• Allergan Inc., of Irvine, Calif., has paid US$1 million up front to Peplin Biotech Ltd., based in Brisbane, for the right to further develop and commercialize Peplin's lead compound, PEP005, for the treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer and actinic keratosis. Peplin said clinical trials will start next year and noted that the company could receive up to US$22 million, including milestone and development payments, plus royalties, if the compound is commercialized.

• Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, said it received a milestone payment of $10 million from Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J., relating to the start of Phase III development of CDP 870 in rheumatoid arthritis in October. CDP 870, a humanized anti-TNFalpha antibody, is also due to enter Phase III in Crohn's disease in 2003.

• Genset SA, of Paris, is terminating its American depository receipt facility on Dec. 27 under the terms of the deposit agreement governing the facility. Until then, holders of ADSs may surrender them to The Bank of New York in exchange for a corresponding number of shares. After Dec. 27, The Bank of New York may sell any remaining deposited securities and hold the net proceeds of any such sale for the benefit of any ADR holders who did not surrender their ADRs prior to that date. The company already delisted its American depository shares from the Nasdaq National Market on Nov. 1. Genset now is a subsidiary of Serono France Holding SA, the French subsidiary of Geneva-based Serono SA, which announced on Dec. 2 that it would cease purchasing Genset shares at the offer price of 9.75 on the Nouveau Marché on Dec. 6. As of Dec. 2, Serono held 7.6 million Genset shares, representing 92.3 percent of the total outstanding, as well as 98.8 percent of outstanding convertible bonds and all outstanding warrants. The €107 million merger was originally announced in July. (See BioWorld International, July 3, 2002.)

• Novuspharma SpA, of Bresso, Italy, said it is planning to initiate a Phase I trial of pixantrone (BBR 2778) in patients with multiple sclerosis early next year. The compound, already in Phase III studies for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, demonstrated efficacy in preventing disease development in mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), as well as greater tolerance than mitoxantrone, currently the only treatment option for many patients with rapidly progressing forms of multiple sclerosis. An earlier study of rats with EAE indicated that pixantrone is effective at preventing disease relapses and reducing white blood cell counts, while having "an almost complete absence of cardiotoxicity compared to mitoxantrone," the company stated. Novuspharma plans to recruit 15 to 20 patients for the study, which will take place in Europe.

• PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, of Oxford, UK, said last week it pulled out of talks with a prospective buyer because the offered price was too low. The unnamed suitor, widely reported to have been Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., (though not confirmed by either party) made its first approach in mid-October. However, since then, PowderJect has reported stronger than expected six-month results and seen the prospects for its flu vaccine improved by the decision of Wyeth to withdraw its FluShield vaccine from the U.S. market. PowderJect said the rejected offer "did not recognize the value of the company, or adequately reflect the strength of PowderJect's vaccines business and its prospects." The company's shares initially dropped by 95 pence to £3.15 when the news was announced on Nov. 26, but recovered over the week to close at £3.82 Friday.

• Trinity Biotech plc, of Bray, Ireland, said it completed the acquisition of the specialty clinical chemistry product line from the Sigma Diagnostics division of Sigma Aldrich Corp., of St. Louis. The company said the acquisition would be earnings neutral in the current year and earnings enhancing in 2003. The product line includes ACE, Bile Acids, Lactate, Oxalate, and G6PDH, while Trinity Biotech has also gained rights to HDL, LDL and Lipase, and to an HbA1c product that has FDA approval but is not currently on the market.

• Actelion Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, and Oxford GlycoSciences plc, of Oxford, UK, signed a licensing agreement extending the parties' existing European marketing relationship and granting Actelion worldwide marketing rights to Zavesca, except in Israel. Zavesca is a small molecule developed by Oxford GlycoSciences for patients with mild to moderate Type I Gaucher's disease for whom enzyme replacement therapy is unsuitable. The agreement is for five years, and Actelion will be responsible for all regulatory and marketing activities and will book sales of Zavesca. OGS will be paid a share of the product's net revenues. Details of the financial terms were not disclosed.

• MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, obtained a U.S. patent for a filtration method for producing therapeutic viruses. The technique separates viruses and is applicable to all viruses that show specific differences in size. The company is using the technology to produce a vaccine against malignant melanoma. The vaccine, which is based on genetically modified adeno-associated viruses, is currently in a Phase I/II trial.