rights to apply collaboration results in defined fields. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.

• Biotech Holdings Ltd., of Richmond, British Columbia, completed lease arrangements for a facility where Sucanon, the company's treatment for Type II diabetes symptoms, will be produced. The company plans to carry out synthesis, extraction and pre-mixing in Vancouver.

• Cerus Corp., of Concord, Calif., acquired certain exclusive rights to a new cancer antigen, mesothelin, from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Cerus is developing a therapeutic vaccine that is designed to use mesothelin in combination with its Listeria vaccine platform to potentially stimulate a patient's immune system to selectively recognize and kill pancreatic and ovarian tumor cells that express the mesothelin cancer antigen. Mesothelin is expressed in the majority of primary pancreatic and ovarian malignancies, but has limited expression in normal tissue. Cerus also received a Small Business Innovative Research grant related to its work with mesothelin.

• Columbia Laboratories Inc., of Livingston, N.J., and Innovex Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., intend to restructure the sales force that handles Columbia's pharmaceutical products in the U.S., including Striant, a testosterone buccal system; Prochieve 8 percent, a progesterone gel; Prochieve 4 percent, a progesterone gel; RepHresh Vaginal Gel and Advantage-S Contraceptive Gel. The restructured sales force will be made up of nine Columbia district managers, as well as 80 sales representatives divided evenly between Columbia and Innovex. The restructuring will have no impact on product royalty. Innovex is a unit of Quintiles Transnational Corp., of Research Triangle Park, N.C.

• CordLife Pte Ltd., of Singapore, established a subsidiary called Cell Sciences Pte Ltd. for the manufacturing, supply-chain management, worldwide sales and marketing of CordLife's line of biotechnology and cellular-growth devices. The products are used in cellular research laboratories and for bio-manufacturing at pharmaceutical companies.

• Endovasc Inc., of Montgomery, Texas, said that Liprostin was shipped to Mexico City this week to be used in Endovasc's multicenter Phase II trial for patients who suffer from peripheral vascular disease, including critical limb ischemia and intermittent claudication, but do not require angioplasty. The two sites in Mexico will each enroll between 10 and 20 patients.

• Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., cited strategic reasons for its decision to terminate a licensing agreement with Emory University in Atlanta and the University of Georgia Research Foundation Inc. in Athens for the development and commercialization of amdoxovir. Also known as DAPD, amdoxovir is an investigational guanosine nucleoside analogue in Phase II development for HIV. Amdoxovir also has been tested in humans for chronic hepatitis B infection. Gilead said it will meet its ongoing obligations regarding existing clinical trials and remains committed to cooperating with the universities during the transition of the technology to a new licensee. Gilead inherited the licensing agreement when it acquired Triangle Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Durham, N.C., in a deal announced more than a year ago. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 5, 2002.)

• Jerini AG, of Berlin, and Merck KgaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, formed a collaboration to jointly develop small-molecule inhibitors against an undisclosed cancer target. Prior to the agreement, Jerini identified small-molecule leads, which the companies will further develop with preclinical development starting in 2005. Jerini will receive an up-front payment, personnel funding, milestone payments and royalties, while Merck gains worldwide rights for all indications in cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and thyroid disorders. Jerini could receive more than €50 million if the product is approved.

• LAM Pharmaceutical Corp., of Lewiston, N.Y., said that it is establishing an office in Beijing as a step in introducing its LAM IPM Wound Gel to the Chinese market. LAM focuses on the development and commercialization of wound healing and transdermal drug delivery systems.

• Medicure Inc., of Winnipeg, Manitoba, received approval to list its common shares on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "MCU." The shares will begin trading on Feb. 17.

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., reported consolidated financial results for the year ended Dec. 31, including a narrowed net loss of $483.7 million, or $1.63 per share, on a GAAP basis, compared to $590.2 million, or $2.13 per share, a year earlier. Revenue for the year totaled $433.7 million, a 23 percent increase over $353 million in 2002. The earnings were supported by net product sales, including $59.6 million attributable to sales of Velcade (bortezomib), which was launched in May.

• MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said GPC Biotech AG, also of Martinsried, extended its exclusive license for HuCAL antibodies directed against an MHC Class II target molecule. The collaboration began in 1999 with a goal to develop a new generation of therapeutically active substances to treat autoimmune diseases and certain cancers. GPC said it expects to enter a selected antibody, 1D09C3, into human trials in the second half of this year.

• MWG Biotech AG, of Ebersberg, Germany, introduced a free, web-based siRNA design tool. A special feature of the new bioinformatics service is a built-in Blast function that allows customers to design specific siRNA oligonucleotides to silence specific genes. The new design tool is part of MWG Biotech's ecom system.

• NanoHorizons Inc., of State College, Pa., and Kratos Analytical, which focuses on mass spectrometry and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shimadzu Corp., of Kyoto, Japan, introduced a technique for small-molecule analysis. Kratos Analytical will offer the NanoHorizons' QuickMass targets, which are used to identify low-molecular-weight compounds in MALDI (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization) mass spectrometers, through Shimadzu Biotech, a business unit of Shimadzu.

• NeoPharm Inc., of Lake Forest, Ill., completed its common stock offering for net proceeds of about $73.5 million. The company placed about 4.3 million shares at $18.25 apiece, an amount that includes the underwriters' overallotment option to purchase 562,500 additional shares. NeoPharm offered all the shares in the public offering, in which UBS Securities LLC acted as the sole book-running manager, with co-management from Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., First Albany Capital Inc. and JMP Securities LLC. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 23, 2004.)

• NeoRx Corp., of Seattle, received a $500,000 payment from Boston Scientific Corp., of Natick, Mass. The payment relates to an agreement under which NeoRx sold and transferred to Boston Scientific certain NeoRx assets and intellectual property, including a portfolio of NeoRx patents and patent applications in the cardiovascular field. The companies entered the agreement in April, at which time NeoRx received a $9 million up-front cash payment.

• Pharmacyclics Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., initiated a Phase I trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of Xcytrin (motexafin gadolinum) in combination with Temodar (temozolamide) for the treatment of patients with relapsed malignant gliomas, an indication in which Temodar is approved. The trial will evaluate Temodar plus Xcytrin as a combination therapy for the treatment of recurrent brain tumors, including anaplastic astrocytoma and glioblastoma multiforme. The study is expected to enroll 25 patients with refractory tumors who have failed other treatment options, including chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

• Provectus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., said it is preparing an investigational new drug application for Provecta, a drug therapy being developed for breast and liver cancer. Should the FDA accept the application, the company said it hopes to begin enrolling patients by the middle of this year. Provectus added that it hopes to receive fast-track consideration from the agency.

• Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, selected R406 as its lead therapeutic compound for rheumatoid arthritis. The company plans to begin human safety trials in the second half of the year to test the compound, an oral syk kinase inhibitor that blocks the activation of mast cells and B cells that promote swelling and inflammatory response. Preclinical data indicate that R406 is effective at low doses in a rodent arthritis model and was without obvious toxicities at doses well above the effective dose.

• Saegis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Half Moon Bay, Calif., said The Stanley Medical Research Institute in Bethesda, Md., will invest $2 million in the company in exchange for Series B preferred stock. The company will use the money to fund the initiation of clinical trials of SGS518, a small molecule that has shown activity in improving learning and memory in preclinical studies. Saegis is developing the compound with Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, to treat diseases related to cognitive impairment, including those associated with schizophrenia.

• Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, of Costa Mesa, Calif., said it would increase its investment in research and development in order to accelerate development of Viramidine to treat hepatitis C. The company is increasing R&D spending this year from $85 million to $95 million. Viramidine entered a Phase III trial following positive results only 12 weeks into a 72-week Phase II program. The Phase III program will involve two studies conducted at 80 sites with about 1,000 patients each. The company expects to complete enrollment in the first study this year. Enrollment in the second study should begin by mid-year. The studies will compare Viramidine and ribavirin, each in conjunction with Peg-Intron, which belongs to Schering-Plough Corp., of Kenilworth, N.J., and with Pegasys, which belongs to F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland. Separately, the company said it entered an interest rate swap agreement on $150 million of its outstanding senior notes due December 2011. The company will exchange fixed interest rate payments of 7 percent for variable rate payments at a rate of about 2.4 percent over LIBOR.