Agreements and contracts

New Haven, CT (Mar. 21)—Vion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (www.vionpharm.com~) extended its manufacturing agreement with SAFC (www.safcglobal.com~). SAFC will continue to provide high-potency manufacturing for the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in Vion's "Cloretazine," an anticancer drug. The amended contract extends the original 2003 agreement to 2009. In December 2006, Vion entered into a manufacturing agreement for Cloretazine finished drug product with Ben Venue Laboratories (Bedford, OH, www.benvenue.com~). Ben Venue will manufacture Cloretazine finished drug product using the API manufactured by SAFC.

Florham Park, NJ (Mar. 12)—BASF Corporation (www.basf.com/usa~) formed a pact with L.V. Lomas (Brampton, ON, Canada, www.lvlomas.com~), whereby Lomas will act as an authorized distributor of BASF's pharmaceutical excipients in Canada.

Santa Fe, NM (Mar. 14)—CytoDon, Inc. (www.cytodyn.com~) selected the Waisman Clinical BioManufacturing Facility (www.waisman.wisc.edu/wcbf/design.html) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (www.wisc.edu~) to manufacture its DNA-based pre-flu vaccine. The vaccine uses DNA technology to implant a false memory of previous exposure to the virus and could offer an alternative approach to immunization. CytoDyn hopes to have clinical trials of the vaccine underway by the end of the 2008 flu season.

Keele, UK (Mar. 6)—Cobra Manufacturing Plc (www.cobrabio.com~) joined a consortium that focuses on developing a new oral vaccine-delivery system based on live bacterial spores. The research program will use genetically engineered spores to express vaccine determinants on their coat.

Bagsværd, Denmark (Mar. 5)—Novo Nordisk (www.novonordisk.com~) joined forces with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS, Beijing, www.cas.ac.cn~) to establish a joint research foundation in China. The Novo Nordisk–Chinese Academy of Science Research Foundation will fund or cofund activities within the fields of biopharmaceuticals, protein chemistry, immunology, toxicology, oncology, and drug delivery.

Munich, Germany (Mar. 1)—Affectis Pharmaceuticals AG (www.affectis.com~) contracted Dalton Pharma Services (Toronto, ON, Canada, www.dalton.com~) to manufacture preclinical toxic material with potential for CGMP production. The agreement follows Dalton's recent receipt from Health Canada of an establishment license, which allows Dalton to manufacture sterile products and test and ship commerical products. Dalton will manufacture an antidepressant drug candidate for Affectis.

Pasadena, CA (Mar. 1)—Materia, Inc. (www.materia-inc.com~) plans to collaborate with Peakdale Molecular, Ltd. (Chapel-en-le-Frith, UK, www.peakdale.co.uk~) to offer metathesis-based scaffolds for the pharmaceutical industry. The agreement gives Peakdale nonexclusive rights to use Materia's methathesis intellectual property portfolio for the design, development, and sale of the scaffolds for research. The partners will identify target compounds, which then will be produced and distributed by Peakdale. Both companies hope to introduce two new series of scaffolds by the end of 2007. They plan to introduce more series in 2008.

Basel, Switzerland (Feb. 27)—Lonza (www.lonza.com~) extended its existing supply agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (New York, www.bms.com~). Lonza will continue to produce the active pharmaceutical ingredient for "Orencia," BMS's biologic agent for treating rheumatoid arthritis, through 2013. The API is manufactured at Lonza's biologics-manufacturing facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.