Oncor Inc. announced Wednesday that it will fund research on identifying genetic markers that are predictive of lung and bladder cancer. The Gaithersburg, Md., diagnostics company (NASDAQ:ONCR) has committed undisclosed but "substantial resources for a minimum of three years" to fund the research of David Sidransky at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In return, Oncor can commercialize any diagnostics resulting from the research by exercising its option on an exclusive, worldwide
Amgen Inc.'s stock (NASDAQ:AMGN) was up $2.38 a share on Tuesday to $66.50 as a result of better-than-expected third- quarter earnings. Shares in the Thousand Oaks, Calif., company may gain even more today as analysts scramble to update their earnings estimates. Amgen's third-quarter results were "at the very high end, the very top end," of the estimates made by Jim McCamant, editor of the Medical Technology Stock Letter of Berkeley, Calif. Montgomery Securities analyst Brandon Fradd agreed
Chiron Corp. announced late Tuesday that it has received a U.S. patent relating generally to use of recombinant HIV envelope antigens in immunoassays and immunoassay kits. The U.S. patent, No. 5,156,949, is based on the same research that formed the basis of the Emeryville, Calif., company's (NASADAQ:CHIR) European patent relating generally to HIV polynucleotides and polypeptides, Larry Kurtz, Chiron's vice president of corporate communications, told BioWorld. The European patent will have
The first drugs designed by computers are finally ready for U.S. clinical trials. One of these, Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s anti-tumor agent, is already in Phase I human trials in Britain at hospitals associated with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The other, BioCryst Pharmaceutical Inc.'s compound for treating inflammatory autoimmune diseases, should be in clinicals by the first part of November, said Frederick Dechow, BioCryst's president and chief executive officer. Agouron
Isis Pharmaceuticals of Carlsbad, Calif., announced Tuesday that Jacqueline Siegel has joined the company as vice president and chief financial officer. Siegel was senior biotechnology analyst at the investment firm Hambrecht & Quist in New York. Siegel will be responsible for all of Isis' corporate financial transactions, financial reporting and investor relations. "Jacqueline's combination of biotechnology and finance experience and her wealth of knowledge of the industry makes her a
Alamar Biosciences Inc. announced that it has entered into a research development agreement with Pfizer Inc.'s Roerig division to develop an in vitro anti-fungal susceptibility test kit. Using Alamar's proprietary Redox colorimetric reduction method, the partnership will develop a test kit to determine which medication and what dosage will be effective in treating yeast infections, a condition affecting more than 5 million people annually in the U.S. No such diagnostic kit is commercially
British Bio-technology Group plc (BBL) of Oxford, England, announced Monday that the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will sponsor U.S. trials on the British company's AIDS treatment vaccine, p24-VLP. The trials of this vaccine, which is designed to slow down or prevent the progression of HIV-positive patients to AIDS, should begin in 1993, the company said. The vaccine, p24-VLP, is a genetically engineered product designed to stimulate immunity to the HIV core
HEM Pharmaceuticals Corp. of Philadelphia announced Monday that it has received approval from the FDA to take its ribonucleic acid drug Ampligen into Phase II/III trials for chronic fatigue syndrome (myalgic encephalomyelitis, or ME, syndrome). Ampligen is the double-stranded synthetic RNA compound Poly I: poly C12U. This RNA therapeutic is believed to act in two ways: by switching on enzymes that are critical to anti-viral defense mechanisms and by regulating the level of immune system
DNA Plant Technology Corp. announced Monday that it has created a "sense" genetic engineering technology to control ripening in tomatoes. The company (NASDAQ:DNAP) uses its gene suppression method, termed transwitch technology, to insert a segment of the ACC synthase gene into tomatoes. This extra gene segment somehow inhibits the tomato's production of the gas ethylene, which is primarily responsible for ripening. "We know that the sense construct we introduce has to be transcribed, and that
Immunex Corp. opened its new 100,000-square-foot biopharmaceutical manufacturing and development center last week in Bothell, Wash. The center contains a new 80,000-square-foot microbial production facility, which the Seattle company will use to produce Leukine, its flagship product, and Pixykine. Leukine, or granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), is used to speed recovery and improve survival in cancer patients undergoing bone marrow transplants. Pixykine, a second
Biotechnology stocks continued to surge upward on Monday as the AMEX Biotechnology Stock Index rose 5.24 to 144.21 and the Chicago Board Options Exchange BioTechnology Index was up 5.65 to 138.85. The Dow Jones average was up 14.04 points for the day to 3,188.45 and the NASDAQ index rose 8.06 to 590.67 on the fifth anniversary of the crash of 1987. Among the top biotech stock gainers for the day were: -- Collagen Corp. (NASDAQ:CGEN), up $3 per share to $20. The Palo Alto, Calif., company
Univax Biologicals Inc. announced Monday that Phase I clinical trials have demonstrated that its vaccine for treating the Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is capable of eliciting opsonic antibodies in healthy volunteers that react against mucoid strains of Psuedomonas aeruginosa, which is common to patients with cystic fibrosis. W. Scott Harkonen, the company's vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs, presented the data on Sunday at the Sixth Annual North American Cystic Fibrosis
American Biogenetic Sciences Inc. of Notre Dame, Ind., named Kenneth Burk president, chief operating officer and a director of the company, replacing Alfred J. Roach, who will remain as chairman of the board and chief executive officer. Burk was president of BioTech Resources Inc., a subsidiary of Genelabs Technologies Inc. ChemTrak Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., named Victor Y.S. Liu vice president of research and developement and Alexander Monte manufacturing program manager. Liu previously
Josephthal Lyon & Ross Inc. and Nomura Securities International said Monday that an independent investigation of anonymous charges sent to Dartmouth College against Medarex Inc. in August found the allegations to be without merit. Josephthal Lyon and Nomura were primary underwriters for a public stock offering that Medarex of Princeton, N.J., terminated in late August. Dartmouth owns a 9 percent interest in the company. Medarex would not disclose specifics about the charges, saying only that
Applied Immune Sciences (AIS) announced Friday that it has begun a phased move from its Menlo Park, Calif-based headquarters to a larger space in Santa Clara, Calif. The company expects the move to be complete by next spring. At 117,000 square feet, the new building is a fourfold increase over AIS's previous facility and will accommodate the rapid growth anticipated by the company as its products and services enter the market. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Alpha-Beta Technology announced Friday that it raised $16 million in an initial public offering (IPO) of 2 million shares filed in September. Underwriters Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. and Vector Securities International Inc. have an option to purchase an additional 300,000 shares to cover overallotments. The Worcester, Mass., company dropped its original IPO filing in March -- at a proposed price of $14 to $16 per share for 2 million shares -- due to a bleak biotech market, said Spiros Jamas
Calgene Inc. announced Friday that the USDA has "deregulated" its genetically engineered Flavr Savr tomato, leaving the company free to grow and ship the fruit anywhere in the U.S without further permits or approvals. This is the first biotech product for which USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has granted a permanent exemption from the limitations imposed under its field test regulations. This means that the Flavr Savr tomato will now be regulated entirely by the FDA on
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it has filed an investigational new drug (IND) application with the FDA for its drug, BCX-34, for treating cutaneous T cell lymphoma. BCX-34 inhibits the enzyme purine nucleoside phosphorylase. Researchers at the Birmingham, Ala., company have shown in animal studies that the drug selectively prevents T cell proliferation. BioCryst recently filed an IND on this same compound for treating psoriasis. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights
Enzon Inc. (NASDAQ:ENZN) announced Thursday that it signed a worldwide licensing agreement with the National Institutes of Health, granting the Piscataway, N.J., company rights to a recombinant form of glucocerebrosidase for treating Gaucher's disease. Enzon will use its PEG technology to develop a chemically modified form of the drug in an effort to extend its half-life in the circulation. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
The breeder of a mouse mutated to mimic human atherosclerosis hails the new animal model as "a very powerful mouse with extraordinary advantages." Beverly J. Paigen, who heads atherosclerosis research at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, told BioWorld that "a very, very big market for screening drugs" awaits the rodent, which lacks a key gene that mediates removal of cholesterol and saturated fats from the body. "When you're a pharmaceutical company," the mouse's den mother
Oncor Inc. announced Wednesday that it will fund research on identifying genetic markers that are predictive of lung and bladder cancer. The Gaithersburg, Md., diagnostics company (NASDAQ:ONCR) has committed undisclosed but "substantial resources for a minimum of three years" to fund the research of David Sidransky at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In return, Oncor can commercialize any diagnostics resulting from the research by exercising its option on an exclusive, worldwide