Incara plans to initiate clinical trials in one of its antioxidant molecules for treatment of stroke in 2001. • Incyte Genomics Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., and Oxford GlycoSciences plc, of Oxford, UK, said they will continue their alliance under revised terms...Myriad identified the targets with its proprietary proteomics technology, ProNet, in conjunction with Novartis Pharma AG, of Basel, Switzerland, which licensed rights to CHD1 from Myriad for further development. • Neurocrine Biosciences

The 58-patient study is designed to evaluate safety and efficacy of NX 211 in an open-label, multicenter trial. • Immunex Inc., of Seattle, said American Home Products Corp., of Madison, N.J., converted a $450 million 3 percent convertible subordinated note due in 2006, eliminating $13.5 million in previously obligated annual interest payments on the note...York will commercialize the product in the Western Hemisphere, while KSB will retain all other commercialization rights, in return for York

Aviron late Tuesday announced the submission of a biologics license application for FluMist, its intranasal influenza vaccine, and saw its stock (NASDAQ:AVIR) rise $4.187 Wednesday to close at $69.562. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 1, 2000.) • BioChem Pharma Inc., of Laval, Quebec, said new research indicates liver damage suffered by hepatitis B patients previously thought to be irreparable can be improved by antiviral treatment...In separate news, Packard delivered factory-tested biochip production

The company plans to start the trials at the end of the year...TroVax is designed to stimulate the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. • Oxigene Inc., of Watertown, Mass., said researchers will present final results from Phase I clinical trials of Declopramide, an apoptosis inducer for use in conjunction with chemotherapy and radiation, at the 25th European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Hamburg, Germany...The changes will allow the company to focus clinical and marketing

Ethambutol is often added to several other anti-TB agents to treat TB. • Synaptic Pharmaceutical Corp., of Paramus, N.J., said it granted non-exclusive licenses covering its alpha-1 adrenergic receptors and benign prostatic hypertrophy patents to The R.W. Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute (RPI), a Johnson & Johnson company...In December 1999, Viro Pharma and Wyeth-Ayerst formed an alliance to develop and commercialize ViroPharma's lead small-molecule antiviral drug candidates for hepatitis

The finding increases to 36 Myriad's drug discovery programs. • Novasite Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it was awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant of $100,000 from the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney branch of the NIH to support application of the company's Expanded Target Drug Discovery technology to identify lead molecules for use in obesity treatment...The company has moved into a planning stage for a new Phase III clinical study. (See

BioChem Pharma Inc. , of Laval, Quebec, said its antiviral AIDS and hepatitis B therapeutic, lamivudine, has been approved for manufacture in Japan for hepatitis B. Additional drug information for medical institutions will be carried out with co-promoter Ajinomoto Pharma Co...18 conversion of shares of PathoGenesis to the right to receive $38.50

Using ARGENT, bone marrow stem cells are genetically engineered, transplanted into mice and then their in vivo growth and differentiation controlled with Ariad's small-molecule Dimerizer Drug. •Aurora Biosciences Corporation, of San Diego, said it has granted a non-exclusive license for its Vivid screening technology to Pfizer Inc., of New York, and will receive annual license fees from Pfizer alongside payments for reagents over several years. •Axcan Pharma Inc., of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec

The companies said no other regulatory filings or approvals remain to close the transaction...The drug was approved for the treatment of aplastic anemia in addition to prophylaxis of rejection episodes following kidney, liver and heart transplantation. •SynX Pharma Inc., of Toronto, said the University of Liege, Belgium, with which the company has an exclusive agreement for rights to commercialize research applications, has secured patent rights to a method for determining the presence of muscular

News of the approval sent Calypte's stock soaring Friday, tripling the share price to close at $4.50...The deal totals about $1.9 billion in cash and stock. (See BioWorld Today, July 11, 2000, p. 1.) •Isotechnika Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, said preclinical and Phase I study results for its immunosuppressive drug ISAtx247, presented at the International Congress of the Transplant Society held in Rome, indicate the compound is three times more potent and up to five times less toxic than other

The move brings the total number of SNPs released by the consortium to 296,990. •MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, said partner Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J., was granted FDA approval for the sulfasalazine delayed-release tablet, Azulfidine EN-tabs, for treatment of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis in children ages 6 to 16 with more than five diseased joints who haven't responded adequately to salicylates or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories

and Borealis Biosciences Inc. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 16, 2000, p. 1.) •Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Lexington, Mass., said it has begun enrollment of the first HIV-infected participants in a Phase I/II safety study of PRO 2000 Gel, a candidate vaginal microbicide designed to prevent the transmission of HIV infection and other STDs...The study was designed to investigate safety and efficacy at various dosages. •Syn X Pharma Inc., of Toronto, said it closed a $5.8 million private

The study, published in the August 4, 2000, edition of Cell, used Ariad's Regulated Accumulation of Proteins for Immediate Delivery (RAPID) technology to demonstrate that proteins can be transported within cells in large groups called "megavesicles." • Axcan Pharma Inc., of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, said it entered into an exclusive development and supply agreement with Diomed Inc., of Andover, Mass., for the delivery of lasers used in Axcan's photosensitizing cancer treatment Photofrin

The debentures were sold at an issue price of $551.26 per $1,000 principal amount at maturity. • BioChem Pharma Inc., of Laval, Quebec, agreed to pay $3.8 million to purchase 396,274 common shares of CliniChem Development Inc...In separate news, Incyte said it entered a collaboration with Elitra Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, which acquired a license to use Incyte's PathoSeq microbial sequence database as a platform for functional genomics programs

Launch date is targeted early next year. • Beckman Coulter Inc., of Fullerton, Calif., said it introduced custom reagents that have the potential to speed the search for vaccines to cancer and other immune diseases by virtue of their ability to rapidly measure cellular immune response...Further Millennium stock purchases and other payments could bring the deal's total value to $450 million

According to the company, this event marks the first time a centrally produced autologous cancer vaccine for melanoma has been made commercially available anywhere. • Axcan Pharma Inc., of Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, said Photofrin has been approved in Sweden for the palliative treatment of obstructive esophageal cancer, as well as for the palliative treatment of obstructing endobronchial non-small-cell lung cancer...Nortran will continue to trade on the Canadian Venture Exchange under the symbol

The two J&J research units also gain a license to make and use nucleic acid arrays for gene expression monitoring experiments as part of internal research efforts. • AltaRex Corp., of Waltham, Mass., and Medison Pharma, of Petach Tikva, Israel, are establishing a 50-50 joint venture to commercialize AltaRex's AIT (anti-idiotype induction) cancer therapies in Israel and the Middle East...The move brings the tally to C$21.5 million. • V.I. Technologies, of Watertown, Mass., is presenting new data

The plan identifies the tuberculosis crisis as a global health priority and encourages an international collaborative effort to develop a vaccine. • Vical Inc., of San Diego, granted Aventis Pharma, the pharmaceutical company of Frankfurt, Germany-based Aventis SA, the rights to use its naked DNA gene transfer technology to deliver a growth factor gene for which Aventis Pharma holds rights

The company's marketing partner, Schwartz Pharma plc, is scheduled to launch the product in the UK later this year...The company is aiming to raise between $72 million and $84 million with the offering of 12 million shares. • Genset SA, of Paris, has completed the private placement of convertible bonds launched on June 7 (see BioWorld International, June 14, 2000, p. 6...Transghne plans to take therapies based on this vector into clinical development, with a particular emphasis on the treatment of