• Acacia Research Corp., of Newport Beach, Calif., said its two new classes of common stock, Acacia Research-CombiMatrix (CBMX) and Acacia Research-Acacia Technologies (ACTG), began trading on Nasdaq. The two new classes were created as a result of Acacia's recapitalization recently approved by stockholders. The two new classes of stock replace Acacia's common stock that formerly traded on Nasdaq under the symbol ACRI.

• Advanced Viral Research Corp., of Yonkers, N.Y., filed suit in the Circuit Court of the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida charging that certain investors "misrepresented their intentions in investing in the company" and "engaged in a series of manipulative activities to depress the price of Advanced Viral stock." The company is seeking a judgment for damages, interest and costs. Its Product R is a nontoxic peptide-nucleic acid designed to stimulate the proinflammatory responses required to combat viral infections and to work against autoimmune-type inflammatory responses.

• Antigenic Inc., of New York, reported interim results from an ongoing pilot study of AG-858, its personalized heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) product, in combination with Gleevec (imatinib mesylate), from Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG for chronic myeloid leukemia. All five evaluable patients showed objective clinical responses in the trial, including two patients who had complete molecular responses. Based on that data, Antigenics plans to initiate a Phase II study.

• Atrix Laboratories Inc., of Fort Collins, Colo., said Fujisawa Healthcare Inc., of Deerfield, Ill., exercised its option to explore additional indications for topical Atrisone (dapsone). Fujisawa licensed the exclusive North American marketing rights to Atrisone for acne, which is in Phase III trials for that indication. With the new agreement, additional indications will be explored. Atrix has filed investigational new drug applications for two Atrisone indications, one for severe itch associated with healing burn wounds and a second for atopic dermatitis. Fujisawa will be responsible for a significant portion of any research and development costs that arise for development of Atrisone for these additional indications. Other financial details were not disclosed.

• Avera Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, licensed from Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, a compound Avera said offers promise for the treatment of major mental illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia and cognitive disorders. Avera acquired the worldwide rights to the compound and supporting intellectual property in exchange for undisclosed up-front, milestone and royalty payments. Avera will be responsible for filing an investigational new drug application with the FDA and for the design and execution of a clinical development program.

• BD Bioscience, a business segment of Becton, Dickinson and Co., of Franklin Lakes, N.J., licensed a technology and pending intellectual property developed by researchers at Stanford University. The technology is designed to allow scientists to use flow cytometry to detect the modified state of proteins within a signal transduction pathway.

• Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said research by a team of its scientists might point to new strategies for the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases. The research targets the expression of a protein, alpha1 integrin, and confirms the role the innate arm of the immune system plays in the development of the diseases. The discoveries are reported in recent issues of the journals Immunity and The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Biogen said.

• Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, entered an agreement with Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, for Nippon to market and distribute Trisenox (arsenic trioxide) injection in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Cell Therapeutics could receive milestone payments of $1.75 million for regulatory approval of Trisenox by the local health authorities for the relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia indication. Nippon will be responsible for all registration, distribution and marketing fees in the licensed territory. There is $3 million committed to milestones in other hematologic malignancies, along with milestone payments for Trisenox approval in additional indications.

• Cypress Bioscience Inc., of San Diego, reported results demonstrating that milnacipran, its lead drug candidate, preferentially blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine over that of serotonin (5-HT). Previous in vitro studies in rodent tissue-based assays have suggested that milnacipran is unique among clinically available dual reuptake inhibitors in preferentially blocking the reuptake of norepinephrine over that of 5-HT by about 2-to-1. Cypress said this leads to a suggestion that the compound represents the first of a new class of non-tricyclic agents, the norepinephrine serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

• Genaissance Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., entered a pharmacogenomics-based agreement with Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J. Genaissance will apply its HAP technology to clinical trial samples from Pharmacia. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

• Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., said it is developing a Viread Access Program to provide Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), an antiretroviral medication for HIV, at no profit to every country in Africa and in 15 countries in other parts of the world classified as "least developed" by the U.N. The plan will encompass 68 countries in total. Viread is a nucleotide analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor approved in the U.S. and Europe.

• Helix BioPharma Corp., of Aurora, Ontario, said that its interferon-alpha cream development program is prepared to advance to the cGMP production phase, for the manufacture of product for clinical studies planned for 2003. To facilitate that, Helix signed a contract services agreement with WellSpring Pharmaceutical Canada Corp., of Oakville, Ontario. The cream is being developed principally to treat infection and disease caused by the human papillomavirus.

• Hemispherx Biopharma Inc., of Philadelphia, presented data from a Phase IIb trial of RNA-based Ampligen on structured treatment interruption in HIV. The data suggest a prolongation of time off highly active antiretroviral therapy without significant viral rebound when taking Ampligen vs. control.

• Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., withdrew its application for an initial public offering due to market conditions. It filed for its IPO in April. The company focuses on the discovery and development of drugs for the treatment of human viral and other infectious diseases. At the time of filing, the company estimated the offering could raise $115 million.

• InKine Pharmaceutical Co. Inc., of Blue Bell, Pa., signed a definitive agreement for a private placement of $13 million worth of 10 percent senior secured convertible notes due June 2005 with warrants to four investors. Investors include S.A.C. Capital Associates LLC, Royal Bank of Canada, Tail Wind Fund Ltd. and Solomon Strategic Holdings Inc. The notes are convertible into InKine stock at a fixed conversion price of $1.85 per share with no antidilution provisions and are subject to forced conversion at InKine's option under certain circumstances. InKine said it will use proceeds to repay its current outstanding June 2003 convertible notes, which are being redeemed at a 30 percent premium to face value. InKine focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases.

• InSite Vision Inc., of Alameda, Calif., and Societa Industria Farmaceutica Italiana SpA, of Italy, signed an eight-year agreement granting the exclusive right to manufacture/perform, distribute and promote the OcuGene genetic glaucoma test in Italy. Financial details were not disclosed. OcuGene is a system of genetic testing for primary open-angle glaucoma.

• Interleukin Genetics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., received $500,000 as the final installment of an interim financing reported two months ago, sufficient cash to meet its operating expenses through January. The latest installment is in the form of a $500,000 promissory note issued by Interleukin, which has received $1.5 million from an unnamed consumer products company.

• ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Irvine, Calif., said the FDA accepted its filing of the chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) and clinical sections of the new drug application for Vitrase for the treatment of vitreous hemorrhage, filed in October, along with the nonclinical pharmacology and toxicology section, submitted in January. ISTA's submission of the CMC and clinical sections of the Vitrase NDA were made pursuant to FDA fast-track designation.

• La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co., of San Diego, completed a Phase III trial of Riquent, previously referred to as LJP 394. The company said it is compiling and auditing the data from the trial sites prior to the unblinding and analysis of results. It expects to report initial trial results as early as February. The primary endpoint is time to renal flare in patients with high-affinity antibodies to Riquent. The trial enrolled 317 patients with a history of lupus renal disease. Based on the 313 patient samples analyzed to date, 294, or 94 percent, had high-affinity antibodies to Riquent.

• Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc., of Bothell, Wash., reported positive results from a bioequivalence study showing that its investigational nasal spray dosage form of cyanocobalamin is bioequivalent to Nascobal nasal gel. Nascobal is Nastech's FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of vitamin B12-deficient patients with Crohn's disease, colitis, pernicious anemia and certain other conditions. As part of the study, Nastech also looked at the effect of Nascobal nasal gel and Nascobal nasal spray on homocysteine levels. The data showed that homocysteine levels declined significantly with both dosage forms (p<0.05).

• NeoPharm Inc., of Lake Forest, Ill., said in a recent call with the FDA concerning the company's proposed Phase II/III pivotal trial design and registration plan for IL13-PE38, the agency affirmed the proposed trial design and provided additional guidance for development. NeoPharm said it believes that the pivotal trials for IL13-PE38 will begin in mid-2003, as previously planned.

Protalex Inc., of Albuquerque, N.M., named Steven Kane as its new president and CEO. Most recently, Kane was vice president of North American sales and field operations for Aspect Medical. Prior to Aspect, Kane was Eastern area vice president for Pyxis Corp., where he was instrumental in positioning the company for its successful IPO in 1992, Protalex said.

• QLT Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Bulach, Switzerland-based Novartis Ophthalmics, the eye health unit of Novartis AG, reported statistically significant preliminary results of the six-month vision outcomes of patients being treated with Visudyne for minimally classic wet age-related macular degeneration. The Visudyne in Minimally Classic study involved 117 patients equally randomized to one of three treatment arms. Early outcomes at six months showed that the mean change in visual acuity scores of patients in both Visudyne treatment arms were statistically significantly better than the loss of the 9.4 mean letter change in patients receiving placebo (p=0.008 and 0.024, respectively). The study is scheduled to continue for at least 12 months.

• Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boulder, Colo., said that as a result of notification from Nasdaq that it has not met the minimum requirements for trading on the Nasdaq National Market, it has applied for a transfer of its shares to the Nasdaq SmallCap Market. If accepted, its stock would continue trading under its current symbol RZYM.

• Symbollon Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Framingham, Mass., said it was notified by Nasdaq that Symbollon failed to comply with the minimum $2.5 million stockholders' equity requirement for continued listing. Symbollon does not plan to request a hearing and its common stock will be delisted from the Nasdaq SmallCap Market at Friday's open. Symbollon focuses on drugs based on its molecular iodine technology.

• Telik Inc., of South San Francisco, said the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia joined Telik's network of collaborators in cancer drug discovery. The network includes cancer research institutions working to apply Telik's drug discovery technology, TRAP, to new cancer targets to identify pharmaceutically active compounds. Telik has worldwide rights to develop and commercialize selected compounds resulting from the collaboration and will use Fox Chase as a preferred clinical site for its oncology drug development programs arising from the collaboration.

• Valentis Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., expanded its April 2001 license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, for use of Valentis' GeneSwitch gene regulation technology. GSK will have the ability to use the technology for research purposes in all of its facilities for up to 10 years. Valentis will receive $1 million in return. Valentis maintains rights to clinical applications of the GeneSwitch technology, which is designed to allow researchers to control the level and duration of selected genes in transgenic animals and cell cultures, aiding in the identification and characterization of a gene's function.

• VaxGen Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., and the Chemo-Sero-Therapeutic Research Institute (Kaketsuken) in Kumamoto, Japan, entered initial agreements to allow VaxGen to initiate development of Kaketsuken's attenuated smallpox vaccine for use in the U.S. VaxGen said it believes that the vaccine, licensed in Japan in 1980, will have a better safety profile, yet be equally effective, than smallpox vaccines currently available in the U.S. The vaccine, LC16-Kaketsuken, was administered to 50,000 Japanese children, in whom no serious side effects were observed, VaxGen said. VaxGen's stock (NASDAQ:VXGN) gained $1.87 Tuesday, or 11.9 percent, to close at $17.60.

• Wyeth, of Madison, N.J., said the European Commission approved its marketing authorization application for Enbrel (etanercept) for the treatment of active and progressive psoriatic arthritis in adults when the response to previous disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy has been inadequate. Enbrel was originally discovered by Immunex Corp., which was bought by Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif. The product is a fully human anti-TNF therapy. Wyeth has rights to promote the drug outside North America.