¿ AeroGen Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., said from SG Cowen's 21st Annual Health Care Conference in Boston that its AeroDose ipratropium inhaler, being developed for the treatment of respiratory disorders, entered Phase II trials. The inhaler is a small, portable hand-held device that uses AeroGen's proprietary aerosol generator technology to aerosolize liquids.

¿ AlphaRx Inc., of Richmond Hill, Ontario, signed a letter of intent to acquire an additional 30 percent interest in PanBiotic Laboratories Co. Ltd., of Kaohsuing, Taiwan. AlphaRx will have a 65 percent interest in PanBiotic following the acquisition, which is subject to the signing of a definitive agreement. PanBiotic manufactures and distributes solid, liquid and injectable prescription and non-prescription pharmaceutical products to hospitals, medical clinics and pharmacies in Taiwan.

¿ AltaRex Corp., of Waltham, Mass., said study results demonstrated the ability of ProstaRex, a monoclonal antibody targeted to prostate specific antigen, to activate T-cell immune system responses in an in vivo dendritic cell model. The company said the therapy instigates not only a T-cell immune system response, but also a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response.

¿ Antares Pharma, of Minneapolis, appointed Roger Harrison chief executive officer. Harrison is the former director of alliance management at Eli Lilly & Co., of Indianapolis.

¿ Caprion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Montreal, completed a second closing on its financing, raising $4.1 million and bringing its total raised for the financing to $37.5 million. The financing, managed by Yorkton Securities Co., of Toronto, was led by Ventures West, of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Fidelity Management & Research Co., of Boston. In November, it raised $7.5 million from Micromass Inc., of Manchester, UK, and now has more than C$70 million (US$45.3 million) in cash. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 6, 2000.)

¿ Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., said its board authorized the repurchase of up to 5 million shares of common stock over the next year. This authorization, the latest in a stock-repurchasing program that began in 1999, raises the total number of shares available for repurchase to 7.7 million.

¿ CollaGenx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Newtown, Pa., closed a $7.5 million equity financing it will use to fund development of its Periostat advertising campaign. The financing entailed 1.5 million shares at $5 per share and warrants to purchase an additional 400,000 shares at $6 per share. CollaGenx is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the dental market. Its lead drug, Periostat, is designed to treat adult periodontitis.

¿ Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, submitted an investigational new drug application with the FDA to begin trials of HE2200, an immune-regulating hormone drug candidate. The company filed the IND seeking approval for the initiation of a Phase I trial in healthy adults and healthy elderly volunteers to evaluate the therapy's safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile.

¿ Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp., of Plainsboro, N.J., said its board authorized a share-repurchase program authorizing it to repurchase up to 500,000 shares for a maximum total price of $5 million. At Monday's close of $11.937, Integra's shares (NASDAQ:IART) were near the midpoint of their 52-week range of $6.688 to $18.313.

¿ InterMune Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., makers of Actimmune, a gamma interferon therapy for osteoporosis treatment, found from Stanford University Medical Center that inhaled gamma interferon, an immune system modulator, could reduce chronic airway inflammation in cystic fibrosis patients. Researchers at Stanford are testing the compound in 60 patients at eight sites in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase II trial designed to evaluate the therapy's safety and efficacy.

¿ Medicure Inc., of Winnipeg, Manitoba, terminated its proposed financing under its prospectus filed Feb. 28. It said a financing when market conditions are more favorable is intended. (See BioWorld Today, March 6, 2001.)

¿ MedImmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., initiated a Phase I trial in cancer patients with an humanized monoclonal antibody licensed from Applied Molecular Evolution Inc., of San Diego. Second-generation Vitaxin, an angiogenesis inhibitor optimized through AME's directed evolution technology platform, targets the integrin alpha-v-beta-3. The company also initiated a randomized, double-blind, controlled Phase II study of its vaccine candidate designed to prevent urinary tract infections. That study is designed to evaluate the unnamed vaccine candidate's safety and efficacy in 300 women.

¿ OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Uniondale, N.Y., began a Phase Ib trial of OSI-774 in combination with docetaxel (Taxotere) in patients with advanced cancer. The dose-escalating study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of OSI-774, a small-molecule anti-EGFR drug candidate.

¿ Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tustin, Calif., extended its radiolabeling research and development agreement with the Paul Scherrer Institut, of Villigen, Switzerland. The expansion will include research, development and preclinical testing of tumor necrosis therapy-based positron emission tomography imaging agents. The collaboration originally focused on scaling up the radiolabeling processes for Peregrine's Cotara and Oncolym monoclonal antibody-based anticancer agents.

¿ Pharmagene plc, of Royston, UK, and WITA Proteomics AG, of Teltow, Germany, entered a collaboration to jointly identify, validate and develop drug targets for partners. Financial details were undisclosed.

¿ The Immune Response Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif., said preliminary data from an open-label study suggests that treatment with Remune (HIV-1 Immunogen) in addition to HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) may help HIV-positive individuals maintain control of the virus during structured treatment interruptions of the HAART regimen. Patients in the trial received Remune once every three months as an intramuscular injection during the 16-week HAART dosing regimen, and researchers found that viral replication during the "off" period of the HAART regimen appeared to be reduced by Remune treatment.