BALTIMORE -- U.S. Bioscience Inc. announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement under which SmithKline Beecham plc will develop and market three U.S. Bioscience compounds in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The deal includes Ethyol, which in January was turned down for marketing approval by an FDA advisory committee. SKB will have exclusive marketing rights for Ethyol in Japan, and will have co-marketing rights to WR-151327 and PALA disodium salt. Ethyol and WR-151327 are agents to protect
Chiron Corp. announced Tuesday that the FDA has given marketing approval to Proleukin interleukin-2 to treat metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The drug is the first approved treatment for the 10,000 cases of the cancer that occur annually in the U.S. Median survival for those patients is less than 12 months. The stock (NASDAQ:CHIR) closed down 75 cents at $47.25. It rose $6.25 on Monday after the company said it expected approval of the drug this month. Chiron expects the first 12 months of U
Applied Bioscience International Inc., a provider of biological safety testing and clinical research services, has filed for a secondary offering of 4.5 million shares of common stock, of which 3.3 million shares would be sold by stockholders and 1.2 will be offered by the company. In its announcement on Tuesday, the East Millstone, N.J., company (NASDAQ:APBI) said the proceeds would be used to reduce long-term and short-term debt, for general corporate purposes and for possible future
The AMEX Biotechnology Index rose for a fifth consecutive session, closing up 3.81 Tuesday at 154.52. The index has gained 23 points since last Tuesday. Elan Corp. plc (AMEX:ELN) rose $1.88 to $48.13 after the company said it had net income of $21.3 million, or $1.05 per share, on revenues of $100.7 million for the year ended March 31. The Athlone, Ireland, company, citing Standard & Poor's data, said its fourth consecutive year of at least 100 percent earnings gains made it the top earnings
Cell Genesys Inc. said Tuesday that it has signed a collaborative agreement with MedImmune Inc. through which Cell Genesys hopes to develop cytotoxic T cell transplant products to treat HIV infection. The Foster City, Calif., company received an exclusive worldwide license to use MedImmune's portfolio of anti-HIV antibodies. MedImmune will receive undisclosed licensing fees, milestone payments and royalties. Cell Genesys is developing a universal T cell transplant product to target HIV
Following are more highlights of company presentations from the 17th Annual Alex. Brown & Sons Health Care Seminar in Baltimore. Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. The San Diego company plans to file in the third quarter for its first clinical trial, of AC 137 injectable amylin agonist as an adjunct to insulin treatment for type I diabetes. Amylin (NASDAQ:AMLN) also plans to file later in 1993 for trials of injectable amylin blockers for type II diabetes. The potential annual U.S. market for amylin
Chiron Corp. shares leaped $6.25 to $48 on Monday after the company announced at the 17th Annual Alex. Brown & Sons Health Care Seminar that it expects final FDA approval this month for Proleukin IL-2. An FDA advisory panel recommended Proleukin approval in January. The stock (NASDAQ:CHIR) also was boosted by strong analyst recommendations by Stuart Weisbrod of Merrill Lynch and David Stone of Cowen & Co. Weisbrod projected 1992 sales of Proleukin to treat kidney cancer at $40 million. He
Advanced Polymer Systems Inc. said Monday that it has signed a $24 million license agreement with Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp. to develop retinoid-based products using APS's Microsponge delivery system. The agreement provides Ortho with exclusive distribution or license rights for all Ortho retinoid products using the Microsponge system. Ortho currently markets Retin-A, an off- patent product to treat acne. In April, an FDA advisory committee recommended approval of a second retinoid product
BALTIMORE -- More than 1,400 people are attending the 17th Annual Alex. Brown & Sons Health Care Seminar, which began Monday in Baltimore and features presentations by more than 100 public and private health care companies. Highlights of some presentations follow. Somatogen Inc. The Boulder, Colo., company (NASDAQ:SMTG) announced that it is developing a new human blood substitute, rHb414, that uses genetic engineering to combine two of its first-generation rHb1.1 molecules into a single
Driven by Chiron Corp.'s $6.25 gain, the AMEX Biotechnology Index continued to build on last week's rebound, finishing Monday up 4.21 points to 150.71. Bioscience shares otherwise posted generally small to moderate gains. International Murex Technologies Corp. (AMEX:MXX) rose $1.63 to $13.25 after the company announced FDA approval of NovaClone monoclonal antibody-based blood grouping reagents by Murex's Dominion Biologicals Ltd. subsidiary. Dominion will immediately begin selling the reagents
Vestar Inc. and Vical Inc. announced Monday that Vestar has purchased exclusive worldwide rights to Vical's lipid "prodrug" technology for orally administered compounds to treat cancer, AIDS and systemic infections. The agreement includes signing fees, milestone payments and royalties. The deal could be worth about $10 million to Vical, depending on the market size for the drugs that are developed, said Michael Hart, Vestar's chief financial officer. No other terms were disclosed. Vestar
Cygnus Therapeutic Systems Inc. said Monday that it raised $22.5 million in a secondary offering of 1.5 million shares of common stock at $15 per share. The Redwood City, Calif., company raised less than one-third of the $75 million it had hoped to raise. When the offering was announced in March, Cygnus had proposed selling 3 million shares and the stock (NASDAQ:CYGN) was selling at $25. The company put the offering on hold in April due to market conditions and resumed the offering last Friday
Cryopharm Corp. has announced that its freeze-dried red blood cells can be rehydrated and returned to the blood stream without harming test animals. Researchers at the Pasadena, Calif., company took red cells from two monkeys, freeze-dried and rehydrated the cells, then returned them to the donor animals. A radioactive tag showed the cells survived for 24 hours at a rate of 84 percent to 90 percent, comparable to the survival of fresh red cells reinfused into a control animal. Cryopharm will
The Liposome Co. Inc.'s TLC C-53, a liposome-encapsulated prostaglandin E1, appears to be active in animal models of adult respiratory distress syndrome and heart attack, the company said Monday. Researchers from the University of Colorado and the University of Texas Medical School presented the data in Baltimore last weekend at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the American Federation for Clinical Research. The company (NASDAQ:LIPO) said the drug is
The money to be made in biotech stocks over the next year will come from established but lesser-known companies, not the top-tier stocks, according to New York investor David Blech. While many Wall Street analysts have been recommending that investors head for safety in companies with earnings, such as Amgen Inc. and Genzyme Corp., Blech continues to go his own way. Not coincidentally, he holds major positions in most of the stocks he recommended in an interview with BioWorld. "While the
Biotech shares lost some steam Friday but maintained small gains despite declines in broader market indicators. Gains by three stocks in the AMEX Biotechnology Index helped it gain another 3.22 points to close the week at 146.81. Genzyme Corp. shares (NASDAQ:GENZ) rose $2 to $42.75 after two analysts raised their ratings. Robert Kupor of Kidder, Peabody, who changed his rating to "buy" from "hold," wrote, "Although no dramatic developments have transpired at Genzyme, we believe the combination
Genentech Inc. reported that its DNase cystic fibrosis treatment has demonstrated effectiveness in Phase II clinical studies. University of Washington investigators on Sunday were to present data from 181 CF patients treated with the South San Francisco, Calif., company's recombinant human enzyme, which digests the DNA from white blood cells. White cells accumulate in the mucus, adding to already thickened secretions that characterize the inherited disease. Patients treated with the drug for
Quadra Logic Technologies Inc. has received approval from the Canadian Health Protection Branch to begin Phase I trials of its benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD) as a light-activated treatment for malignant skin lesions. BPD's porphyrin-derived molecules tend to accumulate in tumorous, psoriatic and virally infected cells. When illuminated with a laser, BPD breaks oxygen molecules into singlet oxygen that kills the cells. Preliminary results from a Phase I trial at Massachusetts General Hospital
Cygnus Therapeutic Systems Inc. said Friday that it will resume its secondary offering, which was put on hold in April. The new prospectus reduces the number of shares offered to 1.5 million from the 3 million originally proposed in March. The company's stock (NASDAQ:CYGN) closed down 38 cents at $15.63 on Friday. When Cygnus announced the offering in March, the shares closed at $25. Cygnus announced last week that its first product, a transdermal nicotine patch, has received FDA marketing
Alain B. Schreiber has been named president and chief executive of Vical Inc. of San Diego. He was senior vice president of discovery research at Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Central Research. Privately held Vical's technology consists of direct injection of purified gene sequences into muscle and other tissues. Creative Biomolecules Inc. announced that by mutual agreement Jan A. Buck will no longer serve as president, chief executive and director. Buck will be a consultant to the company on special
BALTIMORE -- U.S. Bioscience Inc. announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement under which SmithKline Beecham plc will develop and market three U.S. Bioscience compounds in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The deal includes Ethyol, which in January was turned down for marketing approval by an FDA advisory committee. SKB will have exclusive marketing rights for Ethyol in Japan, and will have co-marketing rights to WR-151327 and PALA disodium salt. Ethyol and WR-151327 are agents to protect