Published March 3 & 10 (EPO & GB); March 4 (WO) Melbourne, Univ. of Recombinant ryegrass Parkville, Australia allergen Nucleic acid sequences coding for two ryegrass pollen allergens; fragments, derivatives, homologs; proteins and peptides. Michigan, University of Control of kB- WO 93/03750 Ann Arbor, Mich. containinggenes Proteins and corresponding DNA and RNA sequences, to either stimulate or inhibit expression of kB-containing genes. Monsanto Co. Leaf-roll-resistant EPO 531 273 St. Louis
La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co. announced that it has developed a more potent second-generation drug candidate to treat systemic lupus erythematosus, based on its proprietary Tolerance Technology. Animal tests of the new drug candidate, named Renatol, have shown it to be an order of magnitude or more effective than earlier molecules, the San Diego company said. The drug will proceed to manufacturing scale-up and toxicology trials. The company hopes that its increased potency and efficacy will lead
Francis Collins ended months of uncertainty by saying that he will be running the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health. "Within the next 48 hours, I will become a federal employee," Collins said at Nature Genetics first international conference. Collins had agreed "in principle" to accept the post in December. It was an offer he said he couldn't refuse. "The consequences for understanding human biology and medicine are unprecedented. "Over the next few months, I will take
Scientific advisers of Genesys Pharma Inc. (VSE:GPI) will review the progress of the company's AIDS antisense compound DNS-BP2R at an April 19 meeting to determine the nature of filings for submitting an investigative new drug application and patent application, the Vancouver, British Columbia, company announced. Testing at the Manitoba Institute of Cell Biology has shown the drug does block production of proteins essential for replication of the AIDS virus. The drug is now being tested with
Rep. Fortney "Pete" Stark, D-Calif., formally apologized on Friday to Genzyme Corp. for overstating its current profits from Ceredase. Stark, chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, introduced a bill on Thursday to impose a windfall profits tax on earnings from the sale of orphan drugs. Genzyme has been under attack by members of Congress at least since 1991 for allegedly abusing its orphan drug privileges for Ceredase, the company's treatment for Gaucher's disease. Under the
Igene Biotechnology Inc. announced that it has signed a letter of intent with Burns Philp Food Inc. of San Francisco for an exclusive technology license agreement to manufacture AstaXin, Igene's Phaffia yeast-based natural astaxanthin product. Burns Philp has purchased 33,334 newly issued shares of Igene's common stock (which trades on the Pink Sheet as IGNE) at 75 cents per share. If the Burns Philp board of directors approves the agreement when it meets April 7, the company will purchase an
Epitope Inc. has agreed to settle a shareholders' class-action suit filed last year, the company announced Thursday, and incur a $1.4 million charge for the first quarter of 1993. The suit alleged that the Beaverton, Ore., company (ASE:EPT) and certain officers and directors did not promptly reveal potentially negative information from the FDA regarding the saliva-based HIV test OraSure, plaintiffs' attorney Justine Fischer of Portland, Ore., said. The settlement has been submitted to U.S
Contrary to received wisdom, the mutant gene implicated in 70 percent of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is no less functional than its wild-type intact counterpart. Rather, the nascent mutant's shortcoming is failure to report for duty at its action station in the cell membrane. This controversial finding is reported in the April issue of Nature Genetics, out Thursday, by cell biologist Christine Bear of the Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. Her report is titled, "The
Lidak Pharmaceuticals of La Jolla, Calif., has received a U.S. patent for therapeutic use of its proprietary chemical Lidakol and several related chemicals. U.S. patent No. 5,194,451 covers internal administration of these compounds, which bind lipids and may be used systemically in inflammatory diseases such as arthritis; in systemic viral and fungal infections and as a potential anti- cancer agent. "We are working to prove that these chemicals migrate into the fat layer components of cell
Last year's user fee legislation, sponsored by Senators Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would provide FDA with the funds needed to unclog the drug pipeline. By one estimate, without the legislation, it could have taken up to 13 years to process all pending biotech drug applications. But money is needed to jump-start the program while FDA waits for user fees to begin to flow. In a hearing last night before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Richard Godown
Companies customarily communicate a quarterly earnings report to their shareholders and potential investors. Here is BioWorld's learning report, an overview of salient scientific advances in biotechnology during the first quarter of 1993, keyed to reports in BioWorld: Three areas of applied research -- cancer, neuroscience and AIDS -- led the field in January, February and March: CANCER: -- "Co-stimulation" was the buzzword in three separate journal reports describing a new strategy for
Ribi ImmunoChem Research Inc. announced Thursday that it has formally withdrawn its proposed public offering of 3 million common shares. The Hamilton, Mont. company's (NASDAQ:RIBI) decision was made following further consultation with Hambrecht & Quist Inc., the underwriter for the proposed offering, as well as with other financial consultants. "Maintaining registration of the proposed stock offering amid a generally weak market for biotech issues served only to distract attention from
Clinical trials and tribulations overshadowed more positive announcements coming from the biotech community for a good part of 1993's first quarter. The year got off on a resoundingly sour note in mid-January, when Centocor Inc. (NASDAQ:CNTO) announced that it had halted the second Phase III trials on its flagship drug, Centoxin (HA-1A), for treating septic shock because it was killing people in one arm of the study. As a result, the Malvern, Pa., company's stock dropped 63 percent, or $11.13
Argus Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it has begun Phase I clinical trials of its anti-cancer compound AR-623 for treating leukemia. The trials on AR-623, a lipid-based formulation of tretinoin (all trans retinoic acid), are designed to determine safety and pharmacology and will be conducted at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Argus is expecting to ultimately enroll from 20 to 25 patients in the Phase I trials, said Kenneth Cohen, the company's vice president
The final version of new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) biotechnology regulations was published Wednesday in the Federal Register. The regulations will go into effect in 30 days. This version alters some changes and reaffirms others proposed by USDA -- and supported by then-Vice President Dan Quayle's Council on Competitiveness -- last November to ease regulations on biotech-derived plants by simplifying the approval process for field tests and exempting adequately tested plants from any
Scientists collaborating at three medical institutions have found that a cousin of the enzyme implicated in Lou Gehrig's disease suppresses the malignant growth of melanoma cells. The scientists reported their research on manganese superoxide dismutase in today's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Mammalians have three versions of this enzyme. A gene defect for the copper-zinc version normally found in cell cytoplasm was recently linked to amyotrophic lateral
With just one dissent and one abstention, FDA's Veterinary Medicine advisory committee voted to recommend approval of Monsanto's mammary supercharging hormone for cows, bovine somatotropin (BST) --recombinant bovine growth hormone (BGH). Although committee members agreed unanimously that BGH significantly increases incidence of mastitis, a bacterial inflammation of the teats that leads to abnormal secretions in milk, this increase, they said, was "manageable," and need not contribute to
Immunex Corp. (NASDAQ:IMNX) of Seattle announced Wednesday that it has filed a product license amendment to the FDA to use Leukine for prophylaxis and treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, an abnormally low white blood cell level. This white blood cell stimulant is used to speed recovery of cancer patients undergoing autologous bone marrow transplantation and to improve survival of cancer patients whose bone marrow transplants have failed. The expanded label application includes data
Liposome Technology Inc. (LTI) announced Wednesday that it has countersued Vestar Inc. over a patent on making lipid- formulated amphotericin B. LTI of Menlo Park, Calif., was awarded U.S. patent No. 5,180,713 on a method of preparing a stable liposome- entrapped amphotericin B in January. Vestar of San Dimas, Calif., sued LTI the following day, Jan. 20, asking the Delaware Federal Court to declare that LTI's patent is invalid, unenforceable and not infringed by Vestar's product AmBisome. LTI
Steven Mendell has resigned as chairman of the Berkeley, Calif., company to take up the reins as president and chief executive officer of privately held Prizm Pharmaceuticals of San Diego, Xoma (NASDAQ:XOMA) announced Wednesday. John Castello, already Xoma's president and chief executive officer, will add the title of chairman. Mendell will continue as a director of the company. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Published March 3 & 10 (EPO & GB); March 4 (WO) Melbourne, Univ. of Recombinant ryegrass Parkville, Australia allergen Nucleic acid sequences coding for two ryegrass pollen allergens; fragments, derivatives, homologs; proteins and peptides. Michigan, University of Control of kB- WO 93/03750 Ann Arbor, Mich. containinggenes Proteins and corresponding DNA and RNA sequences, to either stimulate or inhibit expression of kB-containing genes. Monsanto Co. Leaf-roll-resistant EPO 531 273 St. Louis