¿ Axonyx Inc., of New York, was approved for a listing on the NASDAQ Small Cap board.

¿ Celera Genomics, of Rockville, Md., reached an agreement with Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, that provides for a five-year comprehensive subscription to five of Celera's current databases, including its advanced bioinformatics tolls and browsers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

¿ CuraGen Corp., of New Haven, Conn., and COR Therapeutics Inc., of South San Francisco, expanded their collaboration to apply CuraGen's functional genomics technologies to cardiovascular drug discovery. The companies will use CuraGen's PathCalling proteomics technology and bioinformatics systems to create an annotated database of protein-protein interactions derived from cardiovascular endothelial cells. The collaboration is being expanded in order to discover additional novel drug targets, as well as to offer functional information and validation of previously discovered targets. Terms were not disclosed.

¿ Labopharm Inc., of Laval, Quebec, completed its second pharmacokinetic study, this one comparing a 100 mg, twice-a-day, controlled release formulation of the analgesic, Tramadol, using Labopharm's Contramid technology. The results showed a bio-equivalence, as measured by the time to peak concentration and total bioavailability, with a twice-a-day drug that is already marketed. The results of another study involving a once-a-day formulation of Tramadol are expected within days.

¿ Medarex Inc., of Princeton, N.J., and Raven Biotechnologies Inc., of San Carlos, Calif., formed a collaboration aimed at identifying therapeutic antibodies with the potential to treat a variety of diseases including cancer. Raven will use Medarex's HuMAb-Mouse technology to develop fully human antibodies against novel antigens discovered by Raven using its integrated platform of comprehensive cell surface mapping. Medarex will receive research payments, license fees and milestone payments as well as royalties on therapeutic product sales.

¿ Palladium Venture Capital, of Menlo Park, changed its name to Versant Ventures. The company has a $250 million fund that concentrates on early-stage investments in companies from all major sectors of health care.

¿ Xoma Ltd., of Berkeley, Calif., started a Phase I/II trial of anti-CD11a in kidney transplant recipients. Xoma is collaborating with South San Francisco-based Genentech Inc. to develop this recombinant, humanized monoclonal antibody designed to selectively inhibit immune system T cells. A Phase III trial of anti-CD11a in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis was started in December.