(Reuters) - Peregrine Pharmaceuticals said it reached an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on the design of a late-stage trial for its experimental lung cancer drug. The late-stage trial will compare a combination of chemotherapy and the drug, bavituximab, with chemotherapy alone. The main goal of the trial would be to show an improvement in overall survival of patients. Peregrine shares were up 19 percent at $1.83 in early trade on Monday on the Nasdaq.

Australia seized a record 23 tonnes of illicit drugs in 2011-2012 with arrests at a 10-year high, data showed Monday, as officials warned the country had become a key target for traffickers. The annual Australian Crime Commission report showed the amount caught was up 154 percent on the previous year, boosted by a single 11 tonne bust of hypophosphorous acid in New South Wales state. The substance is used in the manufacture of methylamphetamine and had the potential to produce 6.5 tonnes of the drug, with an estimated street value of Aus$3.8 billion.

TORONTO - A public relations expert suggests Rob Ford's decision not to host his weekly radio show on Sunday may indicate the Toronto mayor has yet to fully figure out how to respond to allegations he was recorded on video appearing to smoke crack cocaine. Queen's University Professor Monica LaBarge said Ford should come out and directly say whether the alleged drug use the video reportedly appears to show is true — something she says Ford could have used this week's edition of his Toronto talk radio show to do.

Lawyers for the founder of French firm PIP whose faulty breast implants sparked a global health scare denied wrongdoing Friday as the court said it would deliver a verdict in December. In closing arguments, the defence called for a lighter sentence than the four-years imprisonment requested by prosecutors. Judge Claude Veillard said the ruling would be made on December 10.