Though it has no clinical candidates, Lexicon has more than 20 targets in drug discovery programs...raised $10 million, funding the company expects to use to further develop its late-stage clinical product, Neurodex...and Peninsula Equity Partners, of Menlo Park.

An accompanying editorial commented, "The clinical utility of these indicators will depend on the ability to measure their levels in serum or plasma accurately and reliably, and on their predictive value as demonstrated in clinical studies...The co-authors concluded that "clinical studies incorporating anti-inflammatory treatment prior to percutaneous coronary intervention are awaited with great interest

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...The paper bears the title "Comparison of carvedilol and metoprolol on clinical outcomes in patients with chronic heart failure in the Carvedilol Or Metoprolol European Trial 9 (COMET): randomized controlled trial...In the COMET clinical trial, some 3,000 patients with chronic heart failure were assigned to receive twice-daily doses of carvedilol or metoprolol for about five years

The company said it would apply the funding to operations, including clinical trials, vaccine manufacturing and the repayment of about $1.2 million in equipment loans and other debt...On Friday, its stock (NASDAQ:SIGA) gained 6 cents to at $1.77.

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...In a clinical analysis of 60,770 U.S...And thirdly, we were able to demonstrate in real-life patients the beneficial effects of the recommended glycoprotein drugs compared with those enrolled in clinical trials

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...Clinical trials of other potential uses of relaxin have found only minor side effects in humans...If these results are positive," he concluded, "the fact that relaxin is so safe means we can move relatively quickly into human clinical trials

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...A clinical trial reported in the British Journal of Cancer on June 16, 2003, found that a therapeutic compound trademarked Aranesp from Amgen Inc., dosed once a month, corrects anemia and maintains hemoglobin levels in cancer patients not undergoing chemotherapy...The report appears in the June 2003 issue of the journal Clinical Genetics under the title "Association of the myocilin mt.1

In particular, it has been discussing new information on insertional oncogenesis, based on the analysis of available nonclinical and clinical data following two serious adverse events reported in a gene therapy trial in France for the treatment of children affected by X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency...It concluded that testing of gonads for the presence or expression of vector sequence "does not give sufficient information as to whether the germline has been altered."

Speeding drug approvals, by way of opening lines of communication with companies to prevent mistakes in clinical trials and the application process, appears to be at the heart of McClellan's new FDA...Well, in the first place, one of its goals is to develop biomarkers (markers of clinical benefit) for cancer drugs...For example, the NCI and FDA staffs currently are working on a clinical proteomics collaboration that could be used as a model for initiatives in areas such as diagnostic imaging and

Science Editor Editor s note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...Christiano envisages starting clinical trials for hair removal by mid-winter

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...So has Celebrex, which is virtually identical to Vioxx in chemical structure and clinical use...We're planning human clinical trials," he concluded, "to test the drug in PD patients." "Science & Technology Ventures," an activity of the university's Intellectual Property Office, told BioWorld Today, "We are discussing a possible strategy concerning the discovery, at this time

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...The consortium conducted a randomized clinical trial in more than 7,200 patients 5 to 66 years of age from 32 countries to assess the effects of budesonide (Pulmicort Turbuhaler, AstraZeneca plc

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...Their report appears in the current Journal of Clinical Microbiology, released online Feb. 7, 2003, under the title: "Diversity of bacterial populations on the tongue dorsa of patients with halitosis and healthy patients

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...Encouraged by tests on animals and in healthy human volunteers," the New York Times dated Jan. 31, 2003 reported, "the researchers are about to begin clinical trials on patients with the two

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...Results of their double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial are reported in the current issue of The Lancet, dated Jan. 25, 2003...The number of patients enrolled was small, so larger clinical trials should be done to confirm our findings

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...Recent advances in the use of tumor-specific immunotherapies, such as the monoclonal antibody Herceptin, have shown clinical efficacy for the treatment of metastatic mammary malignancies overexpressed by breast cancer tumors

Highlights of the initiatives that are likely to have the most impact on firms developing biotechnology medicines in Europe include updates to the existing guidance on comparability of medicines containing biotechnology-derived proteins as drug substance (as well as contributing to meetings of the EU ad hoc group dealing with clinical and preclinical issues of comparability...In terms of gene therapy and cell therapy, the plans include further advice on the quality and the preclinical and clinical

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...Novel tools for biochemically staging disease would help physicians and patients evaluate and select the most appropriate clinical approach...Ten years later, in 1754, a controlled clinical trial on another British vessel, fed 12 scurvy patients a variety of foods

Science Editor Editor's note: Science Scan is a roundup of recently published biotechnology-relevant research...AVI plans clinical trials against HCV in 2003