• ViaCell will begin to enroll patients in a Phase I/II clinical trial of CB001, a highly purified population of stem cells that has been isolated from umbilical cord blood and multiplied using the company’s patented Selective Amplification technology. The objective of the trial is to assess the safety of CB001 and the rate and durability of blood and immune system reconstitution using CB001 in the treatment of adult patients with advanced stages of hematologic cancers who have undergone high-dose chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

• Stressgen Biotechnologies Corp. has announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated HspE7, the company’s lead immunotherapeutic for human papillomavirus-related diseases, as a fast-track product development program for the treatment of patients suffering from recurrent respiratory papillomatosis.

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals has announced that the FDA has granted its investigational cancer therapy, MLN2704, fast-track designation. MLN2704 currently is being evaluated in a Phase I/II clinical trial at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center for the treatment of patients with metastatic androgen-independent prostate cancer.