• Cancer Research Technology, of London, the technology transfer arm of the charity Cancer Research UK, granted GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, an exclusive license to a novel target that enhances the oral bioavailability of certain cytotoxic drugs, including topotecan. The target is based on the discovery at the Netherlands Cancer Institute that inhibition of a transporter protein involved in multidrug resistance to chemotherapy, could also be targeted to enhance the uptake of orally administered cytotoxics.

• Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, and Scancell Ltd., of Nottingham, UK, entered a collaboration to develop antibody therapeutics targeting Lewis y/b, a cell surface carbohydrate blood group antigen discovered by Scancell. Expression of Lewis y/b is very low in normal tissue but overexpressed on breast, lung, colon and ovarian cancer cells. Mouse antibodies recognizing Lewis y/b have induced tumor cell death and inhibited growth of various tumor lines. In animal studies, tumor growth was inhibited by anti-Lewis y/b antibodies alone, and the effect was enhanced when the antibodies were combined with 5-fluorouracil.

• Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, licensed its PER.C6 human cell line to GeneMax Corp., of Blaine, Wash., enabling the latter firm to use the platform in its adenovirus-based gene delivery research programs. GeneMax also negotiated a commercial license agreement, which will allow it to manufacture and sell products in the field of gene delivery that are derived from the PER.C6 platform. The company said the agreement will enable it to move its cancer vaccine into clinical development. Crucell will receive up-front and annual payments for the license plus additional payments and royalties on future product sales.

• CyBio AG, of Jena, Germany, extended its cooperation with Euroscreen SA, of Brussels, Belgium, to include combined work in drug discovery. CyBio will use Euroscreen's patented cell lines, assays and membrane preparations in drug discovery. Euroscreen will receive permanent use of a CyBio workstation, allowing the company to automate some of its processes. The companies began their formal work together with a marketing agreement in May. Euroscreen, which was spun out of the University of Brussels in 1994, concentrates on G protein-coupled receptors, patenting targets and drug leads for licensing to the pharmaceutical industry. CyBio, which went public in 1999, produces technology platforms for drug discovery.

• Definiens AG, of Munich, Germany, began a partnership with IBM Life Sciences to create solutions for life sciences companies to speed research and development processes. The companies will combine Definiens' products Cellenger and Polymind with IBM's DB2, WebSphere and eServer xSeries technologies. Software from Definiens also will include data integration software from IBM. The companies will jointly market their products and develop custom solutions for individual companies and research institutions. Definiens also closed a deal with Evotec Technologies GmbH, a subsidiary of Evotec OAI, of Hamburg, Germany, to develop software products that will speed drug candidate research. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• EMBL Ventures, of Heidelberg, Germany, named Christof Antz as the firm's second partner. He will be responsible for building up the company's portfolio. EMBL Ventures specializes in early phase financing for life sciences companies. Antz had been managing director of Abeta GmbH, a specialist in diagnosis and therapy of Alzheimer's disease, until its sale to a Swiss pharmaceutical company. EMBL Ventures manages the EMBL Technology Fund, which closed in February with €26 million for early stage investments.

• Evotec Neurosciences GmbH, a subsidiary of Evotec OAI, of Hamburg, Germany, began a four-year collaboration with Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, in the area of Alzheimer's disease. The companies intend to identify and validate novel targets associated with the disease, with the goal of developing small-molecule drugs. Evotec will grant Takeda access to its database of Alzheimer's-related targets and will validate selected candidates for additional drug discovery programs. Takeda will pay up to €20 million in database access fees, research funding and milestone payments. Additional milestone payments that Evotec characterized as "substantial" would be paid for successful clinical development of compounds acting on selected targets.

• Genovac AG, of Freiburg, Germany, licensed its proprietary antibody production technology to Nosan Corp., of Yokohama, Japan. The companies began their cooperation with a marketing agreement in October 2002, and Nosan found such a positive response among companies and research institutes in Japan that it has decided to license the technology. Nosan has invested in the German company, contributing capital equivalent to a 5 percent stake, and the Japanese company will make royalty payments over the life of the agreement. Genovac, which was founded in 1999, produces specificity-tested polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies through genetic immunization. Nosan is Japan's largest animal feed manufacturer and has an expanding biotechnology business.

• Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., said it entered a preclinical research collaboration with the Academic Medical Center (AMC), Amsterdam, to assess its small-molecule immunomodulator GENZ-38167 as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease. Sander van Deventer, of the AMC's department of gastroenterology, will lead the project, which will examine the ability of the compound to prevent or inhibit IBD in mice.

• GPC Biotech AG, of Munich, Germany, published positive results from its anticancer monoclonal antibody program, specifically for the antibody designated 1D09C3. The company said that the antibody showed consistent effects against various lymphoid tumors in animal models. Tests included its efficacy in xenotransplant models against non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma and hairy-cell leukemia. GPC also identified an appropriate schedule for administering the antibody and reported that the results were promising enough to schedule Phase I/II trials, which the company expects to begin in the second half of 2004.

• ML Laboratories plc, of Warrington, UK, said an interim review of the Phase III U.S. trial of Adept in the reduction of adhesions after laparoscopic surgery found no safety concerns and recommended that the study should continue. The 410-patient double-blind study is due to complete in the third quarter of 2004.

• MorphoSys AG, of Munich, Germany, has delivered antibodies against an inflammatory disease target, achieving the third milestone in its collaboration with Centocor Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, in therapeutic antibodies. The companies declined to specify the size of the milestone payment triggered by the delivery. The firms' cooperation began in December 2000, when they agreed to develop human antibodies for a range of indications.

• Tepnel Life Sciences plc, of Manchester, UK, raised £1.5 million (US$2.4 million) in a placing of 9.7 million new shares with existing and new investors. The money will be used to accelerate development of Tepnel's system for the rapid purification of DNA from blood samples for pharmacogenomic applications.