The Advanced BioFuels Association announced today that its member companies elected a Chairman and Vice Chairman of its Board of Directors at its Winter Board Meeting in Washington D.C. The members unanimously elected Lee Edwards, CEO of Virent Energy Systems, as Chairman and Robert M. Ames, Vice President and General Manager of Tyson Foods, as Vice Chairman.

“Our member companies have great confidence in these two leaders and their abilities to help strengthen and grow the ABFA as it quickly positions itself as ‘the’ voice for the advanced biofuels industry,” said ABFA President Michael McAdams.

The Advanced BioFuels Association engages lawmakers to ensure consistent and fair public policies on the state and federal level as the groundbreaking technologies of its member companies face various economic and regulatory obstacles in the pursuit of commercialization. Its member companies hold the promise to achieving America’s energy and economic security for future generations.

“It is a great honor to serve the members of the ABFA as they represent the leading edge of the next great technology revolution,” said Chairman of the ABFA Board of Directors Lee Edwards. “We are proof that American ingenuity and entrepreneurship will prove to be the real winners in a Green economy as we create new clean energy jobs and open up new economic markets.”

Robert M. Ames, Vice Chairman of the ABFA Board of Directors, added, “We believe it’s vitally important to our nation’s renewable energy efforts that the ABFA help provide a greater understanding of advanced biofuels and encourage lawmakers to develop public policy that is technology neutral and does not pick one alternative over another.”

Lee Edwards, CEO of Virent Energy Systems, based in Madison, Wisconsin. Virent is commercializing its patented BioForming® platform that converts a variety of biomass feedstocks into fungible premium green gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Virent counts Cargill and Honda among its leading investors and Royal Dutch Shell as a strategic collaboration partner to commercialize the production of advanced renewable fuels. Edwards brings 25 years of global energy leadership and petroleum industry experience to Virent and the ABFA. He was most recently CEO of BP Solar and has held numerous executive positions at BP. Edwards earned a MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Bucknell University.

Robert M. Ames, Tyson Foods VP and General Manager, is responsible for commercializing Tyson Foods’ portfolio of renewable energy initiatives. These include an alliance with ConocoPhillips and a joint venture with Syntroleum Corporation called Dynamic Fuels, which is constructing the first commercial scale advanced biofuels plant in North America. Prior to this position, he served in a variety of management roles within Tyson Foods. Outside of Tyson Foods he serves on a joint USDA/DOE panel advising the Secretaries on biofuel research and development. He earned a BA from the University of St. Thomas and a MBA from the Yale School of Management where he was a John M. Olin Foundation fellow.

SOURCE Advanced Biofuels Association

Eight patients with advanced solid malignancies were enrolled in the trial which was designed to measure drug safety and the normal organ and whole body dosimetry of 131I-CLR1404. Dosimetry measurements allow investigators to understand how the radiopharmaceutical will impact non-tumor organs and how it clears from the body over time. Results will be used to set the starting dose for the second Phase I study –a dose escalation study to determine the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) of 131I-CLR1404 in patients with advanced solid malignancies.

Lead investigator Joanne Mortimer, MD, Vice Chair of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, City of Hope, said, “This drug candidate has the potential to treat many tumor types, including some of the most challenging. The results of this initial study will provide a better understanding of the full potential of 131I-CLR1404 and, enable us to move forward toward determining an appropriate therapeutic dose for patients.”

Cellectar’s President and CEO, Bill Clarke, M.D., commented, “The dosimetry and biodistribution results of this study reveal both the initial safety profile of this drug and an approximate possible dose range that a patient could receive in a therapeutic situation. We look forward to continuing the development of 131I-CLR1404 in order to determine the safe dose, and then to begin our efficacy studies. Having the opportunity to assess the potential of 131I-CLR1404 therapy for solid tumor patients who have few treatment options is our primary goal.”

LenSx Lasers, Inc., world leader in laser cataract surgery, congratulates Dr. Stephen G. Slade, Slade & Baker Vision, Houston, Texas for performing the first laser cataract surgery cases in the United States using a femtosecond laser.

LenSx received the first femtosecond laser clearance for a cataract surgery indication in August 2009 for anterior capsulotomy followed by a clearance for corneal incisions in December 2009. Dr. Slade performed the surgeries with the LenSx Laser in his office-based ambulatory surgery center in Houston. All patients were counseled and eager to participate in the first US femtosecond laser cataract surgeries, and all cases were successfully completed with the implantation of a premium intraocular lens.

“I have been involved in many new technology introductions, and I know from these past experiences that LenSx, laser refractive cataract surgery, will be widely accepted by surgeons and demanded by patients in the very near future. LenSx technology will accelerate the growth and acceptance of premium cataract surgery in a way that no other methodology can. This is the cataract surgery that I would want for my friends, my family and myself.”

Lola Anderson, Houston Texas, the first US patient to experience laser cataract surgery with a premium IOL, states, “this was an awesome experience, I didn’t feel a thing”. It gave me great confidence to know that my surgeon had the very latest laser technology for my cataract surgery. Immediately after surgery, Lola asked, “can we do my other eye now?”

One hundred percent (100%) of capsulotomies performed in Houston were perfectly centered and achieved diametric accuracy of ± 0.25 mm. Precise corneal incisions were effectively created by the laser, and all were self-sealing postoperatively. Dr. Slade will present his experience at the 2010 Dulaney-AIRS Aspen Invitational Refractive Symposium on Tuesday, March 9.

Initial clinical evaluation of the LenSx Laser began in 2008 with Professor Dr. Zoltan Nagy of Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. His findings were presented at the 2009 ASCRS, ESCRS and AAO meetings, and published in the Journal of Refractive Surgery (December 2009). Professor Nagy completed the first image-guided cataract surgeries with proprietary LenSx imaging technology in December 2009. The fully integrated LenSx Laser enables the surgeon to view and plan surgery based on every patient’s unique anatomy. Professor Nagy has now successfully performed over 500 cataract surgeries with the LenSx femtosecond laser demonstrating safety and efficacy for lens fragmentation, capsulotomy, and corneal incisions.

This milestone in the development of surgical technology for cataract surgery further establishes the role of femtosecond lasers in ophthalmology. The first ophthalmic femtosecond lasers were introduced as alternatives to automated mechanical blades used in LASIK. Since 2001, over 3 million femtosecond laser procedures have been performed, offering refractive surgery patients enhanced precision and safety. Surgeons soon will be able to offer patients a computer-guided laser alternative during cataract surgery.

Ron Kurtz, MD, President and CEO of LenSx Lasers Inc., stated “The LenSx system has been designed from the ground up based on input from leading ophthalmic surgeons like Drs. Slade and Nagy. We look forward to working with an even wider group as we bring this exciting new technology to the refractive cataract surgery marketplace.”

Phase 1b Multi-Dose Study to Build on Success in Phase 1a

Akebia Therapeutics, Inc., a small molecule discovery and development company focused on anemia and vascular disorders, today announced that it has initiated dosing for a phase 1b multi-dose clinical trial of AKB-6548, an orally bioavailable hypoxia-inducible factor-prolyl hydroxylase (HIF-PH) in development for anemia. The phase 1a study of AKB-6548 demonstrated a dose-related increase in erythropoietin with no significant adverse events.

“We are pleased to be rapidly moving AKB-6548 into phase 1b studies following the successful completion of the phase 1a trial,” said Joseph Gardner, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Akebia. “In this next study we will continue to monitor the safety profile of AKB-6548 as well as erythropoietin and other biomarkers in a multi-dose setting. We are excited about the potential of this compound, and that early results have supported our goal of providing patients with a product that offers unique advantages over current approaches to address anemia including simple oral dosing, and an improved safety profile.”

The phase 1b study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of three ascending series of doses of AKB-6548 in healthy volunteers. Volunteers will be dosed with AKB-6548 once daily for ten days. In addition, the efficacy of AKB-6548 will be ascertained by measuring erythropoietin and other biomarker responses including VEGF, hepcidin, transferrin and ferritin. The trial will involve approximately 33 healthy volunteers and will be conducted at Medpace, Inc. in Cincinnati, OH. The study is expected to be completed by mid-2010.

In early January, Akebia announced the successful completion of the first-in-man phase 1a study for AKB-6548 in healthy volunteers. In the clinical study, a single dose of AKB-6548 increased EPO levels and was found to be safe and well tolerated.

About HIF-PH

Hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are transcription factors that respond to decreases in oxygen, or hypoxia, in the cellular environment. HIF-PH’s are the hypoxia inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase enzymes that normally regulate the levels of HIF in bodily tissues. By inhibiting HIF-PH enzymes, HIFs can be stabilized or up regulated, allowing the body to better respond to reduced oxygen, injury and infection. The ability to stabilize HIFs may lead to treatments for many conditions including anemia, fractures, wounds, and other conditions where the HIF mechanism is not functioning optimally.

About AKB-6548

AKB-6548 is an orally bioavailable HIF-PH inhibitor designed to increase natural production of EPO, a glycoprotein hormone that controls red blood cell production. Inadequate EPO production by the kidney is a common cause of anemia. Akebia will initially target patients with chronic renal disease and pre-dialysis patients, two patient populations that are currently undertreated for anemia. AKB-6548 potentially promises to be a safe, cost effective, orally dosed drug that delivers the efficacy of injectable EPO stimulating agents.

Cellectar Inc. has raised $2.7 million for its radiopharmaceutical technology that treats and detects a variety of cancers, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Cellectar’s lead compound, called CLR1404, is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials for cancer treatment. In preclinical studies, the molecule has been accepted and retained in 45 types of solid tumors, according to Neal Sandy, Cellectar’s chief operating officer.

The company’s immediate goals center on continuing to progress through clinical trials. Cellectar is not at a point that it needs to decide what type of cancer it is going to target in its first drug commercialization, Sandy said.

Based on its previous fundraising, Cellectar appears to be among Wisconsin’s most promising health care start-ups. The company raised $13 million in early 2008 to fund operations, as well as its Phase 1 trial, Wisconsin Technology News reported.

That round was led by Venture Investors LLC, which has offices in Madison and Ann Arbor, Mich. John Neis, a managing director with Venture Investors who leads the firm’s health care practice, joined Cellectar’s board after the deal. Neis’ voicemail message said he was out of the country and he didn’t immediately return an e-mail.

In 2007, the company raised $7 million, an amount that was called the largest angel round in Wisconsin history.

The company’s radiopharmaceutical technology works by using a radioactive isotope to attach to and kill a cancerous tumor. The drug, which is injected into a patient’s body, doesn’t attach to healthy tissues.

The company’s technology is based on research conducted at the University of Michigan and University of Wisconsin.

The $2.7 million funding comes in the form of debt, options or warrants. The company has no revenue, according to the SEC filing.

Virent Energy Systems, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded $2.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of a $33.8 million grant to the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC). The NABC aims to develop technologies to convert cellulosic biomass feedstocks into hydrocarbon fuels that are sustainable, cost-effective, and compatible with existing infrastructure.

The funding will enhance Virent’s on-going efforts to break down cellulosic biomass into sugars that can be further processed into biofuels that are cost-competitive with petroleumbased fuels. Virent’s innovative BioForming® conversion process utilizes both conventional and non-food plant sugars, although fuels made from non-food sugars are not currently cost-competitive. Industry analysts and policymakers believe that promoting technologies to reduce the price of non-food cellulosic feedstocks would be the most effective way to lower the price of the finished fuel and enable these advanced biofuels to achieve broader acceptance and commercialization in the transportation fuel marketplace. Virent currently produces its high octane, energy dense green gasoline using feedstocks as diverse as sugar cane, sugar beets, woody biomass, switchgrass, bagasse, or corn stover.

“Virent is pleased to be the recipient of this grant from the Department of Energy as part of the NABC and we are looking to enhance the competitiveness of cellulosic biomass as a biofuel feedstock because of its considerable potential as a high-impact energy source,” said Lee Edwards, CEO of Virent. “Combining inexpensive sugars from plentiful cellulosic biomass, such as agricultural or forestry residues, with already substantial quantities of conventional sugar feedstocks, could dramatically increase the volume of renewable fuels produced globally without impacting food, feed or export demands,” according to Edwards.

In addition to fuel price, compatibility with today’s petroleum distribution infrastructure would speed market acceptance of biofuels. The most direct way to achieve this is to produce renewable hydrocarbon fuels that match petroleum fuels in molecular composition, energy content, and performance. Virent’s BioForming process generates the broad range of gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel hydrocarbon molecules now refined only from petroleum. Virent’s renewable fuels can be used at high blends with, or as drop-in replacements for, petroleum fuels with no new infrastructure investment.

“Biofuels must be compatible with the nation’s engines, pipelines and refineries to play asubstantial and effective role in reducing carbon emissions and reducing oil imports,” said Dale Gardner, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Associate Director for Renewable Fuels and Vehicles. NREL is jointly leading the NABC with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

“The economical conversion of plentiful cellulosic biomass into renewable, fungible hydrocarbon fuels is the most realistic alternative to create a clean energy transportation sector in the coming years,” said Edwards. “Virent has proven it can transform cellulosic, non-food sugars into environmentally superior hydrocarbon fuels with the same composition and performance as petroleum fuels. Progressing biomass deconstruction to provide inexpensive cellulosic sugar feedstocks is the final hurdle to achieving a complete and
sustainable biofuels solution.”

Virent’s work in cellulosic pre-treatment and deconstruction initially began in 2007 with a two million dollar Advanced Technology Program grant from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The award announced today will specifically fund Virent’s investigations of pretreatment strategies for releasing sugars from biomass and improved catalysts for the conversion of biomass-derived sugars to hydrocarbons as well as the process and engineering design to integrate these improved technologies with Virent’s BioForming process.

ABOUT VIRENT ENERGY SYSTEMS

Virent’s BioForming process is a leading technology for the production of fungible advanced biofuels, including green gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel. The process has won numerous technology and innovation awards including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge and the World Economic Forum’s Technology Pioneer awards. Headquartered in Madison, WI, Virent has 80 employees in a state of the art catalytic biorefining development facility. Virent counts Cargill and Honda among its leading investors and has a collaboration with Royal Dutch Shell to commercialize the production of green gasoline. The BioForming technology is based on the Aqueous Phase Reforming process.

NanoBio Corporation announced today that a sixth U.S. patent covering its novel nanoemulsion technology has been awarded. The patent encompasses composition of matter claims for the company’s lead anti-infective and vaccine product candidates.

“We are very pleased with this patent award in that the new claims circumscribe all of NanoBio’s anti-infective and dermatological products, as well as our intranasal and intramuscular vaccine adjuvants,” said James R. Baker, Jr., MD, NanoBio’s CEO and founder. “The timing of this allowance coincides nicely with several very important development milestones at NanoBio.”

In December 2009, NanoBio and GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) announced an exclusive licensing agreement in the United States and Canada for the over-the-counter use of NB-001, NanoBio’s lead product for the treatment of herpes labialis (cold sores). NanoBio is currently preparing to study the efficacy and safety of 0.3% NB-001 in two Phase 3 trials.

In addition, NanoBio’s lead vaccine candidate, NB-1008, a seasonal influenza vaccine administered via a nasal dropper, has shown very promising results in a recently completed Phase 1 clinical study. The company is currently in partnership discussions with several parties regarding NB-1008.

The development of the nanoemulsion platform began in the 1990s at the University of Michigan, and has since been supported by over $110 million in grants, investments and partnership funding. The newly issued patent (U.S. #7,655,252) is licensed from the University of Michigan to NanoBio Corp. on an exclusive, worldwide basis. With this new patent, NanoBio now holds six U.S. patents and has filed over 30 additional applications.

About NanoBio

NanoBio® Corp. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing dermatological products, anti-infective treatments and intranasal vaccines derived from its patented NanoStat™ technology platform. The company’s lead product candidates are treatments for herpes labialis (cold sores), onychomycosis (nail fungus), acne, cystic fibrosis and a broad platform of intranasal vaccines. The company’s headquarters and laboratory facilities are located in Ann Arbor, Michigan.