Prometheus Labs inks $160M collaboration deal with Bayer Schering; TiGenix shares plunge after FDA demands new trial;

 @FierceBiotech: BioTime shares soar as researchers reverse cell aging. Report | Follow @FierceBiotech

 @JohnCFierce: Derek Lowe explains in concise terms why BioTime's cell aging work has a long, long way to go. Item | Follow @JohnCFierce

> Prometheus Laboratories struck a deal to collaborate with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, partnering its oncology diagnostic platform with Bayer's oncology pipeline in an effort to stratify patients to the right drug candidates while accelerating the development of novel oncology therapeutics. Prometheus stands to earn up to $160 million in unspecified milestones and an upfront payment. Prometheus release

> Shares of Belgium's TiGenix plunged after the developer announced that the FDA is requiring the company to mount a new trial of the cartilage regeneration therapy ChondroCelect before it can approve the product for marketing. TiGenix won an EU approval for the therapy last October. But EU officials also asked for a confirmatory trial, and the developer says that it believes it can satisfy both regulatory groups with a single study. Story

> Boonton, NJ-based Unigene Laboratories has restructured its debt, raising $13.6 million and giving Victory Park Capital Advisors, the sole investor in the transaction, the right to name two people to the company's board. Unigene also says that it has agreed to make changes to senior management. "This infusion of additional capital, coupled with the fact that we will not need to make interest payments on the notes until their maturity and that maturity date has been extended by approximately 18 months, will significantly improve our financial condition," said CEO Dr. Warren P. Levy. Unigene release

> Shares of Icagen bounced back Tuesday after the developer reported promising data for ICA-105665 from a clinical trial that recruited only four people with photosensitive epilepsy. The same drug recently failed a Phase IIa for pain. Report

> Shares of Abraxis Biosciences shot up 15 percent this morning on the news that its cancer drug Abraxane in combination with the chemo drug carboplatin performed better in a Phase III lung cancer trial that carboplatin combined with Taxol. Story

And Finally... Putting its money where its morals are, the Australian Catholic Church says it will provide $100,000 to support research work on adult stem cell therapies. Story