• Alkermes Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., filed with the SEC registration statements relating to a proposed exchange offer involving holders of its currently outstanding 3.75 percent convertible subordinated notes due in 2007. Alkermes will offer up to $115 million aggregate principal amount of its new 6.52 percent convertible senior subordinated notes due in 2009 for up to an aggregate principal amount of $200 million of its outstanding 3.75 percent notes, and will offer, in a corresponding cash offer to participating noteholders, the right to purchase for cash up to an additional $50 million of its new notes.

• Biovation Ltd., of Aberdeen, UK, a Merck KgaA group company, and Micromet AG, of Munich, Germany, expanded their existing research agreement of August 2001, extending it to the development of therapeutic proteins. Financial terms were not disclosed. The companies originally signed a research agreement for Biovation to apply its DeImmunisation technology to therapeutic proteins designed by Micromet. Biovation was to earn research revenues in the deal and receive license fees and potential milestone payments if Micromet selected proteins for further development, as well as royalties on any product sales.

• Celera Diagnostics, of Alameda, Calif., a joint venture between the Applied Biosystems Group and the Celera Genomics Group, entered a breast cancer research initiative with the University of California at San Francisco. Celera Diagnostics plans to complete large-scale disease association studies in breast cancer with the goal of identifying genetic markers associated with the disease The UCSF research activities will be funded in part by the UC Discovery Grant from the Industry-University Cooperative Research Program, within the UC Office of the President, and in part by Celera Genomics.

• Cell Genesys Inc., of Foster City, Calif., completed construction of the portion of its Hayward, Calif., manufacturing facility necessary to support the company's Phase III trial of GVAX prostate cancer vaccine, expected to begin by mid-2003. The facility is undergoing validation testing. Cell production has begun at the site, the company said.

• Cellegy Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, raised $5.5 million in a private placement of its common stock to John Gregory, the managing partner at SJ Strategic Investments LLC. Cellegy sold 2.2 million shares for $2.50 apiece, a 9 percent premium to Wednesday's closing price of $2.30. The purchase increased Gregory's ownership in Cellegy to about 19.9 percent. Cellegy focuses on gastroenterology, the treatment of male and female sexual dysfunction and various women's health disorders. Cellegy's stock (NASDAQ:CLGY) rose 48 cents Thursday, or 20.9 percent, to close at $2.78.

• EntreMed Inc., of Rockville, Md., said its new derivative of thalidomide, ENMD 0995, received orphan drug designation from the FDA for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma. In animal studies, ENMD 0995 exhibited activity in primary and metastatic human tumor models of multiple myeloma and was more effective than thalidomide, a drug used for the investigational treatment of multiple myeloma, the company said. EntreMed's stock (NASDAQ:ENMD) rose 27 cents Thursday, or 21 percent, to close at $1.57.

• Essential Therapeutics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., initiated a Phase I trial of ETRX 101 using a higher dose than previous studies. The company is expected to use the results to determine whether it will take ETRX 101, a small molecule designed to restore lowered blood cell counts due to myelosuppression, into a Phase II program. The company anticipates Phase II trials would be initiated in the first half of 2003.

• Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany, signed a medicinal chemistry optimization program agreement with British Biotech plc, of Oxford, UK. The agreement centers on British Biotech's antibiotic metalloenzyme inhibitor research program, which is focused in particular on inhibitors of peptide deformylase. Under the agreement, a team of Evotec OAI chemists will design and synthesize additional PDF inhibitors that British Biotech will use in screening in its search for anti-infective drug candidates.

• Eximias Pharmaceutical Corp., of Berwyn, Pa., said that 223 patients were enrolled in its ETHECC (efficacy of Thymitaq in hepatocellular carcinoma) trial, achieving 50 percent recruitment. The ETHECC trial is a randomized, Phase III study comparing the survival benefit of Thymitaq vs. doxorubicin in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. The trial was designed to confirm the results of three completed Phase II trials and to demonstrate a clear survival benefit in Thymitaq-treated patients with such cancer. Thymitaq is a direct inhibitor of the enzyme thymidylate synthase.

• ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Costa Mesa, Calif., said it would redirect its focus to its specialty pharmaceuticals business through a series of steps designed to reposition the company and provide growth. The restructuring plan is expected to result in the divestiture of businesses not in line with ICN's new growth plans, which also would result in increased investment in product and business development. ICN also named Robert O' Leary its chairman and CEO, part of the formation of a new management team.

• Myogen Inc., of Denver, received a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. The two-year grant will be used for Myogen's drug discovery program aimed at the identification of lead compounds that inhibit MEF2-dependent signaling as a treatment of chronic heart failure.

• Lorus Therapeutics Inc., of Toronto, renewed an emergency drug program to supply its cancer product, Virulizin, for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer. The emergency drug program is available to cancer patients worldwide through their physicians. In addition to providing a service to cancer patients, the company said it would augment the Virulizin database with useful additional safety information gathered through the program, which will be included with future regulatory filings.

• NeoGenomics Inc., of Naples, Fla., entered a research and license agreement with Ciphergen Biosystems Inc., of Fremont, Calif., to perform proteomics research studies using Ciphergen's ProteinChip Biomarker System. The collaboration contains a research work plan that includes scientific contributions from both parties and specifies procedures for licensing and commercialization of discoveries with therapeutic or diagnostic product potential. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• NeoPharm Inc., of Lake Forest, Ill., said new findings for IL13-PE38 were reported in the October 2002 issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. In a series of laboratory experiments designed to help define the molecular mechanisms for the therapeutic properties of the drug, researchers observed that human glioma tumor cells that express the interleukin-13 receptor underwent apoptosis following intratumoral administration of IL13-PE38, leading to regression of established tumors.

• NicOx SA, of Sophia Antipolis, France, and AstraZeneca plc, of London, selected AZD4717 as the second candidate from a new class of anti-inflammatory and analgesic compounds, cox-inhibiting nitric oxide donators (CINOD), in development to treat acute and chronic pain. The selection marks the completion of the first phase of a joint screening and characterization program that identified AZD4717, as well as several other drug candidates, based on NicOx's technology. AZD3582, the first compound in the CINOD class, is in Phase II trials.

• ProMetic Life Sciences Inc., of Montreal, and Arriva Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Almeda, Calif., said their joint venture, Arriva ProMetic Inc., received FDA and Health Canada approval to initiate a Phase Ib trial of recombinant alpha-1-antitrypsin topical gel in patients with atopic dermatitis. The joint venture was formed in 1999 to develop and commercialize recombinant alpha-1-antitrypsin and other serine protease inhibitors.

• Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boulder, Colo., reached an agreement to settle a shareholder class action lawsuit. The suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado in December 1999, involved trading in RPI's common stock on a single day in 1999. RPI said its liability insurance policy covered the full amount of the settlement, which is subject to final court approval. Ribozyme's stock (NASDAQ:RZYM) rose 20 cents Thursday, or 52.6 percent, to close at 58 cents.

• Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Jerusalem, said an interim analysis of its trial of Copaxon in primary progressive multiple sclerosis showed it was "improbable" that the study would reach statistical significance. The analysis was done at the two-year mark of the three-year study. There have been no safety issues with the drug, the company said. Copaxone is approved in 41 countries, including the U.S., to treat relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers found that combining prenatal transplants of blood-forming stem cells with manipulations of blood cells after birth achieved immune tolerance in mice, allowing donor cells to multiply without toxic side effects. Researchers produced high levels of transplanted healthy stem cells in the mice, while reducing graft-vs.-host disease. The finding could open the door to future treatments for many genetic diseases such as sickle-cell anemia and muscular dystrophy, the hospital said.

• VaxGen Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., filed a shelf registration statement for $150 million. In its prospectus, it said it planned to use the proceeds from any sale of securities for research and development and general corporate purposes. It also might use a portion to acquire or invest in businesses, products and technologies complementary to its own. Pending those uses, net proceeds would be invested in investment-grade, interest-bearing securities, it said. VaxGen focuses on biologic products for the prevention and treatment of human infectious diseases and is developing vaccines against HIV and anthrax.

• Vivus Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., reported positive results of a study designed to evaluate TA-1790, its phosphodiesterase Type 5 inhibitor, in men with erectile dysfunction. The trial, which used a RigiScan device to measure penile rigidity in association with visual sexual stimulation, demonstrated that peak efficacy response to TA-1790 was comparable to or greater than that observed with Viagra. Also, the peak penile response with TA-1790 occurred at the earliest time point evaluated in the study, 20 to 40 minutes after drug administration, as compared to the peak response to Viagra, which occurred 60 to 120 minutes after administration.

• ZymeTx Inc., of Oklahoma City, filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code after the influenza disease management firm was unable to raise additional capital to fund ongoing operations. ZymeTx said the plan gives it an opportunity to continue operations and protect its scientific and commercial assets, including the Internet-based National Flu Surveillance Network.