BioPharm International Editors

Leonard Kanavy joins Genentech (www.gene.com) as vice president of commercial operations.

Celsis International plc (Chicago, IL, www.celsis.com) has acquired In Vitro Technologies, Inc. (Baltimore, MD, www.invitrotech.com).

Pfizer (New York, NY, www.pharmtech.com) will license TransTech Pharma's (High Point, NC, www.ttpharma.com) portfolio of large- and small-molecule compounds that target the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE), which have potential use in treating Alzheimer's disease.

TcLand S.A. (Nantes, France, www.tcland-biotech.com) has named Alain Huriez, MD, one of the company's co-founders, as Chairman and CEO.

PerkinElmer Inc. (Wellesley, MA, www.perkinelmer.com) has acquired Avalon Instruments Limited (Belfast, Northern Ireland).

Syntaxin Ltd. (Wiltshire, UK, www.syntaxin.com), a 2005 spinout from the UK Health Protection Agency, has entered into a research and license arrangement with Allergan (Irvine, CA, www.allergan.com).

The bioreactor manufacturer Applikon Biotechnology, Inc. (Foster City, CA, www.applikon.com) has signed an agreement with process-controls company Finesse, LLC (Santa Clara, CA, www.finesse-inc.com).

Idenix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Cambridge, MA, www.idenix.com) has appointed John F. Weidenbruch to the position of executive vice president and general counsel.

Avecia (Tees Valley, UK, www.avecia.com) has appointed Peter Williams to the position of Quality Director for its biologics business.

Serono, Inc. (Rockland, MA, www.serono.com) has named Paul Lammers, MD, as its US Chief Medical Officer.

Drugs developed by the fastest companies each gained an average of $1.1 billion in incremental prescription revenue and saved an average of $30 million in out-of-pocket development costs, compared to those of the slowest companies, according to Tufts University's Center for the Study of Drug Development (CSDD).

The vaccine development company SingVax Pte Ltd. (Singapore, www.singvax.com) has named John Brown, PhD, as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Aida Pharmaceuticals (Hangzhou, China) has completed its acquisition of majority control of Shanghai Qiaer Bio-Technology Co., Ltd (Shanghai, China).

AAIPharma (Wilmington, DE, www.aaipharma.com) has recently named several new vice presidents.

Fresenius Kabi (Bad Homburg, Germany, www.fresenius-kabi.com) and Sandoz, (Holzkirchen, Germany, www.sandoz.com), have entered into a partnership to develop a second-generation version of an un-named Sandoz recombinant protein using Fresenius Kabi's "HESylation" technology.

Vaccines made with bacteria killed by gamma rays may be more effective than those made using standard heat or chemical inactivation, according to Sandip Datta, MD, assistant professor in the department of medicine, University of California, San Diego (http://www.ucsd.edu).

QSV Biologics, Ltd. (Edmonton, Canada, www.qsvbiologics.com) has signed a contract with Tissue Therapies Limited (Brisbane, Australia, www.tissuetherapies.com) for the cGMP manufacture of clinical quantities of synthetic Vitronectin (a component of the wound-healing treatment VitroGro) and a single-protein chimeric form of VitroGro.

Cardinal Health (Dublin, OH, www.cardinalhealth.com) has appointed David H. Lees, PhD, president of Cardinal Health Canada.

Lpath, Inc. (San Diego, CA, www.lpath.com) and Laureate Pharma, Inc. (Princeton, NJ, www.laureatepharma.com) have entered into an agreement for Laureate to manufacture Lpath's recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody, "Sphingomab," against bioactive lipids.

Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc (Keele, UK, www.cobrabio.com) has appointed Dr. John Lovelady as Director of Manufacturing Operations for the group.

FDA ordered Donor Referral Services (Raleigh, NC) and its owner, Philip Guyett, to immediately cease all manufacturing operations and to retain human cells, tissues, and cellular- and tissue-based products (HCT/Ps) after an inspection found serious deficiencies in its manufacturing practices, including those governing donor screening and record keeping.

Genelabs Technologies, Inc. (Redwood City, CA, www.genelabs.com) has appointed Peter R. Young, PhD, to the position of vice president, biology.

EduNeering (Princeton, NJ, www.eduneering.com) and the Food and Drug Administration (Washington, DC, www.fda.gov) have extended their existing Cooperative Research and Developing Agreement (CRADA), originally formed in 1999, for five more years.

PRA International (Reston, VA, www.prainternational.com) has completed the acquisition of Pharma Bio-Research (Zuidlaren, The Netherlands), an early-phase clinical development and bioanalytical company.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham, www.assocham.org) have called for the establishment of a National Biotechnology Development Fund and a National Nanotechnology Development Fund, with outlays of approximately US $1 billion (Rs. 4,800 crore) and US $2 billion (Rs. 9,600 crore) respectively.

Emisphere Technologies, Inc. (Tarrytown, NY, www.emisphere.com) has signed a multi-product research agreement with Roche (Basel, Switzerland, www.roche.com) to explore the use of Emisphere's eligen technology in feasibility studies for new oral formulations of Roche molecules.

Ray (Rui) Zhong has joined China Biopharmaceuticals Holdings, Inc. (CHBP)?(Beijing, China, www.cbioinc.com) as senior vice president, finance and business development.

Mark Goldberger has been named the first medical director for Emerging and Pandemic Threat Preparedness at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) at the Food and Drug Administration.

Plast-O-Matic Valves (Cedar Grove, NJ, www.plastomatic.com) offers a low-cost flow control valve in natural polypropylene, PVC, and other rugged thermoplastics to maintain a constant, pre-determined flow in a piping system.

Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies seeking to train employees, or even to create their own "online university" can now partner with The Pharmaceutical Institute (PI, Raleigh, NC, www.pharmainstitute.com).