The biotechnology stock indexes followed Synergen Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SYGN) precipitous decline on Monday with large drops of their own. The AMEX Biotechnology Stock Index fell 15.72 points to 113.41, while the Chicago Board Option Exchange Biotechnology Index lost 17.05 points, closing at 102.37. The two indexes have lost 23 percent and 27 percent, respectively, since Feb. 1. Among individual issues, Chiron Corp. (CHIR) lost $5.13 a share to close at 45.63; Idexx Laboratories Corp. (IDXX) fell $4
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., announced Monday that he will introduce next week legislation to require companies seeking partnerships with the government to compete for subsidies on the basis of the price they intend to charge for resulting drug therapies. The bill would also direct the National Institutes of Health to co-license multiple companies as research and development partners to foster competition. Wyden announced the legislation at a meeting of Rep. Henry Waxman's, D
As goes Antril, so goes the industry. That is the fear among biotechnology companies and investors as Synergen Inc. announced disappointing preliminary Phase III results for its lead compound to treat septic shock. The news sent Synergen's stock (NASDAQ:SYGN) plunging about 68 percent -- $28.63 -- to $13.50 Monday, down from $42.13 on Friday. More than 21 million shares traded hands, the second-highest volume ever recorded by NASDAQ on the over- the-counter market. The company lost more than
While armed thugs in Somalia hijack planeloads of relief food, a smaller, but more sinister, sneak thief is robbing much of subtropical Africa of half its population's principal home-grown food crop. This is the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), a nutritious, easy- to-grow tuber, which the continent's peasants cultivate to feed their families. The sweet potato is the fifth most important crop in the developing world, where it is sown on some 25 million acres, mostly family plots. But each year
The Rhode Island Port Authority has completed a $30 million bond sale to fund 75 percent of a 50,000 square foot manufacturing facility for Alpha-Beta Technology Inc. in the Island Woods Technology Park in Smithfield, R.I. The Worcester, Mass., biotechnology company will provide equity to fund the remaining 25 percent of the $37 million project. The Port Authority underwriter, Paine Webber Inc., marketed the bonds to Morgan Grenfell, a New York institutional purchaser. (c) 1997 American Health
Chemex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has begun a pilot safety and efficacy study with metotrezate, a potential topical treatment for severe psoriasis. Scientists at the Fort Lee, N.J., company (NASDAQ:CHMX) discovered and patented the compound, which is now owned and developed by a joint venture between Block Drug Co. Inc. and Chemex. There are approximately 1 million patients in the U.S. suffering from severe psoriasis. Methotrezate is the second psoriasis drug for which Chemex has begun Phase I
Only one British biotechnology company is listed on the London Stock Exchange, British Bio-technology Group plc of Oxford. And it managed the feat only after three to four months of negotiations, during which the exchange "agreed that the criteria for listing weren't appropriate for biotechnology companies," said Keith McCullagh, British Bio-tech's chief executive officer. Those discussions led to new, relaxed guidelines that should make it much easier for biopharmaceutical companies to gain
The preclinical data on an antisense oligonucleotide drug being developed by Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. have been published in the February issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, the Carlsbad, Calif., company announced Wednesday. The drug, ISIS 2105, is now in Phase II clinical trials for treating genital warts. In particular, Isis scientists designed the antisense compound to attack human papilloma virus (HPV), which is the cause of most genital warts. The double-blinded trial is
Viral Testing Systems Corp. of Houston has acquired rights to distribute all diagnostic test products developed by its Austrian partner, Sanochemia AG, in the Americas, Australia, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Taiwan and certain Asian and Mideast countries. In exchange, VTS will issue 233,333 shares of its common stock (ASE:VTS) to Sanochemia and warrants to acquire an additional 150,000 shares for two years at $1.50 per share. This will bring Sanochemia's interest in VTS to approximately 4
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that it has received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on a patent for the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) protein and pharmaceutical compositions containing the protein. However, the patent application has been forwarded to the interference branch of the PTO due to a conflict with another patent application. The company received two previous notices of allowance on CNTF patent applications, one covering the gene
The biotechnology sector ended a bad week on a down note, as both biotechnology stock indexes shed more that 4 points on Friday. The AMEX Biotechnology Stock Index closed the week at 129.13, off 4.22 points for the day and down 14.88 since the previous Friday. The Chicago Board Option Exchange Biotech Index lost 14.94 points over the same period and 4.83 points for the day, closing at 119.42. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) lost $8.88 a share since Feb. 12 and closed last week at $45 a share, down $4
When Scotgen Ltd. of Aberdeen, Scotland, merged with the U.S. company Vasocor Inc. to form Scotgen Biopharmaceuticals Inc. in early February, one of the leading incentives for the U.K. company was to gain access to working capital to finance ongoing research and development projects. "Scotgen Ltd. felt that if it became part of a U.S. company, it would be able to access capital more readily," explained Robert Fildes, the chairman and chief executive officer of Scotgen Biopharmaceuticals. "They
American Cyanamid of Wayne, N.J., named Albert Costello chairman and chief executive officer. Costello is currently the company's president, and is replacing George Sella, who is retiring at the end of March. Frank Atlee, currently an executive vice president, will succeed Costello as president. BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., elected to its board of directors Randolph Steer, a consultant to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry who was chairman, president and chief
Escagenetics Corp. has entered into a partnership with a Saudi Arabian agricultural and horticultural company to mass- produce elite varieties of date palm in great demand in the Middle East. I.M. Boumarah and Sons will contribute more than $5 million in capital investment for laboratory buildings and greenhouses. IMB has also agreed to purchase 35,000 shares of Escagenetics' stock in a related transaction. As of last Dec. 31, the company had 4.9 million shares outstanding. Escagenetics will
The merger between Applied Biosystems Inc. and the Perkin- Elmer Corp. became effective Thursday, the companies announced. First announced last October, the union was awaiting a final blessing from shareholders of both companies. Shareholders of Applied Bio (NASDAQ:ABIO) of Foster City, Calif., will receive 0.678 shares of Perkin-Elmer stock (NYSE:PKN) for each ABIO share held as of the merger date, as per the terms of the initial agreement. The deal is valued at approximately $400 million
Experimental results on the successful in vitro growth of cartilage and bone tissues were reported in five separate presentations at Thursday's annual meeting of the Orthopedic Research Society in San Francisco. The researchers, from Boston's Children's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, the Deborah Heart & Lung Institute in Brown Mills, N.J., Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., and Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc. (ATS), used ATS's proprietary tissue engineering technology in their
At the final annual meeting of the International Biotechnology Association (IBA), members voted unanimously to merge with the Association of Biotechnology Companies (ABC). The new entity is called the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). ABC will vote on the merger at its own final annual meeting in April. The result of that vote, like the IBA vote, is a forgone conclusion. The two biotechnology trade organizations have established a joint committee, consisting of five board- appointed
Cel-Sci Corp. announced that it has signed a manufacturing agreement with Chesapeake Biological Laboratories (CBL) of Baltimore. Cel-Sci (NASDAQ:CELI) of Alexandria, Va., will use CBL's production facility to manufacture its mixed-cytokine based drug BC-IL for clinical trials. BC-IL is a mixture of natural human cytokines, produced in cell culture. "We expect BC-IL to be a low-cost out-patient treatment with low toxicity, useful in the treatment of certain categories of cancer patients and
Bio-Technology General Corp. (NASDAQ:BTGC) announced that FDA has granted its recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) orphan drug designation as a treatment for cachexia (wasting syndrome) in AIDS patients. The New York company has already demonstrated in pilot clinical studies that its rhGH can reverse this wasting, or severe weight loss, which is associated with a compromised immune system and greater susceptibility to opportunistic infections. BTG is currently testing its rhGH in Phase I
Cambridge Biotech Corp. (NASDAQ:CBCX) announced that it is seeking to withdraw its $100 million shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission that was filed Dec. 3, 1992. "The shelf registration led people to believe that a large public offering was contemplated in the near term," said Peter Hartman, vice president of finance and chief financial officer. "This was never the company's intention. Our intent was to utilize revised SEC shelf registration rules in order to
The biotechnology stock indexes followed Synergen Inc.'s (NASDAQ:SYGN) precipitous decline on Monday with large drops of their own. The AMEX Biotechnology Stock Index fell 15.72 points to 113.41, while the Chicago Board Option Exchange Biotechnology Index lost 17.05 points, closing at 102.37. The two indexes have lost 23 percent and 27 percent, respectively, since Feb. 1. Among individual issues, Chiron Corp. (CHIR) lost $5.13 a share to close at 45.63; Idexx Laboratories Corp. (IDXX) fell $4