The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced Friday that it has begun a trial to compare in HIV-infected people combinations of zidovudine (AZT), zalcitabine (ddC) and Ro 31-8959, an experimental drug that inhibits an enzyme HIV needs to reproduce. The Phase II trial is the first U.S. study to examine Ro 31-8959. Made by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Ro 31-8959 was previously studied in Phase I and II trials in Europe, where no significant side effects were seen when
Jeremy Rifkin's Pure Food Campaign announced late Friday that it is about to launch a massive campaign to convince consumers to boycott milk, meat and dairy products from cows treated with genetically engineered bovine growth hormone (BGH). The blitz, which the Pure Food Campaign has pledged to launch the day FDA approves the commercial use of BGH, will include full-page newspaper advertisements, 30-second television and radio commercials and "BGH warning leaflets" to be distributed April 17 at
A test that appears to allow the AIDS virus to be detected before antibodies develop is described in the current issue of Clinical Chemistry. The microplate hybridization assay, developed by Enzo Diagnostics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Enzo Biochem Inc. of New York (ASE:ENZ), allows proviral DNA from HIV to be detected at relatively low levels, said Elazar Rabbani, Enzo Biochem's president. The journal article reports on a joint research study by Enzo Diagnostics and the Division of HIV/AIDS
Ixsys Inc. announced today that it has received $6.83 million in its latest round of private financing. The San Diego company will apply the proceeds toward continued R&D on its high-affinity peptides and monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic applications. New investors in the company include Hancock Venture Partners, Biotechnology Investments Ltd. and New York Life Insurance Co. They joined Medicus Partners, Domain Associates and Delphi Bioventure Partners, which provided about $3.8 million
Cor Therapeutics Inc. is about to receive an exclusive license to the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) receptor gene from the National Institutes of Health's Office of Technology Transfer. Today is the cutoff date on a 60-day public comment period for the licensing opportunity, announced in the Federal Register on Jan. 27. It states that the Office of Technology Transfer "is contemplating the grant of an exclusive worldwide license to practice the invention, entitled 'Alpha Platelet
United Biomedical Inc. (UBI) announced Friday that an FDA panel recommended for approval the company's screening test for the hepatitis C virus in donated blood. UBI of Hauppauge, N.Y., bases the test on an enzyme immunoassay to the NS-5 antigen of hepatitis C. This virus is responsible for most of the non-A, non-B hepatitis cases among patients receiving blood transfusions. The FDA's Blood Products Advisory Committee unanimously voted to recommend approval of the test, which received support
A recent joint venture between two Canadian companies, designed to apply nuclear medicine imaging to infectious disease, has received up to C$2.3 million (U.S.$1.85 million) research funding from the Canadian Strategic Technologies Program of Industry, Science and Technology. The joint venture, Resolution Pharmaceuticals Inc., was created by Allelix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. (TSE:AXB) of Mississauga, Ontario, and Nordion International Inc. of Ottawa to develop a new class of medical imaging
UniSyn Technologies Inc. said it has raised $4.3 million in an overscribed private offering. Based in Tustin, Calif., the 3-year-old company markets more than 20 products to institutional and academic investors worldwide. "Funds will be used to complete UniSyn's research and development on novel affinity ligand separation products," said founder Stan Yakatan, vice chairman and chief executive officer, "and to begin to integrate separations products with hollow fiber systems for cell therapy
Telios Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced late Thursday that it has submitted a pre-market approval application (PMA) to FDA for its wound-healing treatment, Telio-Derm, for the treatment of chronic dermal ulcers associated with diabetes. Telios (NASDAQ:TLIO) of San Diego said the PMA filing is based on statistically significant results of a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled prospective clinical trial in patients with diabetic foot ulcers. The study showed a fourfold increase in the
A proposed U.S. Department of Labor pilot program, published last week in the Federal Register, would make it easier for many U.S. life science institutions to permanently hire immigrants with doctorates in biology or chemistry. Mandated under the Immigration Act of 1990, the Labor Market Information Pilot Program would speed applications for permanent residence of employees in 10 occupations in which there is a shortage of U.S. workers, ranging from Japanese or Chinese cooks to computer
Bioimmune Systems of Salt Lake City said Thursday it reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it effected a 1-for-100 reverse stock split, effective March 22. The company, which specialized in immune system strengthened drugs, said it hopes to raise the value of its stock to meet NASDAQ listing requirements, according to an SEC filing.
Bio-Technology General Corp. (NASDAQ:BTGC) of New York said Thursday that its BioLan, a ready-to-use syringe containing 1 percent sodium hyaluronate, has been approved in Greece for use as a medical device in ophthalmic surgery.
British Bio-technology Group plc of Oxford, England, named Ron Irwin commercial director. He is currently chairman and managing director of the U.K. subsidiary of Marion Merrell Dow. British Bio also named John Raisman and L. John Wilkerson non-executive directors. Raisman retired as chairman and chief executive officer of Shell UK Ltd. in 1985, and Wilkerson is chairman of The Wilkerson Group, a health care industry consulting firm. Immunomedics Inc. of Morris Plains, N.J., named to its board
ImmunoTherapeutics Inc. announced that it has started Phase II clinical trials of ImmTher, its immunomodulator for treating colorectal cancer, at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. ImmTher is a macrophage activator, explained Gerald Vosika, the president and scientific director of the Moorhead, Minn., company. It's an "essentially synthetic material" based on components of the cell wall of BCG, an attenuated strain of the tubercular bacterium, Vosika said. Initial
Zonagen Inc. announced Thursday that it has completed its initial public offering (IPO) of 1.35 million shares of common stock at $5.50 per share. The shares are trading on NASDAQ as ZONA. The company filed its registration statement in February with the Securities and Exchange Commission's regional office in Fort Worth, Texas. Reich & Co. Inc., the offering's underwriter, has an option to purchase an additional 202,500 shares of common stock to cover any overallotments. Zonagen of The
Cephalon Inc. announced Thursday that modafinil, its treatment for narcolepsy, has been designated an orphan drug by the FDA. Modafinil was approved for marketing in France in February 1992. The developer of the drug, Laboratoire L. Lafon of Paris, will begin sales upon pricing and reimbursement approval. In February, Cephalon (NASDAQ:CEPH) of West Chester, Pa., licensed from Lafon the rights to develop, market and sell modafinil in the U.S. and Mexico. Narcolepsy, a debilitating multigenic
Cortecs International Ltd. announced Thursday that it has entered a collaboration with a major Japanese company to test oral delivery of synthetic peptides. The Japanese company did not want to be named and did not want to have its proprietary product identified, Michael Flynn, Cortecs' president, told BioWorld. The protein has not been previously researched by the London drug delivery company (NASDAQ:DLVRY), which has worked on the protein hormones calicitonin, insulin, human growth hormone
In what could become one of the more unique applications of catalytic antibodies, researchers have created in the test tube antibodies that are able to bind specifically to cocaine and break it down into two inert byproducts -- the same two that are found in the circulatory systems of people who have taken cocaine hydrochloride or cocaine free base. To create the antibody, Donald Landry and his colleagues at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons immunized mice with a compound
Two articles in scientific journals this week reported findings that may have pinpointed the gene responsible for Huntington's disease (HD). Researchers from the University of British Colombia and Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children report in today's issue of Nature that they have identified a "strong candidate" gene for HD. And the Huntington's Disease Collaborative Research Group (HDCRG) reports in Friday's issue of the journal Cell that it has located the HD gene. Researchers the world
A four-year, 22-scientist, trans-Atlantic task force has created a recombinant protein with potential for regenerating damaged peripheral nerves and treating degenerative neuropathies. Their discovery is the lead article in today's Nature, "Glial growth factors are alternatively spliced erbB2 ligands expressed in the nervous system." The implications of the discovery moved the editors of Nature to accept the paper for publication a mere three weeks after Cambridge NeuroScience Inc. (NASDAQ:CNSI
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced Friday that it has begun a trial to compare in HIV-infected people combinations of zidovudine (AZT), zalcitabine (ddC) and Ro 31-8959, an experimental drug that inhibits an enzyme HIV needs to reproduce. The Phase II trial is the first U.S. study to examine Ro 31-8959. Made by Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Ro 31-8959 was previously studied in Phase I and II trials in Europe, where no significant side effects were seen when