Cancer-focused Agensys Inc. nailed down its second big pharma deal of the month, licensing its Phase I monoclonal antibody for prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) to Merck & Co. Inc. for $17.5 million up front and as much as $11.5 million more over the next year, depending on milestones. (BioWorld Today)

Less than a month after disclosing the next step of its Phase II study with talabostat for leukemia - and days after winning an FDA grant for the drug - Point Therapeutics Inc. launched the most advanced trial yet with the compound, starting its Phase III program to test talabostat in metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer. (BioWorld Today)