Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., filed a shelf registration statement with the SEC to issue up to 3 million shares of its common stock. Ariad said it has no immediate plans to offer or sell any shares. Based on Wednesday’s closing price of $5.21, the shelf registration is worth about $15.6 million.

Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., will participate with Salu Inc., of Granite Bay, Calif., in Salu’s Medical Specialty Hub for neurologists. Biogen will offer neurologists access to NeuroHub web capabilities, helping Biogen reach neurologists and their patients with information and educational materials about multiple sclerosis and Biogen’s Avonex, Salu said. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Celera Genomics Group, of Rockville, Md., said it received an additional research milestone from Aventis Pharma AG, of Frankfurt, Germany. The milestone represents the fourth and last milestone in a series that mark the selection and advancement of individual Cathepsin S inhibitors for development as drugs for inflammation and autoimmune disease. Further financial details were not disclosed.

Celsion Corp., of Columbia, Md., completed a private placement of units consisting of one share of common stock and one common stock purchase warrant, at a price of 50 cents per unit. Celsion took in gross proceeds of $6.25 million. It plans to use the proceeds to commercialize cancer drug and treatment systems based on its focused heat technology platform.

Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, entered a license agreement with Molecular Medicine LLC, of San Diego, to offer manufacturing services for clinical-grade materials on Crucell’s proprietary PER.C6 technology in the United States. Crucell will receive up-front and annual payments, as well as double-digit royalties on sales. Further financial details were not disclosed.

Galen Holdings plc, of Craigavon, Northern Ireland, is selling its chemical synthesis services business to a management team led by the founder and former president of Galen, Allen McClay, for about £25 million (US$36 million). Proceeds will be used to strengthen Galen’s pharmaceutical business, the company said.

Genetix Group plc, of New Milton, UK, signed a licensing agreement with Biomedical Photometrics Inc., of Waterloo, Canada, for the rights to manufacture and sell microarray scanners covered by its technology. The aQuire scanners will be used to read molecular biological-based arrays, including DNA microarrays. Financial details were not disclosed.

Genomic Solutions Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., said it signed a distribution agreement with PerkinElmer Life Sciences, of Boston. PerkinElmer will have the nonexclusive right and responsibility to engage in sales, marketing, distribution and field service activities of all Genomic Solutions products outside the United States and Japan. In addition, PerkinElmer will have nonexclusive distribution rights for Genomic Solutions’ GeneTAC HybStation and all Investigator proteomic electrophoresis products worldwide.

Genta Inc., of Berkeley Heights, N.J., filed an investigational new drug application with the FDA for the study of gallium nitrate in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The company announced the news at the JPMorgan H&Q Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Upon acceptance of the IND, Genta said it plans to initiate a multicenter trial in patients with low- or intermediate-grade non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma who have low blood counts and who have failed chemotherapy and rituximab. Intravenous gallium nitrate is approved for treatment of cancer-related hypercalcemia.

GPC Biotech AG, of Munich, Germany, achieved a milestone in its osteoarthritis alliance with Aventis Pharma AG, of Frankfurt, Germany. Aventis selected a validated target, identified by GPC, to be moved into high-throughput screening. The milestone triggers an undisclosed payment from Aventis to GPC.

ID Biomedical Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, signed an agreement with Takara Biomedical Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Takara Shuzo Co. Ltd., of Japan, granting Takara a worldwide nonexclusive license to ID Biomedical’s genomics platform, Cycling Probe Technology. The terms include royalties on product sales and other undisclosed payments. ID Biomedical said it expects to book $2.5 million in revenues related to the Takara agreement in the first quarter.

ImClone Systems Inc., of New York, has been the subject of several class action suits following problems associated with its new drug application filing for its colorectal cancer product, Erbitux. The application was denied on Dec. 28. Since that time, the company’s stock has been decreased by more than 42 percent, including $4.23, or about 11.7 percent, Wednesday. Its stock (NASDAQ:IMCL) rose $2.37 Thursday to close at $34.22. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 3, 2002.)

InterMune Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., signed an agreement with Abbott Laboratories, of Abbott Park, Ill., to provide the bulk manufacturing of oritavancin, InterMune’s glycopeptide antibiotic for Gram-positive bacterial infections. Abbott will be responsible for the technology transfer of the manufacturing process from Eli Lilly & Co., of Indianapolis. InterMune acquired worldwide rights to the manufacturing process in September 2001. Financial terms were not disclosed. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 21, 2001.)

Invitrogen Corp., of San Diego, launched its Expressway In Vitro Protein Expression System, a method for producing protein in a test tube. Expressway gives scientists working in proteomics, drug discovery, molecular diagnostics or cancer research a method to obtain protein for analytical studies.

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co., of San Diego, presented Phase II/III data on LJP 394 showing improved or sustained health-related quality of life in patients with lupus renal disease following 16 weeks of treatment and following renal flares, compared to placebo. After 16 weekly treatments in 190 people, those treated with LJP 394 reported a positive trend in their composite mental score of 1.3 compared to a worsening of -0.8 in those with placebo, a difference of 2.1. Following a renal flare, treated patients demonstrated stabilization or improvement in all SF-36 domains while those receiving placebo reported deterioration in all domains. The data were presented at the SLE: Targets for New Therapeutics scientific conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the SLE Foundation in Bethesda, Md.

MedImmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., accepted for exchange all shares of Aviron Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., related to their proposed merger. The shares were validly tendered in MedImmune’s offer to exchange 1.075 MedImmune shares for each Aviron share. MedImmune’s proposed acquisition of Aviron was valued at about $1.5 billion at the time of announcement in December. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 4, 2001.)

NaPro BioTherapeutics Inc., of Boulder, Colo., said it expects “no significant delays” in the final review of its abbreviated new drug application with the FDA for injectable paclitaxel. It also expects the product to reach the market in 2002.

Pharmacopeia Inc., of Princeton, N.J., said it is mailing a letter from Institutional Shareholder Services, an independent proxy advisory firm, to all Pharmacopeia stockholders regarding the company’s proposed $197 million merger with Eos Biotechnology Inc., of South San Francisco. The letter recommends that stockholders vote for the merger. Stockholders are scheduled to vote on the merger on Jan. 18. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 23, 2001.)

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., completed enrollment for its Axokine Phase III program for obesity. The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study enrolled about 2,000 patients at 65 study sites across the United States. Endpoints are based on changes in body weight vs. baseline during treatment. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 1, 2001.)

Sankyo Pharma Inc., of Parsippany, N.J., said its research and development division, Sankyo Pharma Development, and MDS Pharma Services, a part of MDS Inc., of Toronto, entered a partnership in which MDS Pharma Services will build and manage a clinical pharmacology unit for Sankyo Pharma Development. The unit will begin operations this month in a Neptune, N.J., facility to be completed by MDS Pharma Services. The unit will conduct clinical pharmacology and Phase I studies, with the initial emphasis on the evaluation of treatments for diabetes and lipid disorders. Financial details were not disclosed.

Santarus Inc., of San Diego, promoted Gerald Proehl to president and CEO. Proehl joined Santarus in April 1999 as vice president, marketing, sales and business development. In March 2000 he became president and chief operating officer. Previous CEO Kenneth Widder will continue to serve as chairman.

ZymeTx Inc., of Oklahoma City, entered a marketing and distribution arrangement with Advanced Laboratory Technologies Inc., which will promote and offer ZymeTx’s ZstatFlu rapid influenza diagnostic test to its member facilities. ALT focuses on point-of-care diagnostic testing for long-term care and post-acute care facilities nationwide. Financial details were not disclosed.

ZymoGenetics Inc., of Seattle, filed an amendment to its registration statement with the SEC, related to its proposed initial public offering filed in September. ZymoGenetics is anticipating a 10 million share offering, with an overallotment option of 1.5 million shares, and estimates a price range of $16 to $18 per share. At those figures, the offering would raise between $160 million and $180 million. (See BioWorld Today, Sep. 11, 2001.)