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Other News To Note
(BioWorld Today Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) , of Palatine, Ill., said King Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bristol, Tenn., exercised its option to license a fourth immediate-release opioid analgesic product candidate using Acura's Aversion technology, which is designed to deter common methods of prescription drug misuse and abuse, and paid Acura an option exercise fee of $3 million. King and Acura jointly are developing three other opioid analgesic product candidates using Aversion, including Acurox (oxycodone HCl-niacin) tablets.
? Apitope International NV, of Hasselt, Belgium, and New York-based Fast Forward LLC, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's subsidiary, partnered to support Apitope's proof-of-principle trial of ATX-MS-1467, a peptide therapeutic vaccine designed to target and prevent the abnormal pathological immune response in multiple sclerosis. Under the terms, Fast Forward will provide Apitope with up to $1 million and will receive warrants for purchase of shares in the company.
? AVI BioPharma Inc., of Portland, Ore., said it received verbal clearance for its investigational new drug applications for lead products against the Marburg and Ebola viruses and expects to receive written confirmation from the FDA in early 2009. Both products, AVI-6002 and AVI-6003, are analogues based on the company's PMO antisense chemistry, which is designed to enhance antiviral potency by adding positively charged components to the morpholino oligomer linkage.
? CellCyte Genetics Corp., of Bothell, Wash., said in a SEC filing that it currently does not have sufficient cash to fund its operations and has substantially curtailed all activities. The firm said it will require additional financing to pay planned expenses for the next 12 months and pursue its plan of operations. CellCyte said debt financing would not be an alternative for funding since the company lacks tangible assets to secure the financing, and therefore, anticipates that any funding will be equity financing from the sale of its common stock. The company added that it would pay its independent contractors by issuing stock in lieu of cash. CellCyte, which reported $5,734 in cash as of Sept. 30, also noted that it has fallen behind on its monthly rent for its headquarters but is working with the landlord to renegotiate its lease.
? Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it completed the acquisition of Pharmacopeia Inc., of Princeton, N.J. The deal, first reported in September, called for Ligand to issue about 18 million shares of its common stock to Pharmacopeia shareholders, as well as about $9.3 million in cash. Pharmacopeia security holders also received a contingent value right entitling them to an aggregate cash payment of $15 million under certain circumstances. The acquisition gives Ligand Pharmacopeia's royalty partnerships, drug discovery tool, early stage pipeline and cash and tax assets. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 26, 2008.)
? MannKind Corp., of Valencia, Calif., purchased an option for $2.5 million to license rights to plant-produced recombinant human insulin from SemBioSys Genetics Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, for use with its ultra-rapid acting insulin Afresa, which recently completed Phase III studies. Under the option agreement, MannKind also will purchase 2.4 million units of SemBioSys on closing at 83 cents per unit, each of which consists of one common share and one-tenth purchase warrant. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 5, 2008.)
? Synvista Therapeutics Inc., of Montvale, N.J., said it was notified by the NYSE Alternext US LLC (formerly the American Stock Exchange) that it is not in compliance with certain listing standards. The firm must submit a compliance plan to the NYSE Alternext by Jan. 23, 2009.
? Trimeris Inc., of Durham, N.C., said it received a Nasdaq deficiency letter stating that the company is not in compliance with the audit committee requirement for continued listing, due to the recent resignation of director Kevin C. Tang. Nasdaq will provide Trimeris with a cure period, which runs until the earlier of Dec. 15, 2009, or the company's next annual meeting of stockholders.
? VIA Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Francisco, said it signed exclusive, worldwide agreements to license a thyroid hormone receptor beta agonist from Roche AG, of Basel, Switzerland. The compound is a clinically ready candidate aimed at controlling cholesterol and triglyceride levels, with potential in insulin-sensitization diabetes. VIA also gained rights to multiple compounds from Roche's preclinical diacylglycerol acyl transferase 1 metabolic disorders program. Under the terms of the agreements, VIA will assume control of all development and commercialization of the compounds and will own exclusive worldwide rights for all potential indications. Financial details were not disclosed.
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Copyright ? 2008 Thomson BioWorld, All Rights Reserved.
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