In brief: Pharmaxis, Cochlear, OBJ, Cryptome Pharmaceuticals

On the back of yesterday's announcement, Pharmaxis (ASX:PXC) has been granted approval from Health Canada to conduct a clinical trial of Bronchitol in patients with cystic fibrosis. Yesterday the company announced it had obtained expanded 'orphan drug' status for the drug to include treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis. Recruitment for the phase II dosing study will begin shortly and is expected to take around six months. The approval is the Canadian equivalent of the US FDA's Investigative New Drug.

Cochlear (ASX:COH) has appointed Donal O'Dwyer and Paul Bell as directors, effective in August, replacing Prof Brian Anderson AO who will retire at the October AGM.

Perth drug delivery company OBJ (ASX:OBJ) has claimed that its smart drug-patch technology has increased the rate of transdermal diffusion of the anti-cancer drug 5-aminolevulinic acid or 5-ALA by almost 900 per cent.

Cryptome Pharmaceuticals (ASX:CRP) has lodged a provisional patent application on a broad class of anti-coagulants, discovered using the company's proprietary drug discovery platform, with potential applications in treating stroke, heart attacks and deep vein thrombosis.