• Alfacell Corp., of Bloomfield, N.J., said it will provide its flagship product, Onconase, to the federal severe acute respiratory syndrome testing program to be evaluated against the coronavirus implicated in SARS. Onconase, a ribonuclease cancer product, has demonstrated antiviral activity against RNA viruses similar to SARS, Alfacell said.

• Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Norristown, Pa., said its breach of contract suit against PDI Inc., of Upper Saddle River, N.J., has been settled. PDI will make a one-time payment to Auxilium, and delay the launch of its planned testosterone gel product until Jan. 26. Also, the companies terminated existing contractual obligations. Auxilium's Testim, a gel used to treat men with low testosterone, received approval in October.

• BioVex Ltd., of Oxford, UK, signed a letter of intent with the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., in relation to the development of an HIV vaccine using BioVex's ImmunoVEX herpes simplex-based platform. The vaccine would incorporate a combination of VRC's HIV antigen genes aimed at maximizing the immune response to the virus. BioVex will provide an ImmunoVEX HIV vaccine construct to the VRC, which will test the vaccine in preclinical models.

• Genedata AG, of Basel, Switzerland, entered a proteomics-based cancer research collaboration by licensing its Impressionist product to the National Cancer Center of Japan. The institute plans to use Impressionist's analysis capabilities with 2D-protein gel data derived from Ettan DIGE technology from Amersham Biosciences, of Piscataway, N.J., to identify minimal sets of diagnostic marker proteins decisive for delineating cancer types into subclasses. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Genome Therapeutics Corp., of Waltham, Mass., said researchers at the 13th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Glasgow, Scotland, presented data on the in vivo activity of ramoplanin in a hamster model of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) or colitis. Ramoplanin is a glycolipodepsipeptide antibiotic under development by Genome Therapeutics. Ramoplanin-treated animals had an 80 percent survival rate, compared to vancomycin-treated animals, which had only a 20 percent survival rate (p<0.05). The product is in a Phase III trial for the prevention of bloodstream infections caused by vancomycin-resistant enterococci and in a Phase II trial for the treatment of CDAD.

• Henogen SA, of Charleroi, Belgium, closed the acquisition of 4C Biotech, of Seneffe, Belgium. 4C is a contract manufacturing organization focused on developing mammalian cell culture processes for the production of biotherapeutics. The site in Charleroi will be dedicated to the bacteria, yeast, baculovirus and viral vectors productions. The site in Seneffe will be dedicated to the large-scale production of monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins.

• Implant Sciences Corp., of Wakefield, Mass., said it would reduce monthly cash expenses by about $100,000 from savings in consultant fees and material costs and reductions in nonessential personnel and labor expenses. The company said the slowed cash burn would not adversely affect its sales volume within core business units that exploit its ion technology for national security, industry and medicine.

• Insmed Inc., of Glen Allen, Va., said it regained full compliance with every continued listing requirement for the Nasdaq National Market, as its common stock has closed above $1 for more than 10 straight trading days. Specifically, on April 24, its share price closed at $1.05 and has continued to close between $1.04 and $1.36 for 12 consecutive days. Insmed focuses on metabolic diseases with unmet medical needs.

• Micrologix Biotech Inc., of Vancouver, said that by mid-August it would release results from a Phase III trial of MBI 226, a topical, antimicrobial peptide in development with Fujisawa Healthcare Inc., a unit of Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan. The partners said they recently completed a pre-new drug application meeting with the FDA, which outlined recommendations on the application's preparation and submission. Assuming a positive outcome from the trial, Fujisawa and Micrologix said they expect to file in the first half of next year.

• Minnesota Innovation Center in Minneapolis is being developed by The Wall Companies on 65 acres along the Transitway, north of the University of Minnesota's campus. The Wall Companies was named the exclusive developer of the property by the city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Community Development Agency. The multiphase development is expected to include 16 buildings and 1.6 million square feet of laboratory, manufacturing and office space, built over the next eight to 10 years.

• NiKem Research Srl, of Milan, Italy, entered a research services agreement with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, of Madison, N.J. NiKem will use its medicinal chemistry knowledge to provide the synthesis of chemical compounds that can complement and diversify the tools used by Wyeth to screen potential new drug candidates.

• Ortec International Inc., of New York, said it anticipates closing an equity financing in the next week and plans on conducting a 1-for-10 reverse stock split when the financing is completed. The company said the financing is expected to be in the range of $5.5 million to $6 million, with existing investors contributing at least $4 million. The documentation for the financing "contemplates the sale of Series C convertible preferred stock and warrants," the company said. Ortec is a tissue engineering company involved in a technology to stimulate the repair and regeneration of human tissue.

• Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Raleigh, N.C., reported positive results from a Phase III study showing that rifaximin does not promote the resistance of Gram-negative or Gram-positive intestinal flora. Data from the trial, which studied two doses of the drug or placebo in U.S. college students who traveled to Mexico and developed acute diarrhea, also showed that Enterococci were isolated from post-treatment samples with equal frequency between rifaximin and placebo groups. The product, which received an approvable letter in October for travelers' diarrhea, is a rifamycin derivative being investigated for infectious conditions of the gastrointestinal tract.

• SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Mateo, Calif., is expected to be added to the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index on May 19. All securities in the index are listed on the Nasdaq National Market and must meet minimum requirements, including market value and average daily share volume. SciClone is engaged in the development of therapeutics.

• SuperGen Inc., of Dublin, Calif., following full accrual in a Phase III trial and a meeting with the FDA during which Phase II and III data were discussed, said the FDA designated Dacogen (decitabine) a fast-track product for the treatment of patients with advanced-stage myelodysplastic syndrome.

• Vical Inc., of San Diego, entered a contract to manufacture bulk DNA vaccines for the Vaccine Research Center (VRC), part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Md. The VRC will underwrite the capital for a 500-liter fermenter and related purification equipment in Vical's new manufacturing facility. Vical is guaranteed minimum annual production orders beginning in 2004, subject to annual extension of the agreement.

• Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of King of Prussia, Pa., reported positive Phase II results at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Glasgow, Scotland, showing that a once-weekly dose of its lead antibiotic candidate, dalbavancin, was effective in treating deep skin and soft tissue infections and was well tolerated over two weeks. The regimen produced higher clinical and microbiological response rates than a variety of standard care regimens, Vicuron said.

• Xenogen Corp., of Alameda, Calif., entered agreements with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, to provide a nonexclusive license for Xenogen's real-time imaging technology accompanied by an IVIS Imaging System. Under a separate agreement, BMS will grant Xenogen a nonexclusive license to use BMS's Cre Lox technology. BMS will be entitled to use Xenogen's real-time biophotonic imaging technology and Xenogen Bioware cells and microorganisms in its research. In return, BMS granted Xenogen rights to use Cre-Lox for its own research, as well as to include it as a commercial service offering in Xenogen's range of custom and production transgenic services.