¿ Cangene Corp., of Winnipeg, Manitoba, received notification from the Therapeutic Products Directorate of Health Canada that Varicella zoster immune globulin (VZIG), its anti-chicken pox product, will receive fast-track review. VZIG is a highly purified and specialized antibody against the Varicella zoster virus that causes chicken pox.

¿ Cephalon Inc., of West Chester, Pa., entered into a purchase agreement providing for the sale of 2 million shares of convertible exchangeable preferred stock at $50 per share in a private offering worth up to $100 million. The offering is expected to close Wednesday. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 6, 1999, p. 1.)

¿ Cytoclonal Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Dallas, expanded its facilities from 11,000 square feet to 21,400 square feet. It includes a new drug design and screening facility for its Quantum Core Technology, a rational drug-design program.

¿ Idexx Laboratories Inc., of Westbrook, Maine, said its board of directors authorized the repurchase of up to 2 million shares of its common stock in the open market or in negotiated transactions, in an action worth about $33.4 million. The timing and amount of any repurchase will be at management's discretion.

¿ InSite Vision Inc., of Alameda, Calif., signed an exclusive licensing agreement granting the Japanese rights to AquaSite, its sustained-release dry eye treatment, to SSP Co. Ltd., of Tokyo. Terms were not disclosed.

¿ Osiris Therapeutics Inc., of Baltimore, and BioWhittaker, a subsidiary of Cambrex Corp., of East Rutherford, N.J., completed a marketing, development ad media supply agreement covering adult stem cells. The companies will conduct research into new stem cell products and culture media for the research and therapeutic markets. BioWhittaker will manufacture and market adult stem cells products through an exclusive worldwide license from Osiris. Development costs will be shared and Osiris will receive royalties on sales of research reagents. Cambrex also purchased $5 million of Osiris common stock and agreed to buy an additional $2 million when Osiris goes public.

¿ Pharmazyme, a division of San Diego-based Immune Complex Corp., received a $200,000 Phase I small business innovative research contract from the National Institute of Environmental Health to develop its high-throughput assay system for the detection of human cytochrome P450 polymorphisms.

¿ SangStat Medical Corp., of Fremont, Calif., said Celsior, its standardized flushing and cold storage solution for donor hearts, received 510(k) clearance from the FDA. The company intends to launch Celsior next month.

¿ Skye PharmaTech Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, said it will receive an equity investment of about C$15 million from an undisclosed diagnostics company based in the U.S., which gained manufacturing, development and distribution rights to Skye's stroke panel products. A definitive agreement is expected within 30 days.

¿ SuperGen Inc., of San Ramon, Calif., said it completed its acquisition of Sparta Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Horsham, Pa., in exchange for about 430,000 SuperGen shares (NASDAQ:SUPG), which were worth $7.8 million based on Friday's closing price. Sparta also received warrants to purchase an additional 221,000 shares at $18.18 each. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 20, 1999, p. 1.)

¿ Valentis Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., said London-based PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals Corp. - which is merging with Valentis - entered into a research agreement with the pharmaceutical division of Bayer Corp., of Pittsburgh. Bayer will fund a feasibility study on the development of factor VIII using PolyMASC's ProtoMASC technology. The aim is to investigate the possibility of extending the circulating half life of factor VIII and to look at the potential for reducing antigenicity and immunogenicity.