¿ Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, said PE Corp., of Foster City, Calif., filed suit against it in the Federal District Court in Delaware based on several patents related to reagents Affymetrix purchased from PE licensed vendors.

¿ Agritope Inc., of Portland, Ore., developed a technology platform for the creation of novel plant varieties containing increased levels of naturally occurring phytochemicals, called nutraceuticals. The company's MetaGene Metabolic Genomics Technology facilitates the rapid identification of the specific genes that regulate the levels of phytochemicals such as carotenoids, lycopene, flavonoids, isoflavones, vitamins and folic acid, the company said.

¿ Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., said the FDA licensed its new manufacturing plant in Longmont, Colo. Amgen intends to manufacture its anemia drug, Epoetin alfa, as well as another anemia drug, novel erythropoiesis stimulating protein, at the plant.

¿ DOV Pharmaceutical Inc., of Hackensack, N.J., raised $7 million in a Series C convertible preferred stock placement. The money will be used to continue development of DOV's lead neuropsychiatric compounds and an anti-angina formulation. The Biotechnology Value Fund LP, of Toronto, and its affiliates and investment funds managed by Reservoir Capital Group LLC, led the financing. Aurora Capital LLC, of New York, served as placement agent.

¿ EntreMed Inc., of Rockville, Md., started a Phase I trial of Angiostatin combined with radiation therapy. Angiostatin is a naturally occurring inhibitor of angiogenesis. The study will determine the safety profile of the simultaneous administration of Angiostatin and radiotherapy in patients with advanced cancer.

¿ Exelixis Inc., of South San Francisco, licensed genetic technology from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. The technology will enable Exelixis to conduct "forward genetic" analysis in a laboratory mouse. The license will enhance the company's capabilities in vertebrate systems under its integrated model system genetics and comparative genomics platform. It also may allow Exelixis to identify key disease genes or drug targets that would be difficult to identify with alternative mouse technologies, the company said. The financial arrangement was not disclosed.

¿ Infigen Inc., of Deforest, Wis., received a fundamental U.S. patent that covers the critical processes for cloning any mammal utilizing nuclear transfer technology. U.S. patent No. 6,077,710 covers essential steps for the activation of a cloned cell, the final stage of a process that enables a fully grown mammal to be grown from a single cell. The award affords Infigen a controlling position in all potential uses of nuclear transfer-related cloning of mammalian cells for all agricultural and human health applications worldwide, the company said.

¿ Lexicon Genetics Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, reached an agreement with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that allows HHMI investigators to obtain custom knockout mice, as well as mice developed using mouse ES cells from the public portion of Lexicon's OmniBank database

¿ Matrix Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Fremont, Calif., submitted the second major portion of its new drug application for IntraDose. The company submitted the chemistry and microbiology sections. IntraDose injectable gel has completed patient enrollment in two Phase III trials in patients with recurrent or refractory head and neck cancer.

¿ Protein Delivery Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., changed its name to Nobex Corp., reflecting its expansion beyond protein drug delivery. Nobex Corp. intends to broaden the application of its proprietary technology to include the oral delivery of peptide and difficult small organic molecule drugs, the company said.

¿ SkyePharma PLC, of London, granted the exclusive Canadian marketing and distribution rights for DepoCyt to Paladin Labs Inc., of Montreal. The deal includes a $1 million up-front payment to SkyePharma, as well as milestone payments and future revenues from product sales. DepoCyt (injectable sustained-release cytarabine) is a chemotherapeutic agent approved in Canada for the treatment of lymphomatous or neoplastic meningitis.

¿ Zeltia-PharmaMar, of Madrid, Spain, raised $172.46 million (EUR181.5 million) by selling 3 million shares at $57.49 each. The offering was 2.5 times oversubscribed. In addition, the company allocated the maximum 15 percent to the retail tranche. HSBC Securities Inc., of Toronto, was global coordinator, and BSCH and ABN AMRO Rothschild acted as co-lead managers. Zeltia, through its operating unit Pharma Mar, is discovering and developing anticancer drugs derived from marine organisms.