May 18, 2006: Company and People News

Company News

Allergica (Ramat-Gan, Israel, www.bio-light.co.il)and LovelaceRespiratory Institute (LLRI, Albuquerque, NM, www.lrri.org) agreed todevelop an inhaleable version of Allergica's antihistamine drug. LRRIwill provide Allergica with development services and support preclinical animal and human clinical trials before submitting the datato the US Food and Drug Administration(Rockville, MD, www.fda.gov).

Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim,Germany, www.boehringer-ingelheim.com)signed a license agreement with XstalBio(Glasgow, UK, www.xstalbio.com),a specialist in parenteral, transdermal, andpulmonary delivery of protein-based drugs, for use of XstalBio'sprotein-coated microcrystal (PCMC) technology. Both companies willjointly develop and scale up the PCMC technology for pilot-scale GMP manufacturing. XstalBio will receivemilestone payments andmanufacturing rights to the jointly developed manufacturing process.

Dutchbiotech company Crucell (Leiden,Netherlands, www.crucell.com)signed a "PER.C6" licensing agreement with Upstate USA, Inc. (Charlottesville, VA), a subsidiary of Serologicals Corporation (Atlanta,GA, www.serologicals.com).The agreement allows Upstate to use the PER.C6 cell line to propagateadenovirus containing siRNA that will be sold to the biomedicalcommunity for research purposes.

Eisai (Tokyo,Japan, www.eisai.com)and Nitto Denko (Osaka, Japan,www.nitto.com),a maker of optical films for liquid crystal displays, signeda joint agreement to develop a transdermal patch form of "Aricept," atreatment for Alzheimer's disease that is currently available in tableform.

The HealthcareDistribution ManagementAssociation (Arlington, VA, www.healthcaredistribution.org)joined the USFood and Drug Administration's (Rockville, MD, www.fda.gov) Counterfeit Alert Network, a groupthat informs consumers, pharmacists, healthcare professionals,and distributors about counterfeit drug incidents.

Anticancertherapeutics specialist ImmunoGen,Inc. (Cambridge, MA, www.immunogen.com) willcollaborate with Genentech(South San Francisco, CA, www.gene.com)to create a commercial manufacturing process for Genentech'strastuzumab-DM1 TAP compound.

Laureate Pharma (Princeton, NJ, www.laureatepharma.com)entered into a biopharmaceutical manufacturing agreement with Iconic Therapeutics, Inc. (Atlanta,GA, www.iconictherapeutics.com)on the CGMP manufacture of hl-con1, a bifunctional immunoprotein. Thespecific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Pall Corporation (East Hills, NY, www.pall.com) willcollaborate with zeta Holding GmbH(Tobelbad, Austria, www.zeta.com)for the use of specific automation software and development, supply,andmarketing of equipment for fermentation, recovery, and purification ofbiotech products.Tunnell Consulting (King ofPrussia, PA, www.tunnellconsulting.com)was awarded a multimillion-dollar contract fromthe US Department of Health and HumanServices (HHS, Washington, DC,  www.hhs.gov) inpreparing for a global influenza pandemic. Tunnell will provideexpertise and personnel support to help HHS establish vaccine andantiviral drug stockpiles; develop and manufacture cell-based vaccines;establish a secure egg supply for influenza vaccine manufacturing;expand and enhance the vaccine surge supply; and develop pandemicvaccine candidates for clinical evaluation.

People

AAIPharma (Wilmington, DE, www.aaipharma.com)

named Julie WardCrocker, PharmD, vice-president ofcommercial strategy and development. Before joining AAIPharma, Crockerwas vice-president of new product development for Mylan BertekPharmaceuticals

.

Baxter International Inc.'s (Deerfield, IL, www.baxter.com)board of directors appointed four new  officers to thecompany's executive management team:  GeraldLema, president of BaxterAsia Pacific, Marcelo A. Mosci,president of Baxter Latin America, MichaelJ. Baughman, corporate controller, and David P. Scharf, corporate secretary.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK,London, England, www.gsk.com) extended the contract of GSK CEO JPGarnier to May 2008. The contract was to expire in October 2007.

GlobalCRO Kendle (Cincinnati, OH, www.kendle.com)

appointedJohn F. Amelingdirector of clinical, regulatory, and strategic operations. Amelingwill be responsible for advising clients on drug development strategies

.