Published Dec. 23+30 (EPO) Dec.23(WO) Dec. 23(GB) Mass. Gen. Hospital Universal Boston nucleases Ligand-Staphylococcal-fusion-protein hybrids; can cleave any predetermined site within a DNA or RNA molecule. Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd. GABA receptor WO 92/22652 Hoddesdon, Herts., U.K. medicaments Eukaryotic host expresses GABAA receptor; cDNA encodes alpha, beta, gamma subunits; subtype-selective medicaments. Merck & Co. AIDS immuno- EPO 519 554 Rahway, N.J. neutralization A class I recombinant
Procept Inc. announced Friday it has filed for an initial public offering, in particular to finance clinical trials of a proposed AIDS virus therapeutic. The Cambridge, Mass., company seeks to raise $21 million through an offering of 1.8 million shares at $11 to $13 per share. The offering is being managed by underwriters Kidder, Peabody & Co. Inc. and Tucker Anthony Inc. Net proceeds will be used to fund research and product development, including preclinical studies and initial clinical
A spate of biotechnology mergers and acquisitions in 1992 reflected the ever-present needs of companies on both sides of their respective bargaining tables for cash and technology. The large, well-established conglomerates found the means to establish or strengthen their presence in biotechnology, and the more mature biotech companies found a source of cash to help them get to market. And when both parties brought technology to the table, the whole often exceeded the sum of the parts. For
Seragen Inc. announced Thursday that FDA has approved the company's application to test its interleukin-2 (IL-2) fusion toxin in patients infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The PhaseI/II trial involves DAB389IL-2, the Hopkinton, Mass., company's new version of its IL-2 recepter-targeted fusion toxin, and will determine the safety of administering the agent to HIV-infected individuals. The trial will be conducted at the Beth Israel and Boston City Hospitals in Boston and Johns
Excitement about potentially treating rheumatoid arthritis with a natural antagonist to inflammation created some friction Thursday between a lead immune system investigator and one stock analyst. Analyst Franklin Berger of the institutional research firm Josephthal Lyon & Ross Inc. drew attention Thursday to a report in the Jan. 16 edition of The Lancet in which physicians at Tufts-New England Medical Center examined levels of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL- 1ra
CellPro Inc. announced Thursday that it has started two Phase I/II stem cell concentration trials in cancer patients. The trials, at St. Louis University Medical Center in St. Louis, Mo., and Albert-Ludwigs-University Medical Center in Freiburg, Germany, will test the safety and efficacy of the Bothell, Wash., company's Ceprate SC stem cell concentration system in autologous peripheral blood for use in restoring bone marrow and immune systems following high-dose chemotherapy to treat advanced
LifeCell Corp. announced Thursday that interim results from clinical evaluations for its dermal skin replacement tissue AlloDerm indicate no evidence of immune rejection. Based on results from the first six months of clinical evaluation of AlloDerm, said Paul Frison, president and chief executive officer, "we are accelerating the clinical studies and plan to increase the number of clinical evaluation sites to eight." The results were presented Tuesday at the company's (NASDAQ:LIFC
An "interesting story and very impressive science" spurred a successful initial public offering (IPO) by company targeting autoimmune therapies, its chief financial officer said Thursday. AutoImmune Inc. (NASDAQ:AIMM) of Lexington, Mass., raised about $41 million after costs, selling 3 million shares of common stock and all 450,000 shares of overallotments in the first day of trading, said Thomas Hennessey, vice president, CFO and treasurer. The offering was managed by Hambrecht & Quist Inc
So far this year public financing of biotechnology companies has followed a pattern established in 1992. Last year a heated first quarter was followed by three lean quarters. While it's too early to tell how closely 1993 will follow last year's script, public offerings have been brisk in January. "The bullishness of Wall Street is high right now," said Kenneth Lee, national director of life sciences industry services for Ernst & Young in Palo Alto, Calif. "But no one expects it to be as big as
Vestar Inc. announced Wednesday that it has sued Liposome Technology Inc. (LTI) over a patent just issued to LTI on a method for making liposome-entrapped amphotericin B. LTI (NASDAQ:LTIZ) of Menlo Park, Calif., announced Tuesday that it had been awarded U.S. patent No. 5,180,713, claiming a method of preparing a stable liposome-entrapped amphotericin B drug product. Vestar (NASDAQ:VSTR) of San Dimas, Calif., responded in a release, also on Tuesday, that "the methodology described in this
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- On or about Feb. 2, FDA will receive an investigational new drug (IND) application, seeking to inject a variety of cancer patients with a protein-engineered bacterial toxin. Ira H. Pastan, chief of the National Cancer Institute's Molecular Biology Laboratory, revealed the plan here on Tuesday at the 25th Annual Miami Winter Symposium in a session on chimeric proteins. Pastan's tumor-killing exotoxin is secreted by a common pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. One molecule of
Eli Lilly and Co. announced Wednesday that it will incur a fourth-quarter 1992 special charge to write off expenses related to the company's investment in Centocor Inc. and its sepsis product, HA-1A. The charge will reduce the Indianapolis company's (NYSE:LLY) after-tax earnings per share by nine cents to 11 cents. The charge accounts for known costs and losses in connection with the suspension of clinical trials of HA-1A in the U.S. and suspension of sales of the product overseas. It also
Genetic Therapy Inc. (GTI) and PharmaGenics Inc. announced Tuesday that they had signed a license agreement to develop anti-cancer therapies based on tumor-suppresser genes. The tumor suppresser gene DCC (for "deleted in colon cancer") was discovered by Bert Vogelstein of Johns Hopkins University, who also identified the function of gene p53 as a tumor suppresser. Recent studies suggest that the p53 gene is altered or deleted in a large proportion of solid tumors. Both DCC and p53 are licensed
Immune Response Corp. announced Tuesday that it has filed an investigational new drug application (IND) with FDA for a vaccine for treating rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment is designed to target specific T cells responsible for the disease. This putative vaccine is based on a T cell receptor peptide, termed VB14, and is the San Diego company's (NASDAQ:IMNR) second arthritis vaccine. The first, based on the VB17 T cell receptor, has been in clinicals since last September. Immune Response is
Escagenetics Corp. announced Tuesday that it will collaborate with Genencor International Inc. on scaling up taxol production via plant cell tissue culture. Scale-up will occur in Genencor's Rochester, N.Y. production facility. "This collaboration in Genencor's facility will allow Escagenetics to scale up taxol production in stages to 30,000-liter vessels," said Raymond Moshy, president and chief executive officer of the San Carlos, Calif., company. Escagenetics (AMEX:ESN) uses cultured yew
Bioject Medical Technologies Inc. of Portland, Ore., named Peggy J. Miller vice president and chief financial officer, replacing James A. Kinkade, who is leaving to pursue other business interests. Miller was vice president for finance at Oregon Health Sciences University. AgriDyne Technologies Inc. of Salt Lake City said David F. Martin resigned as executive vice president and general manager of agricultural and specialty chemicals. Luc Montagnier, who discovered the virus that causes AIDS
Oncor Inc. announced Wednesday that it has received approval from FDA to market its DNA-based assay for detecting and monitoring leukemia and lymphoma in bone marrow. Bone marrow testing is a new indication for the Gaithersburg, Md., company's (NASDAQ:ONCR) already-approved B/T Blue Gene Rearrangement Test System. "This new indication should enable physicians to diagnose and track these conditions (such as leukemia and lymphoma) sooner and more effectively since these cancers will generally
Chemex Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Wednesday that it has completed additional Phase II clinical trials on Amlexanox, for treating canker sores (aphthous ulcers). Chemex (NASDAQ:CHMX) announced last April that it would need to run these additional Phase IIs because the placebo in the original Phase II was statistically as effective as Amlexanox when it was used alone. This necessitated the extra studies to determine Amlexanox's optimum concentration and treatment regimen. The drug is being
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Wednesday that it has completed its secondary public offering of 2.5 million shares of common stock at $7.75 per share. Isis (NASDAQ:ISIP) filed for this offering on Dec. 15, 1992. The Carlsbad, Calif., company will have 15.5 million shares of common stock outstanding upon completion of the offering, assuming the underwriters don't exercise their overallotment option for 375,000 shares of common stock. The underwriting group is managed by Lehman Brothers
Immunomedics Inc. on Tuesday reported results from a Phase II clinical trial of its imaging agent for the detection of non- HodgkinLs B-cell lymphoma. The trial showed that the application of ImmuRAID-LL2 resulted in an imaging sensitivity of nearly 100 percent in one patient group, correctly identifying at least one known lesion in each of the 10 patients. The data were presented at the Fifth Annual Symposium, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Applications of Antibodies, Peptides and Molecular
Published Dec. 23+30 (EPO) Dec.23(WO) Dec. 23(GB) Mass. Gen. Hospital Universal Boston nucleases Ligand-Staphylococcal-fusion-protein hybrids; can cleave any predetermined site within a DNA or RNA molecule. Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd. GABA receptor WO 92/22652 Hoddesdon, Herts., U.K. medicaments Eukaryotic host expresses GABAA receptor; cDNA encodes alpha, beta, gamma subunits; subtype-selective medicaments. Merck & Co. AIDS immuno- EPO 519 554 Rahway, N.J. neutralization A class I recombinant