¿ Abgenix Inc., of Fremont, Calif., said it expanded the research agreement with Centocor Inc., of Malvern, Pa., the companies entered in December 1998. That agreement called for research license fees, milestone payments and royalties for Abgenix, and Centocor agreed to accept responsibility for product development, manufacturing and commercialization of resultant products. The expansion calls for Centocor to use Abgenix¿s XenoMouse technology to generate fully human monoclonal antibody therapies against multiple antigen targets in a variety of indications. Though the expansion¿s terms are similar, financial terms were undisclosed.

¿ Cell Pathways Inc., of Horsham, Pa., said it reached an agreement with plaintiffs to settle all claims in the consolidated 1999 securities class action suit brought against Cell Pathways in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia. The settlement amount, $3.75 million, will be handled by the company¿s insurance carrier. Cell Pathways said it ¿vigorously¿ denies allegations of any wrongdoing, but that the settlement is in the best interest of its shareholders.

¿ Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, priced its 5.75 percent convertible subordinated notes private offering for proceeds to the company of $150 million. The initial purchasers also have an option to purchase an additional $30 million in notes to cover overallotments. Each note will convert at the holder¿s option to CTI common stock at an initial conversion price of $34 per share. CTI said it will use proceeds from the offering to fund clinical trials, expand its sales and marketing capabilities, potential acquisitions and general corporate purposes. (See BioWorld Today, June 6, 2001.)

¿ Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, reacquired rights from Schwarz Pharma AG, of Monheim, Germany, to two growth hormone products. The original agreement was entered in 1999. Schwarz will return exclusive development and marketing rights in Europe and certain other countries outside Canada, the U.S., China and Japan to Nutropin AQ (somatropin, rDNA origin) and Nutropin Depot (somatropin, rDNA origin for depot suspension). Both are for treatment of growth hormone deficiencies in children and adults. Financial terms were undisclosed.

¿ Genomics One Corp., of Laval, Quebec, and WITA Proteomics AG, of Teltow, Germany, entered a strategic marketing agreement. Genomics One will market WITA¿s high-resolution proteomics platform in North America. Financial details were not disclosed.

¿ NeuroSearch A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, said results from a Phase II study of NS2330, its potential Alzheimer¿s therapeutic, were promising. The study results indicated that in four groups of eight patients each, NS2330 was capable of improving cognitive function in Alzheimer¿s patients.

¿ Sequenom Inc., of San Diego, disclosed the sale of five MassARRAY systems. New customers for Sequenom included the University of Massachusetts Medical School, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Wake Forest University School of Medicine and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. The fifth system was purchased by the Boston University School of Medicine, which added the system to the one it purchased in February 2000.

¿ The Medicines Co., of Cambridge, Mass., disclosed results from the first part of its REPLACE program, a Phase IIIb/IV randomized trial evaluating Angiomax (bivalirudin) in patients undergoing angioplasty. Part one, which compared Angiomax to heparin using GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors according to institutional practice in 1,056 patients, showed patients randomized to Angiomax experienced fewer complications such as death, myocardial infarction, revascularization or clinically significant bleeding. TMC also disclosed that part two of the REPLACE study will be blinded and will enroll at least 6,000 patients in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe and Israel. Part two is expected to reach completion in 2002.

¿ Tibotec-Virco NV, of Mechelen, Belgium, told attendees of the International Workshop on HIV Drug Resistance and Treatment Strategies in Scottsdale, Ariz., that the VirtualPhenotype HIV drug resistance test is a statistically reliable predictor of treatment response to different HIV drugs. A study analyzing virus samples from about 100 patients using the VirtualPhenotype system and comparing resulting predictions with actual patient responses indicated VirtualPhenotype was the only tested analysis that yielded statistically reliable predictions of response.

¿ Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., and Aurora Biosciences Corp., of San Diego, said the SEC declared effective the S-4 registration statement for their planned merger. The companies announced their intent to merge through a $592 million stock swap in May. (See BioWorld Today, May 1, 2001.)