Just back from China, Joshua Boger – founder in 1989 of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., and CEO until May 2009 – spoke with the enthusiasm of a new convert.

CytRx Corp. continued its strategy of cashing in on noncore assets by selling worldwide rights to its molecular chaperone portfolio to privately held Orphazyme ApS, of Copenhagen, Denmark, for a potential $120 million in up-front and milestone payments plus possible royalties.

The "ACT" in ACT Biotech Inc. stands for "accelerate cancer therapeutics" and the 3-year-old San Francisco-based company is living up to its acronym as it nears the start of a Phase III trial in the second half of this year of lead candidate telatinib in combination with chemotherapy for the first-line treatment of advanced stomach cancer.

ViroPharma Inc., of Exton, Pa., decided to give Cinryze (C1 esterase inhibitor [human]) for routine prophylaxis against attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE) its best shot, and has licensed recombinant human hyaluronidase enzyme (rHuPH20) technology from Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, to develop a subcutaneous formulation of the drug.

Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. consolidated its development and commercialization program for MM-398/PEP02 by acquiring rights for Europe and Asia from PharmaEngine Inc., of Taipei, Taiwan, for $10 million up front, a potential $210 million in milestones, and tiered royalties on sales.

Financially troubled Advanced Life Science Holdings Inc., of Chicago, has suspended operations and terminated its staff.

What a difference a year makes.

One way or the other, Mountain View, Calif.-based Vivus Inc. expects to resubmit a new drug application (NDA) for obesity drug Qnexa (phentermine/topiramate) in the fourth quarter.

Physicians, patients and analysts had new questions following the release of first-year results from a two-year National Institutes of Health study that found Avastin (bevacizumab), an FDA-approved cancer drug commonly used off-label, as effective as FDA-approved Lucentis (ranibizumab) in treating age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Not yet a year old, Beijing-based start-up BeiGene Ltd. entered an agreement with Merck & Co. Inc., which will provide unspecified debt and equity financing to help support BeiGene's preclinical discovery, cancer biomarker research and clinical-stage oncology candidate development.