Shares in Swallowfield, a supplier of cosmetics and toiletries to the own label and branded sectors, dropped after the group warned that trading in the second half will be below expectations.Perpetual Income and Growth Investment Trust's shares produced a total return of 31% to shareholders over the 12 months to 31 March, while the total return of the company's benchmark for performance measuring purposes, the FTSE All-Share Index, was 52.3%. Drug developer Phytopharm has been given the go-ahead for a phase two trial of its Parkinson's disease treatment Cogane by the US Food and Drug Administration. The study will investigate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of Cogane administered for 28 weeks to patients with early stage Parkinson's disease.Nexus Management has issued £175,000 worth of convertible loan notes to the SF t1PS Smaller Companies Growth Fund. Interest is 10% per annum, payable quarterly in arrears. The company has also issued to SF t1ps £200,000 of warrants exercisable until June 2011 at 0.35p per share of which £50,000 will be exercised immediately.The company has also reached an agreement with VPEP, which will accept a total of $335,000 in satisfaction of approximately $525,000 of debt.Executive search firm Gartner said its Norman Broadbent subsidiary is forming a joint venture with Russam GMS. The new company will be called NB: Board Interim and will specialise in the provision of interim board executives.The joint venture will initially focus on capitalising on Norman Broadbent's experience through their Executive Search business in the financial services, public sector and healthcare, engineering, manufacturing and construction, technology and telecoms, and media sectors.East Russia-focused Amur Minerals has found nickel and copper mineralisation in a road cut immediately to the south of the Ikenskoe deposit, the largest of the three drilled deposits within the Kun Manie exploration licence. "This find confirms our belief that Ikenskoe could be substantially larger than presently reported, and our initial expectations are that the mineralisation extends both to the east and south of the known deposits," said boss Robin Young.Uranium Resources has started drilling on its Mtonya prospect in Tanzania, a known uraniferous district which has yielded the Nyota deposit for Mantra Resources.The two-phase drilling programme will comprise approximately 3,000m in two drill fences. Phase 1 will drill 1,500m and complete late July/early August, with Phase 2 carried out between August and October.Akers Biosciences, a maker of diagnostic screening and testing products, has signed a contract with US healthcare distribution group Fisher to supply its PIFA Heparin/PF4 Rapid Assay product, which is used to detect if a patient being treated with the blood thinner Heparin may be developing a drug allergy.
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