The warrants were issued through a 1995 public offering of 3.25 million units at $10 each. (See BioWorld Today, June 6, 1995, p. 1.) • MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, said five abstracts pertaining to irofulven, formerly called MGI 114 or HMAF, and other acylfulvene analogues were presented at a cancer conference in Washington...Other data demonstrated the ability of irofulven to sensitize pancreatic tumor cells to the effects of radiation therapy. • Ortec International Inc., of New York

The other provides Pasteur Merieux with the option to obtain exclusive rights to use PSC's baculovirus expression vector system for development of subunit vaccines in defined air-borne diseases...SuperGen also secured the global rights to other camptothecins and additional anticancer compounds, and reductions will be made to SuperGen's royalty payments for sales of rubitecan

Abgenix Inc., of Fremont, Calif., said it is contemplating a private placement of newly issued shares of common stock to institutional and other accredited investors...The company expects to use the proceeds for research and development, including clinical trials and preclinical testing of its product candidates, as well as for general corporate purposes

The company expects to initiate clinical trials of Actimmune for the indication in 2000. • Nanogen Inc., of San Diego, said a lead investigator at the Mayo Clinic presented data on the company's NanoChip DNA microchip system at IBC's 6th Annual Biochip Technologies "Chips to Hits" conference in Berkeley, Calif

By Cynthia Drake Special to BioWorld Today San Diego - The Street wants to know that all your clinical trials are going well, the product will be on the market soon and profits will be huge...News of clinical progress or failure, stories about medical conference presentations, new patents or infringements and certainly any insider sales and purchases all are relevant to the Street...It's not important to note the IPO performance," Bocilenko said

Fibrillex is in pivotal Phase II/III trials, which should be finished in the next 18 to 24 months. • Novartis Pharma AG, of Basel, Switzerland, and SkyePharma PLC, of London, said a new formulation of Foradil, using SkyePharma’s multi-dose dry powder inhaler, has started clinical trials...PRO 2000 Gel is a vaginal microbicide designed to provide protection against human immunodeficiency virus infection and other sexually transmitted diseases

The decision was made for ethical reasons to permit patients receiving placebo to have the opportunity to receive Remicade (infliximab) through open-label treatment. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 28, 1999, p. 1.) • IGT Pharma Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, has signed a letter of intent with the Biopharmaceutical Innovation Resource Fund (BIRC) that will lead to an investment in IGT's wholly owned subsidiary, Precision Biochemicals Inc., creating a separate entity...The grant will allow Nexell

Focus also has been granted 1 million warrants to purchase additional shares at about 25 cents per share...The Thalomid study group will be treated for 24 months to measure disease-free survival rates. • Cytogen Corp., of Princeton, N.J., completed a $5 million offering of common stock to the State of Wisconsin Investment Board...The discovery is described in the Aug. 13, 1999, issue of Journal of Biological Chemistry. • IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp., of San Diego, entered into a clinical trials

The contracts - with Lanzhou Institute, a government affiliated institute, and Sino Pharma, a holding company owned by the University of Beijing and private investors - represent the first efforts to expand Chiron's vaccines presence in emerging markets...Proceeds are expected to be used to fund development expenses of Angiozyme, an anti-angiogenic cancer compound currently in clinical trials

TP20, the product name for sCR1sLex, targeted injured lung tissue, resulting in reductions in vascular permeability and inflammation. • BioChem Pharma Inc., of Laval, Quebec, said the European Union’s Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products recommended approval of Zeffix, an oral treatment for chronic hepatitis B. The European Commission will make a final determination. • Cangene Corp., of Mississauga, Ontario, filed an investigational new drug application seeking permission to begin

Centocor Inc., of Malvern, Pa., Pharmacia & Upjohn, of Bridgewater, N.J., and Eli Lilly and Co., of Indianapolis, disclosed an expanded sub-study to an international clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of ReoPro (abciximab) in the treatment of acute coronary syndrome...for its SangCya capsules to prevent rejection in solid-organ transplant recipients

The collaboration’s goal is to develop small-molecule drugs that block the activity of Src, an intracellular signaling protein that is critical to the osteoporosis disease process. • Celgene Corp., of Warren, N.J., reported that its application to start clinical trials for its d-methylphenidate hydrochloride (d-MPH) chirally pure form of Ritalin was accepted by Canadian regulatory authorities...The first agreement is with SRL Inc., of Tokyo, and gives SRL the rights to use MitoKor’s Mito-Load

to send investors jumping from the tallest buildings, but general disenchantment with the sector served to put the brakes on what was otherwise a very good year for the biotech industry. (See attached charts for a list of the various products that are now in clinical trials, for instance.) While Ezra Lwowski, the healthcare analyst at Toronto-based Yorkton Securities Inc., believes that the bear market is still with us, the recent news from Biomira and BioChem Pharma has definitely caused an

o MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, began enrolling patients in a Phase II clinical trial with MGI 114, the company's anticancer drug, to evaluate its ability to treat pancreatic cancer

Other News To Note o Corixa Corp. , of Seattle, and ImmGenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, said they have signed an exclusive agreement to use ImmGenics' Selected Lymphocyte Antibody Method to develop therapeutic and diagnostic monoclonal antibodies targeting Corixa's proprietary antigens in cancer and infectious diseases

The payment satisfies a note issued in connection with a cross-license and settlement agreement with GenPharm International Inc., now a wholly owned subsidiary of Medarex. * Palatin Technologies Inc., of Princeton, N.J., initiated Phase III clinical trials of LeuTech that will enroll 200 patients at 10 centers...Signal also has exclusive rights to four issued patents covering other molecular targets in the JNK gene regulation pathway

According to Gen-Probe, seven of eight CNS claims were dismissed before trial, and a jury found that CNS had waited too long to file one of its claims...The judgment favoring Gen-Probe was entered Aug. 20. * Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp. , of Vancouver, British Columbia, and partner Schwarz Pharma AG, of Monheim, Germany, reported results from a Phase II clinical trial of the antisense restenosis drug INX-3280 in combination with a local delivery catheter

The Hoechst-Ariad Genomics Center, also of Cambridge, was created last year as a joint venture between Frankfurt, Germany-based Hoechst Marion Roussel and Ariad. (See BioWorld Today, March 7, 1997, p. 1.) * Briana Bio-Tech Inc., of Montreal, finalized an agreement with BioChem Pharma Inc., of Laval, Quebec, and Qualia Computing Inc., of Beavercreek, Ohio, to develop and commercialize a breast cancer detection system called Second Look that aids mammogram interpretation...Briana licensed the

Intercardia will conduct clinical trials, contribute $1 million to Opocrin and make milestone payments