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Illumina to defend Genome Analyzer System patent infringement suit

Illumina, Inc. today announced that it has been served with a complaint filed on September 21, 2009 in the U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware naming Illumina as a defendant. The complaint names as plaintiffs Life Technologies Corporation; Applied Biosystems LLC; a Russian research institute; two individuals listed as inventors on the asserted patents; and another individual who appears to have an ownership interest in the patents.

From Illumina, Inc. 28 Sep 2009

Plant gene regulating oil accumulation in plant seed licensed to BASF Plant Science

Technology that could enhance plants' seed oil content for food and animal feed applications has been licensed to BASF Plant Science under an exclusive commercial agreement with Michigan State University.

28 Sep 2009

$1.3 million fund awarded to WPI for ongoing life sciences research

Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's (WPI) Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park have received a total of $1.3 million in new awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund ongoing research in several areas of the life sciences, including a study of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, work aimed at using adult stem cells to repair damaged hearts, and a project that seeks to create engineered blood vessels.

28 Sep 2009

Lonza Group and Patheon extend exclusivity and due diligence period

The Special Committee of Independent Directors of Patheon Inc. (TSX:PTI) and Lonza Group AG (SIX:LONN) today announced the extension until October 15, 2009 of the exclusivity and due diligence period to allow for continued discussions regarding the previously announced non-binding proposal to acquire all of the outstanding restricted voting shares of the Company at a price of US$3.55 per share as well as other possible strategic transactions.

28 Sep 2009

Neuroscience and sports scientists collaborate to help atheletes

Bioscientists and sports scientists are meeting this week to discuss the application of bioscience research to help investigate challenges presented by the UK high performance sport community.

28 Sep 2009

Teva to market generic version of AstraZeneca's antipsychotic agent Seroquel tablets

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a July 1, 2008 decision by the District Court to grant AstraZeneca’s motion for summary judgment of no inequitable conduct related to U.S. Patent No. 4,879,288.

26 Sep 2009

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals declares pricing of common stock shares

Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty biopharmaceutical company, today announced the pricing of a public offering of 3 million shares of its common stock.

26 Sep 2009

Cardiome Pharma to extend the term of its "Dutch Auction" tender offer

Cardiome Pharma Corp. (NASDAQ: CRME / TSX: COM) ("Cardiome" or the "Company") announced that it will extend the term of its modified "Dutch Auction" tender offer (the "Offer") for up to US$27.5 million of its common shares commenced on September 1, 2009.

26 Sep 2009

Stem Cell Therapy International merges with Histostem

Stem Cell Therapy International, Inc. is proud to announce the execution of the Reorganization and Stock Purchase Agreement ("the Agreement") with Histostem Co., Ltd., a Korean company ("Histostem" and together with SCII, "the parties").

25 Sep 2009

RXi Pharmaceuticals acquires self-delivering rxRNA technology platform from Advirna

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi), today announced that it has recently acquired direct ownership of technology for which it had previously exercised its option to exclusively license from Advirna LLC.

25 Sep 2009

DOR Biopharma to raise $3.85 million from institutional investors

DOR BioPharma, Inc. (DOR or the Company) (OTC Bulletin Board: DORB), a late-stage biotechnology company, announced today that it has entered into common stock purchase agreements with institutional investors totaling approximately $3.85 million. DOR's North American commercial partner, Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc., participated in this financing.

25 Sep 2009

NCI awards Altor Bioscience a $3 MM grant to develop its targeted cancer therapeutic ALT-801

Altor BioScience Corporation announced today that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Bridge Grant by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The award of $3 MM over three years will help Altor further its clinical development of ALT-801, a novel tumor-targeted immunotherapeutic designed to improve the efficacy and safety of the FDA-approved anticancer cytokine, interleukin-2 (IL-2).

25 Sep 2009

Investigational New Drug application for Uricase-PEG 20 approved

EnzymeRx, LLC, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced that its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for Uricase-PEG 20, filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month, has become effective.

25 Sep 2009

AABM Team wins two medals in a national contest

The Aquatic Animal Bio-Medicine R&D Team (AABM Team) of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Taiwan, led by Distinguished Prof. Huey-Lang Yang from Institute of Biotechnology, won two medals out of more than 100 teams in the national contest, “2009 Crazy Idea – King of Practical Applications on Creative Researches and Development of Biotechnology,” organized by the Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan.

25 Sep 2009

ethica Clinical Research, Matrix Pharma sign worldwide agreement

ethica Clinical Research Inc. ("ethica"), a Contract Research Organization (CRO) headquartered in Montreal, and Matrix Pharma Canada Inc. ("Matrix Pharma"), have announced the signing of an agreement, valued at CAD1.25 Million, that provides ethica with an exclusive, worldwide license to promote and use Matrix Pharma's proprietary research data analysis technology for life sciences applications, notably for the identification and optimization of biomarkers.

25 Sep 2009

Vertex Pharmaceuticals to present SVR data at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Association

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced that sustained virologic response (SVR) data from Study C208, which evaluated twice-daily dosing of Vertex’s investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor telaprevir, will be presented in an oral presidential plenary session at the 60th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) taking place Oct. 30 – Nov. 3, 2009 in Boston.

25 Sep 2009

$4.5 million cost involved for MLSIC set up

The Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC), Ann Arbor SPARK, Greater Wayne Economic Development Corporation and a private foundation have collaborated to create the Michigan Life Science and Innovation Center (MLSIC). MLSIC will connect well-funded, experienced entrepreneurs with business accelerator organizations and start-up life science companies.

25 Sep 2009

Researchers develop molecule to confuse insects' ability to detect plants

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)-funded research, published this week in Chemical Communications, describes how scientists have discovered molecules that could confuse insects' ability to detect plants by interfering with their sense of smell. This could reduce damage to crops by insect pests and contribute to food security.

25 Sep 2009

Collaboration for the evaluation of peptide copolymer technology

Peptimmune, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company announced today that it has formed a research and development collaboration with the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) and the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC), Silver Spring, MD to evaluate the Company's proprietary DEEP(TM) peptide copolymer technology for the potential development of dengue vaccines and point-of-care diagnostics.

25 Sep 2009

Research study supports reovirus and cisplatin combination for cancer treatment

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. ('Oncolytics') reported today that research led by Prof. Hardev Pandha of the Royal Surrey County Hospital, U.K., was published September 22, 2009 in the online version of Clinical Cancer Research.

25 Sep 2009