* Atrix Laboratories Inc., of Fort Collins, Colo., sold 2.25 millionshares at $11.625 in an offering. The company's platform technologyis the Atrigel biodegradable polymeric drug delivery system.

* CuraGen Corp., of Branford, Conn., was awarded a $4.8 milliongrant from the National Center for Human Genome Research todevelop next-generation DNA sequencing tools. Soane Biosciences,of Hayward,. Calif., said it will get about $1.5 million of that grant toparticipate in the effort.

* Jenner Technologies, of Danville, Calif., entered into an exclusiveworldwide licensing agreement with Ciba-Giegy Ltd., of Basel,Switzerland, for a series of compounds for cancer and relatedconditions. One of the compounds (MTP-PE) is in a Phase III studyfor osteogenic sarcoma in children.

* Synteni, of Palo Alto, Calif., said it reached an agreement toprovide gene expression information to Pharmacia & Upjohn, ofKalamazoo, Mich., using its Gene Expression Micro-arraytechnology. Terms were not disclosed.

* Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it will have its nexttwo milestone payments from Pfizer Inc., of New York, paid inLigand stock. The $1.25 million in milestones will be paid through101,000 shares of the 1.35 million Ligand shares held by Pfizer.

* NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Salt Lake City, said underwriters forits recent public offering exercised overallotment options on 450,000shares at $15 per share, increasing net proceeds to about $48.3million.

* The Liposome Co., of Princeton, N.J., said liposomal prostaglandinE1 (TLC C-53) was designated as an orphan drug for the treatment ofacute respiratory distress system. The drug currently is in a Phase IIItrial for that indication. The company also received approval tomarket Abelcet in Ireland as a first-line treatment for systemiccandidiasis and other fungal infections.

* Tital Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., said its TheracellInc. subsidiary signed a licensing agreement with University of SouthFlorida College of Medicine to develop Sertoli cell technology fortreatment of brain disorders. Theracell will obtain an exclusivelicense to the technology and investment at least $1.5 million overtwo years.

* Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., signed anexclusive license and supply agreement with BioChem TherapeuticInc., of Laval, Quebec, for development and marketing in Canada ofVX-710, Vertex's lead multidrug reversal agent that's in Phase I/IIstudies. BioChem will pay an initial licensing fee and developmentand commercialization milestones.

* Vical Inc., of San Diego, expanded its 1994 agreement with PasteurMerieux Serums & Vaccins S.A., of Lyon, France, covering Vical's"naked" DNA technology for vaccines. The deal includes a researchcollaboration and an option for Pasteur Merieux to get exclusivelicenses to the technology for certain targets. Pasteur Merieux hasexercised four of five original license options and extended its optionfor the fifth.

* Cell Genesys Inc., of Foster City, Calif., received clearance to openfor enrollment a second Phase II trial of an AIDS gene therapy. Apatient's own T cells will be collected, genetically modified andreturned to the patient.

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