Prizm Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Thursday it has completed a $6 million round of venture financing, its first since the San Diego company was founded last summer with $500,000 in seed funding from Domain Associates and Biotechnology Investments Ltd. New investors in this round were Oxford Bioscience Partners, The Sprout Group, Techno Venture Management, Sorrento Ventures and Forward Ventures. "The successful completion of this financing puts us in a position to advance our initial product
Cygnus Therapeutic Systems announced Thursday it has settled the final claim remaining from a patent infringement suit brought by Elan Transdermal Ltd. and Elan Corp. plc of Ireland concerning the manufacture and sale of nicotine patches by Cygnus. The Redwood City, Calif., company (NASDAQ:CYGN) received a summary judgment in its favor last spring on two of the three claims in the original suit regarding manufacture and clinical testing, and was set to go to trial in June on the third claim
BOSTON -- Speaking at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC) on Wednesday, Carl Feldbaum, president-elect of the new biotechnology trade association, said of the Clinton administration, "They want to love us, but we have to show them how to love us." Feldbaum, who will head the Biotechnology Industry Organization, was called upon to pinch-hit for Vice President Al Gore's domestic policy adviser, Greg Simon, who canceled. "The Clinton administration seems to love
The annual Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC) meeting, which began on Wednesday, pointed up the significance of the biotechnology industry in the state. In density of biotechnology companies, only the San Francisco Bay Area has more -- 181 companies -- than Massachusetts, with 142. Just over half of this number, 72 full-fledged biotech outfits, plus 55 associate members, belong to the MBC. Peter Feinstein, an MBC founder and director and president of Feinstein Partners Inc., a
Americans now have an opportunity to express their opinion about whether produce modified through genetic engineering should be labeled. On Wednesday, the FDA requested comments on this issue in a notice in the Federal Register. According to current FDA policy, promulgated last May, a "radical" change in a food item, affecting nutrition or safety, would have to be evaluated by the FDA prior to the product going to market, Brad Stone, an agency spokesman, told BioWorld. Such changes might
Alpha 1 Biomedicals Inc. (NASDAQ:ALBM) of Bethesda, Md., has received price approval for its Thymosin alpha 1 in Italy, where the compound is expected to be used in treating immune deficiencies and as an adjuvant for influenza vaccine in kidney dialysis patients. The price of a 52-dose, six-month regimen will be $5,500 to $6,000 at the cost of about $115 for 2 milligrams. Marketing approval is expected in the next few months in Italy, according to Vincent Simmon, Alpha 1's president and chief
AntiCancer Inc. has received a $50,000 small business innovation research (SBIR) grant to test the cancer drug taxol in a mouse model of human cancer. The company will transplant human prostate and ovarian tumors into the corresponding organs in immunodeficient mice, which do not reject foreign tissue. These animals, termed MetaMouse, allow tumors to grow and spread as they did in the patient. The privately held San Diego company will collaborate closely with the NCI during the study. (c
Epitope Inc. has priced warrants to be issued in a settlement of a shareholders' class-action suit. The Beaverton, Ore., company (ASE:EPT) said the exercise price for warrants to purchase 700,000 shares of common stock will be $17.13 per share. The price represents the average closing price of Epitope Inc. common stock for 20 trading days beginning March 24, 1993, and ending April 21. The company's stock closed at $16.75 a share on Wednesday, down 25 cents. Shareholders in the class-action
Tumor cells grow so rapidly they could outstrip their resources if they did not trigger new blood vessels to bring nourishment. In an article in today's issue of Nature, scientists at Genentech Inc. of South San Francisco, Calif., show that inhibiting new blood vessel formation suppresses the growth of tumors induced in mice. The group, led by Napoleone Ferrara, treated the mice with a monoclonal antibody to inactivate vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a substance produced by tumors
Researchers from Cytogen Corp. will receive a Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award from the Research and Development Council of New Jersey for their discovery of a "breakthrough chemistry leading to the first monoclonal antibody-based cancer imaging agent approved in the U.S.," the council announced Wednesday. The council, which is based in Morris Plains, N.J., will also present awards at a ceremony June 3 to Union Camp (for the first commercially successful application of ozone as a replacement for
Epicore Networks Inc. has completed a private placement of 1 million common shares at $2 per share with Metropolitan Life through their international investment division, GFM International Investors Ltd. Epicore of Calgary, Alberta, will use the proceeds to continue developing its EpiZym Series and microbial and biochemical products. The organization (ASE:EPN) is a group of companies involved in environmental biotechnology and computer sciences. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights
T Cell Sciences Inc. announced Tuesday that it has received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on one of a series of patents on the T cell antigen receptor (TCAR) and its components. The claims on this particular patent cover nucleic acid sequences that encode fragments of the TCAR's beta chain. This is a critical element in T Cell's expanding portfolio of 15 U.S. patents based on pioneering work by researchers at, and licensed from, various universities
MedImmune Inc. announced Tuesday that a recent clinical study showed that its polyclonal antibody against respiratory syncytial virus effectively prevents RSV disease in high-risk children. RSV is the leading cause of pneumonia and bronchiolitis in infants, and causes more than 91,000 hospitalizations and 4,500 deaths each year in the U.S. In a three-year pivotal clinical trial of 249 children, MedImmune's Respivir significantly reduced the incidence and severity of RSV disease in high-risk
Cambridge NeuroScience Inc. (CNS) announced Tuesday that it has received a $500,000 small business innovation research grant (SBIR) from the National Institutes of Health to develop channel blockers as therapeutics to limit brain damage caused by low blood flow. "We have a 100 percent hit rate," said Philip Holberton, chief financial officer. "All six of our Phase II grant applications have been approved, while the people at NIH tell us the average hit rate is around 35 percent." The Cambridge
Lidak Pharmaceuticals of La Jolla, Calif., reappointed David Katz as president and chief executive officer; Michael Lorber as vice president, chief financial officer and secretary; and Timothy Russell as vice president of business development. In addition, Lidak named Daniel Paracka board chairman. He has been a company director since early 1992. Geron Corp. of Menlo Park, Calif., which is developing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for age-related diseases, named Calvin Harley director of
Univax Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:UNVX) and Cambridge Biotech Corp. (NASDAQ:CBCX) of Worcester, Mass., announced that Univax has licensed Cambridge Biotech's patented QS-21 Stimulon adjuvant to more efficiently produce polyclonal antibodies in plasma donor stimulation programs for proprietary vaccines. Univax of Rockville, Md., will formulate the resultant plasma into products to treat infectious diseases such as those associated with sepsis and cystic fibrosis. In addition to an initial license
Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ:GENZ) announced Tuesday that its diagnostic products division has acquired Virotech System- Diagnostika GmbH for approximately $10 million. Virotech, located in Russelsheim, Germany, develops, manufactures and markets ELISA test kits to diagnose a variety of infectious diseases. The principal sellers of privately held Virotech were the Neu-Europa, IDP and VC BdW German venture capital groups. "Virotech represents a key component of our long-term strategy to develop and
Biorelease Corp. announced Tuesday that it has launched commercial sales of Erythrogen, its cell culture additive. The Salem, N.H., company (NASDAQ:BREL) has shipped "thousands of units" of the cell-growth promoter to a major cell culture media formulator, said R. Bruce Reeves, chief operating officer of Biorelease. Erythrogen is derived from bovine blood, and as a cell culture additive has been shown to enhance cell growth rates, density and viability. Biorelease is marketing Erythrogen to
British Bio-Technology Group plc announced that it has initiated a Phase II trial on its anti-inflammatory compound, BB-882, for treating sepsis. The efficacy trial is being conducted on 40 intensive care patients in the United Kingdom BB-882 is a platelet activating factor (PAF) antagonist that British Bio-tech scientists have created via computerized molecular modeling and rational drug design. PAF is an inflammatory agent produced by a wide variety of cell types, and is thought to play a
United Biomedical Inc. (UBI) announced that it has extended the Phase I safety trials of its synthetic AIDS vaccine to include people at risk for HIV infection. UBI began the Phase I trials in healthy volunteers in February. The prototype vaccine consists of eight peptides from the V3 loop of the HIV outer envelope. In animal studies, it produced high levels of protective antibodies to a wide variety of AIDS virus strains. In fact, UBI is specifically designing the putative vaccine to address
Prizm Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Thursday it has completed a $6 million round of venture financing, its first since the San Diego company was founded last summer with $500,000 in seed funding from Domain Associates and Biotechnology Investments Ltd. New investors in this round were Oxford Bioscience Partners, The Sprout Group, Techno Venture Management, Sorrento Ventures and Forward Ventures. "The successful completion of this financing puts us in a position to advance our initial product