Week of May 5, 2011: Company and People Notes: Velesco partners with Vindonwestech; NeurogesX announces retirement of CEO Anthony DiTonno; and More.

Company Notes

GE Healthcare has agreed to acquire Applied Precision, a supplier of cellular imaging technologies for the cell-biology and biomedical research sectors. The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2011.

The biopharmaceutical companies Talceris Biotherapeutics and Griflos have reached a consent agreement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that outlines the conditions necessary for Grifols' acquisition of Talecris to proceed. The consent agreement remains subject to approval by FTC before the transaction can be completed. To meet the terms of the agreement, Grifols has agreed to sell select assets and has entered into certain commercial, lease, and manufacturing agreements with the Italian biopharmaceutical company Kedrion for up to seven years. Under the agreement, Kedrion and Grifols will enter into a contract-manufacturing agreement to fractionate and purify Kedrion's plasma and to deliver intravenous immunoglobulin and albumin under Kedrion's private label, and Factor VIII under the trade name Koate, all of them for sale only in the US. Also, Grifols will sell its Melville, New York, fractionation facility to Kedrion and will manage the facility for up to a four-year lease agreement with Kedrion. Grifolos also will sell to Kedrion Talecris' US FVIII business and two Talecris plasma-collection centers.

The contract development firm Velesco has partnered with Vindonwestech, a stability-storage provider and manufacturer of controlled environment rooms, to expand its formulation-development services.

People Notes

Acura Pharmaceuticals announced the passing of Andrew Reddick on Apr. 28, 2011, following an eight-year tenure as president and CEO; he was 58. Robert Jones has been named as Reddick’s interim replacement.

Gilead Sciences appointed Muzammil M. Mansuri as senior vice-president of research and development strategy and corporate development.

NeurogesX, a biopharmaceutical company, announced CEO Anthony DiTonno will retire by the end of 2011. DiTonno has been CEO of NeurogesX since March 2003.

Savient Pharmaceuticals, a specialty biopharmaceutical company, named Richard Crowley executive vice-president of biopharmaceutical operations. Crowley formerly served as senior vice-president of biopharmaceutical operations for ImClone Systems.