• Acambis plc, of Cambridge, UK, said it completed the production, filling and quality control testing of all 155 million doses of ACAM2000 smallpox vaccine required under its principal contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. More than half the doses have been labeled and delivered to the U.S. stockpile. The remaining vials will be labeled with a new design and will be released and delivered to the U.S. stockpile in the coming weeks.

• Antisense Therapeutics Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., began a Phase I trial of ATL1102 (ISIS 107248) for multiple sclerosis, the first antisense drug for that indication. ATL1102 inhibits VLA-4 (very late antigen-4), a process the companies said results in positive effects in multiple animal models of inflammatory diseases, including multiple sclerosis. The double-blinded, placebo-controlled study will evaluate the pharmacokinetic and safety profile of ATL1102 in about 40 healthy volunteers in London. Isis licensed the compound to Antisense Therapeutics two years ago. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 21, 2001.)

• Endomatrix Inc., of Santa Rosa, Calif., began a clinical trial of its lead compound, Provasca, an endothelial dysfunction therapy. The proof-of-concept study, which will be managed and directed by Harrison Clinical Research in Munich, Germany, is designed to measure safety, vascular anti-inflammatory effect, endothelial-level antithrombotic effect and improvement in vasoreactivity. Endomatrix said it is designing additional studies of Provasca and expects to make the product available by the end of the year.

• EPIX Medical Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said the underwriters of its early August public offering of 4.3 million shares of common stock purchased an additional 345,000 shares as part of the overallotment option. The total sale now is more than 4.6 million shares with proceeds to the company after underwriting discounts of $65.8 million. EPIX focuses on the diagnosis and clinical management of disease using magnetic resonance imaging.

• eXegenics Inc., of Dallas, said its board unanimously reaffirmed its recommendation that stockholders accept an exchange offer from AVI BioPharma Inc., of Portland, Ore. The exchange ratios value eXegenics' common shares at about 61 cents apiece and its preferred shares at about 91 cents apiece, based on the $4.93 closing price of AVI's common stock Aug. 25. The board also unanimously reaffirmed its recommendation that stockholders reject an unsolicited tender offer from EI Acquisition Inc. and Foundation Growth Investments LLC, of Chicago, who offered 60 cents for all outstanding common and preferred shares of eXegenics. (See BioWorld Today, July 17, 2003.)

• Large Scale Biology Corp., of Vacaville, Calif., entered a collaborative agreement with Growers Research Group LLC, of Monterey, Calif., to research and develop a nongenetically modified organism product to control plant pests. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the contract provides funding for gene expression vector development and methods of plant delivery as well as provisions for future ownership and licensing by the collaborators. Scientists will employ LSBC's Geneware technology to develop vectors to combat various diseases in perennial plants.

• Osiris Therapeutics Inc., of Baltimore, entered an agreement to grant exclusive Japanese rights to its universal, adult mesenchymal stem cell technology for treating hematologic malignancies using hematopoietic stem cell transplants to JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., of Ashiya, Japan. Though specific financial terms were not disclosed, Osiris received an up-front license fee and will receive additional fees upon specific milestones, as well as royalties upon product launch. Pursuant to a related stock purchase agreement, JCR acquired an undisclosed number of preferred shares of Osiris.

• PPD Inc., of Wilmington, N.C., released a new portfolio of integrated clinical and marketing programs for market development. PPD said the products are designed to help companies with pre-launch and post-market programs, including health outcomes, large-volume late-stage trials, medical communications and consumer health.

• Quintiles Transnational Corp., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., said it plans to offer $450 million worth of senior subordinated notes due 2013 in connection with its merger with a wholly owned subsidiary of Pharma Services Holding Inc., the company formed for the acquisition of Quintiles by Quintiles' chairman and founder and the private equity arm of Bank One Corp. Holders of the notes, which will be guaranteed by Quintiles' U.S. subsidiaries, will be granted certain exchange and registration rights. The offering's consummation is conditioned upon the consummation of the merger. Quintiles offers various services, information and partnering solutions to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and health care industries.

• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and the Blood Research Institute at the Blood Center of Southeastern Wisconsin in Milwaukee said findings published in next month's issue of Nature Immunology showed that the overactivity of the Bcl10 gene drives B cells to become cancerous. The researchers said a drug that blocks such overactivity could be an effective treatment for mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma.

• SuperGen Inc., of Dublin, Calif., initiated patient enrollment in a Phase I study of Dacogen (decitabine) for injection in combination with the Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., product Proleukin (aldesleukin) in cancer patients with advanced melanoma and renal cell cancer. Proleukin is a recombinant human interleukin-2, and is indicated for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and metastatic melanoma. Twenty to 40 patients are expected to be enrolled in the study.

• TransMolecular Inc., of Birmingham, Ala., received fast-track designation from the FDA for 131-I-TM-601 in malignant glioma. The therapy is composed of TM-601, a synthetic form of a peptide derived from the venom of a giant yellow Israeli scorpion, conjugated to 131-I, a medicinal form of iodine. The company has completed enrollment in its first Phase I/II trial with the product in recurrent glioma.