Cytel Corp. announced Tuesday two major restructuring efforts in the focus of its major research program on antigen recognition and in its collaborative research plans with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Sandoz AG. Cytel (NASDAQ:CYTL) will now concentrate on developing therapeutic vaccines, largely through Sequel Therapeutics, its joint venture with The Scripps Research Institute. Gone is the drug CY727 for treating rheumatoid arthritis that Cytel and Sandoz were developing, but the obligations of
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) space tissue loss (STL) project, the military's top-ranking life sciences project, will send 16 billion cells into space aboard the shuttle Discovery next week to further investigate the effect of microgravity on cellular activity. The mission, due to depart Dec. 2, will take a closer look at effects studied on a flight in March that involved bone and muscle cells, and will extend the scope of those studies to include immune and bone marrow
National Institutes of Health Chief Bernadine Healy's "blue ribbon" review panel on the gp160 AIDS vaccine voted unanimously on Monday to recommend multiproduct trials rather than a trial exclusively devoted to MicroGeneSys Inc.'s gp160 AIDS vaccine. Healy had assembled the panel following Congress' unprecedented vote providing the Army with $20 million for a trial of MicroGeneSys' vaccine. The panel will make recommendations to Congress about how any trials should be conducted. There is
The Liposome Company Inc. (TLC) said Monday it reacquired worldwide rights to its anti-fungal drug, TLC ABLC, licensed to the Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMS) in 1986. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Edward Silverman, TLC's vice president for strategic planning and business development, said the company will negotiate with BMS to establish BMS's marketing participation for TLC ABLC. If the two companies are unable to agree on terms, BMS will receive royalties on the drug from
Bio-Imaging Technologies Inc. announced Monday that it has signed two new project contracts worth more than $325,000 with Immunomedics Inc. (NASDAQ:IMMU) of Morris Plains, N.J., and Centocor Inc. (NASDAQ:CNTO) of Malvern, Pa. A month ago, Bio-Imaging (NASDAQ:BITI) of West Trenton, N.J., signed contracts worth $500,000 with Warner-Lambert Co. of Morris Plains and Cytogen Corp. (NASDAQ:CYTO) of Princeton, N.J. All of these contracts are for the respective companies' "product development
CellPro Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRO) announced Monday that company scientists have used the its Ceprate avidin-biotin based immunoaffinity system to isolate and concentrate fetal cells from maternal circulation. Researchers Jeff Hall and Sheryl Williams reported at this month's meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics that they were able to achieve a 100-to-3,250-fold concentration of fetal cells expressing the stem-cell marker CD34+, meaning a ratio of one fetal cell per 1,030 maternal cells
Embrex Inc. of Research Triangle Park, N.C., announced Monday that the USDA has approved a combination Marek's disease vaccine for poultry, to be administered via Embrex's Inovoject automated egg injection system. The bivalent vaccine, HVT/SB-1, produced by Tri Bio Laboratories of State College, Pa., defends against the two most prevalent virulent field strains of the virus that causes Marek's disease. Marek's disease causes nervous system tumors in chickens, "which make the birds unable to
Collagen Corp. on Monday objected to what it called "inaccurate and misleading comments" in a report by the House Committee on Government Operations on issues concerning the FDA and off-label uses of drugs and devices. The committee's news release accompanied a report by the Human Resources and Intergovernmental Relations Subcommittee, issued last month. That report was the result of a congressional hearing on June 11, 1991, to address three products -- injectable silicone, Retin-A, and
In a move designed to combine complementary technologies, Alkermes Inc. announced Friday that it has signed a definitive agreement to merge with Enyztech of Cambridge, Mass. Under the terms of the agreement, Alkermes, also of Cambridge, will exchange 2.9 million shares of its common stock (NASDAQ:ALKS) for all outstanding shares of Enzytech capital stock. Alkermes could not release further financial detail until the registration is filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Richard
The New York City Council last week passed a resolution calling for FDA to adopt regulations requiring the labeling of genetically engineered foods. And the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) was quick to praise the action. "The New York City Council sent a strong message to Washington on behalf of the city's millions of consumers," said EDF attorney Douglas Hopkins. "EDF hopes the council's action jump-starts an FDA stuck in a deregulatory stall." FDA issued a policy statement in
Incstar Corp. (ASE:ISR) announced that it has acquired an advanced fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) medical diagnostic technology from Dallas research firm Robert Dowben Associates. Incstar's systems will now use a new fluorescent dye and fully automated instrumentation for the immunoassays. Stillwater, Minn.-based Incstar, an affiliate of the Italian-based Fiat Group (NYSE:FIA), manufactures and distributes immunodiagnostic products for health care professionals and manufacturers
Hem Pharmaceuticals Corp. of Philadelphia announced that its investigational RNA therapeutic for treating chronic fatigue syndrome will be distributed to Canadian patients through an expanded-access program set up to allow patients with serious or life-threatening diseases to receive promising new treatments prior to marketing approval. The Canadian Health Protection Branch has also given approval to Hem to start its controlled Phase II/III clinical trials of the drug Ampligen in Canada. The
Molecular Biosystems Inc. (MB) announced last week that the FDA has requested additional information for its review of the company's cardiac ultrasound imaging agent Albunex, which is derived from human albumin. Although this probably means a delay in FDA's final pre- market approval for the diagnostic, the San Diego company said it is confident that the product will still be approved. However, at least one analyst downgraded his recommendation, and the stock (NYSE:MB) tumbled $5.88 a share on
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- In five years, the test tube will be mightier than the mouse for generating monoclonal antibodies, according to a molecular biology team at Scripps Research Institute here, headed by the institute's president, Richard A. Lerner. Today's issue of Science carries a two-page "perspective" titled "Antibodies Without Immunization," which describes the team's strategy and tactics to genetically engineer monoclonals from scratch rather than from mice, as they are now. "Hopefully
Glycomed Inc. announced Thursday that it has started Phase II/III clinical trials on its carbohydrate-based drug Galardin MPI for treating corneal ulcers. The FDA granted Galardin orphan drug status last January. Corneal ulcers affect about 160,000 Americans annually and can cause blindness in people who don't respond to current therapies. Galardin is a matrix metalloproteinase inhibitor, which promotes healing by blocking the activity of a "major class of enzymes active in destroying tissues
EcoScience announced Thursday that it has acquired Agro Dynamics Corp. of New Brunswick, N.J., for $2.1 million. The transaction involved a combination of cash and EcoScience stock, and under the terms of the deal, additional payments will be made to Agro for reaching certain milestones. "Agro has had a long-term interest in biologicals, which is our main line of product," said Jeanie Faulkner, EcoScience's chief financial officer. She added that EcoScience had long planned to move into the
Genetics Institute Inc. (GI) said Thursday it licensed Japanese development and marketing rights for its recombinant human interleukin 11 (rhIL-11) to GI-Yamanouchi Inc. of Japan. The GI-Yamanouchi partnership, formed in 1990, is equally owned by GI and Yamanouchi. "By licensing the compound in Japan, GI is able to keep some voice on how its development is done there," said GI spokesman Dennis Harp Harp said licensing agreements such as this, as well as GI's agreement with European marketing
A modified heparin molecule designed to preserve heparin's anti-restenotic property while eliminating its anti-coagulant tendencies, has shown the ability to block vascular restenosis. Researchers reported the results of animal studies on Glycomed Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GLYC) product Astenose this week at the 65th Annual Heart Association Meeting in New Orleans. Restenosis is the chronic reclosing of arteries following angioplasty and open heart surgery. There are no drugs currently available to treat
Researchers have found that Telios Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s synthetic peptide drug TP-9201, designed to inhibit blood platelet aggregation, is capable of preventing blood clotting without increasing bleeding time in animal models of heart attack and thrombosis. Speaking at the 65th Annual American Heart Association Meeting in New Orleans this week, Herman Gold of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston explained that TP- 9201, which specifically blocks the IIb/IIIa receptors on platelets, does
Michelle Slade Associate Editor InSite Vision Inc. will begin a Phase I safety trial for an ocular application of Synergen's IL-1ra (interleukin-1 receptor antagonist) in early December, the companies announced Thursday. The trial will be the first use of IL-1ra in the eye. It is expected to be completed by year end, and data should be available by February 1993, according to InSite spokeswoman Christa Nicholas. Assuming the trial produces favorable results, an efficacy study will start in
Cytel Corp. announced Tuesday two major restructuring efforts in the focus of its major research program on antigen recognition and in its collaborative research plans with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Sandoz AG. Cytel (NASDAQ:CYTL) will now concentrate on developing therapeutic vaccines, largely through Sequel Therapeutics, its joint venture with The Scripps Research Institute. Gone is the drug CY727 for treating rheumatoid arthritis that Cytel and Sandoz were developing, but the obligations of