¿ AEterna Laboratories Inc., of Quebec City, Quebec, filed a preliminary prospectus with the securities commissions and other securities regulatory authorities in the Canadian provinces, with respect to the sale of subordinate voting shares of AEterna. A full filing is expected in the near future. AEterna¿s lead compound, Neovastat, is in two Phase III trials for the treatment of lung and kidney cancer as well as in a Phase II pivotal trial for multiple myeloma.

¿ Atrix Laboratories Inc., of Fort Collins, Colo., said underwriters of its public offering exercised their option to purchase 450,000 shares of its common stock to cover overallotments. The company earlier this month said it sold 3 million shares at $23 per share in the offering, raising $69 million. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 10, 2001.)

¿ BioDiscovery Inc., of Marina Del Rey, Calif., said Torrey Mesa Research Institute, a wholly owned subsidiary of Syngenta AG, of Basel, Switzerland, selected a site license of BioDiscovery¿s GeneSight software for the analysis of gene expression data generated by the institute. The Torrey Mesa Research Institute is the genomics research center of Syngenta. Financial terms were not disclosed.

¿ Biovation Ltd., of Aberdeen, UK, and Micromet AG, of Munich, Germany, signed a research agreement for Biovation to apply its DeImmunisation technology to therapeutic proteins designed by Micromet. Biovation will earn research revenues in the deal, and will receive license fees and potential milestone payments if Micromet selects proteins for further development, as well as royalties on any product sales. The DeImmunisation technology increases the clinical potential of antibody and protein therapeutics by eliminating or reducing the T-cell response caused when the therapeutic molecule is recognized as foreign by the patient¿s immune system, Biovation said.

¿ Eukarion Inc., of Bedford, Mass., said studies demonstrated one of its synthetic catalytic scavenger SOD/catalase mimetic compounds showed the ability to treat anemia caused by oxidative stress in a mouse model. SCS compounds mimic the activity of two enzymes, SOD and catalase, which are natural defense mechanisms against oxidative stress in many organisms and species. The studies were published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

¿ Orphan Medical Inc., of Minneapolis, said the FDA accepted its plan for a response to the FDA¿s approvable letter dated July 2 regarding Xyrem (sodium oxybate) oral solution as a treatment for narcolepsy, particularly the symptom of cataplexy. The company estimates the amendment can be submitted by mid-fourth quarter.

¿ Oxagen Ltd., of Abingdon, UK, and Cerylid Biosciences Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, are in a collaborative agreement to investigate the genetics of endometriosis. The two companies currently are conducting separate family-based genetic studies in endometriosis in collaboration with academic groups. The collaboration is believed to be the world¿s largest and leading genetic study for this disease. It will include more than 1,300 families in which at least two sisters are affected with endometriosis, together with their relatives. Financial terms were not disclosed.

¿ Physiome Sciences Inc., of Princeton, N.J., and 3rd Millennium Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said 3rd Millennium licensed the PathwayPrism biological modeling technology to use in conjunction with data integration technology it is developing through its advanced technology program grant. This will allow 3rd Millennium and its academic collaborators to visualize and simulate pathways and associated networks related to Huntington¿s disease. Financial details were not disclosed.

¿ Protein Design Labs Inc., of Fremont, Calif., said its board of directors approved a two-for-one split of its outstanding shares of common stock. Each stockholder of record at the close of business Sept. 18 will be entitled to receive on additional share of common stock for every share held on that date. The dividend is expected to be distributed on Oct. 9. As of June 30, PDL had about 44 million shares outstanding.

¿ Vitrolife AB, of Goteborg, Sweden, signed an agreement with Millenium Biologix Inc., of Kingston, Ontario, for the development and testing of Vitrolife¿s culture media for use in human tissue engineering, particularly cartilage and bone. The agreement is being entered to cover a period of comprehensive testing and evaluation of candidate media produced by Vitrolife, based on current cartilage and bone cell and tissue culture models established by Millenium. Financial details were not disclosed.