About 75 AIDS activists chained themselves to the gates of the Hoffmann-La Roche headquarters in Nutley, N. J. Tuesday morning, delaying traffic coming into New York City as motorists slowed to observe the protest. An unidentified number were arrested at the unit of Swiss-based Roche Holding Ltd. The demonstrators demanded quicker testing of the company's experimental tat inhibitor and detailed plans for clinical testing of the ddC drug. The company denied delaying research of its tat
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Tuesday that it has received notice of allowance on its patent application for production of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in E. coli. Regeneron has already received an allowance for the CNTF gene sequence. Both applications, however, went directly to the interference branch of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because the company faces potential interferences with two patents already issued to Synergen Inc. of Boulder, Colo. With only notices of
ImClone Systems Inc. announced Tuesday that it has started the first clinical trial on a vaccine for treating small cell lung cancer. The Phase I pilot trialHwhich will take place under an investigational new drug (IND) application assigned to the Memorial Hospital affiliate of New York's Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer CenterHis designed to establish a drug safety profile for ImClone's cancer vaccine, LuVax. LuVax is a monoclonal anti-idiotypic antibody [anti-id] designed to mimic, and
Epigen Inc. (ASE:EPN.EC) announced Tuesday that it has filed a U.S. patent application covering its proprietary human carcinoma antigen (HCA), HCA antibodies, HCA immunoassays and novel methods of imaging and therapy. HCA is a mucin glycoprotein generally found in large quantities on the cell membranes of carcinomas but not in normal tissue. The Wellesley, Mass. firm's first three products are covered by this patent application. The first is an in vitro test--termed the COD test-- to measure
Unipath Ltd. of Britain has chosen Cytogen Corp. as a development partner for its cancer monoclonal antibody program. "Cytogen is the only one to successfully bring these kind of monoclonal antibodies to market," said Cytogen spokeswoman Mary Beals. Unipath, a medical products company of Unilever, granted the Princeton, N.J., company exclusive worldwide rights to the research and development program. The rights include five monoclonal antibodies that target breast, colorectal and ovarian
Hollings C. Renton has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, the privately held biotech firm announced Tuesday. Onyx, of Richmond, Calif., wasAformed in 1992 by Chiron Corp. (NASDAQ:CHIR) and a group of venture capital investors. And Renton had been Chiron's president and chief operating officer, a job he assumed when Chiron acquired its Emeryville, Calif., neighbor Cetus Corp.Hwhere he was presidentHback in 1991. Onyx was formed to develop and
For the rough-and-tumble world of military combat, blood researchers associated with the armed forces have long dreamed of supplying blood freeze-dried like coffee so it could simply be mixed with water and used. Unfortunately, red blood cells tend to deflate like a collapsed parachute under the rigors of freezing and drying. But a patent announced Monday may bring that dream a step closer to reality. Cryopharm Corporation of Pasadena, Calif. received U.S. patent No. 5,178,884 on Jan. 12
The chicken-and-egg question of how brain plaques affect development of Alzheimer's disease will be examined more closely by a private neuroscience pharmaceutical company under a small business innovation research grant announced Monday. Gliatech Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio, received the $50,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging to investigate the roles of certain cellsHmicroglia and astrocytesHin Alzheimer's disease. This progressive neurodegenerative disease is marked by the presence of
Neoprobe Corp. announced Monday that FDA has authorized the firm to start Phase II clinical trials for its breast cancer detection system, termed radioimmunoguided surgery (RIGS). The breast cancer RIGS system uses a gamma-ray detecting instrument to identify monoclonal antibodies labelled with radioactive iodine (125I) that attach specifically to sites of cancerous tissue. The antibodies are targeted against mucin, a tumor-associated glycoprotein that is found in breast, colorectal and ovarian
Neose Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced Monday it is exclusively licensing a patent for synthesis of complex carbohydrates that was issued to the University of Pennsylvania. U.S. Patent 5,180,674 was issued Jan. 19 for a process to obtain and easily use enzymes called glycosyltransferases that should allow economical synthesis of essentially all complex carbohydrates found in nature. "Others are working on processes for the synthesis of very specific carbohydrates," said Stephen Roth, chief
Genetic Therapy Inc. (GTI) announced Monday that its underwriting group, managed by Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. and Montgomery Securities, has exercised its option to purchase an additional 225,000 shares in connection with the public offering of 1.5 million shares of common stock at $10 per share, which started trading Jan. 28. Including the options exercised, the company has 10.9 million shares of common stock outstanding (roughly 12 million on a fully diluted basis). Genetic Therapy, of
Oxigene Inc. announced Monday that it has received $2.3 million from a private placement to fund Phase II/III clinical trials of its drug for use as an adjunct to radiation therapy in treating squamous cell lung carcinoma. The placement, representing approximately 30 percent of the New York company's common stock, was sold to 30 individual investors through Gilford Securities, also of New York. The drug Sensimide, is Oxigene's formulation of the synthetic chemical compound metoclopramide, which
Biotechnology stocks continued to take a beating Monday. Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BGEN) and Amgen Inc. (AMGN) were the biggest losers: Biogen dropped $4.63 a share to close at $32.13 while Amgen was down $4.13 to $49.75. Other losers Monday were Chiron Corp. (CHIR), which dropped $3.50 a share to $50.75; Synergen Inc. (SYGN) which closed at $48.25, down $3 per share; Immunex Corp. (IMNX), which lost $2.25 a share to end the day at $43; and the newly public Shaman Pharmaceuticals (SHMN), off $1.50 a
The Rhode Island Port Authority and Economic Development Corp. has priced $30 million in taxable revenue bonds to finance the construction of a commercial manufacturing facility for Massachusetts-based Alpha-Beta Technology Inc., (NASDAQ:ABTI), the company announced Friday. The facility will be located in Smithfield, R.I. The offering, which will close on or about Feb. 17, is being managed by PaineWebber Inc., Fleet Securities and Lazard Freres & Co. The financing "represents one of the first
David Crossen, Cortech Inc.'s (NASDAQ:CRTQ) president and chief executive officer, announced Friday that the common stock conversion rights issued in conjunction with the 46 million units Cortech, of Denver sold in its Nov. 24 1992 IPO have expired. The conversion rights detached and have traded separately from the common stock since Jan. 8, 1993. The conversion rights expired because the average of the closing prices of Cortech's common stock units on NASDAQ prior to the separation date and
Calgene Inc. has fired the first volley in a potential patent dispute with Enzo Biochem Inc. over antisense technology. Calgene (NASDAQ:CGNE), the Davis, Calif., developer of Flavr Savr tomatoes, filed suit Friday in U.S. District Court to invalidate Enzo's pending U.S. antisense patent and obtain damages. Calgene maintains it has been hurt by "statements which Enzo representatives have made to the public regarding the breadth of its patent and the revenues that it would realize from Calgene
AT Biochem said Wednesday that it has changed its name to Applied Technology Genetics Corp. (ATGC) to reflect the company's new primary focus on genetic disease diagnostics. The Malvern, Pa., company said it will develop, manufacture nad market proprietary DNA screening products to diagnose genetic disease, predisposition to disease and toxic environmental events. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
CellPro Inc. announced last week that its Ceprate stem cell concentration system is being used to purify stem cells expressing the CD34 antigen from the marrow of donors for use in allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in a clinical trial at the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center in Baltimore. The trial will focus on patients with acute myelogenous leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma and Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The trial is designed to test whether stem cells
Mycogen Corp. announced that it has received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to market its genetically engineered M-Peril bioinsecticide, which targets the European corn borer. M-Peril is the San Diego company's third EPA-approved product that incorporates its CellCap encapsulation delivery system for genetically engineering the organism Pseudomonas fluorescens to contain Bacillus thuringiensis toxin. In 1991, Mycogen's MVP and M-Trak bioinsecticides became the first two
Somatix Therapy Corp. announced that it will collaborate with the California Parkinson's Foundation to conduct research for its neural diseases program. The cooperative preclinical studies will be done in the foundation's facilities in San Jose, Calif. Somatix (NASDAQ:SOMA) of Alameda, Calif., will have the exclusive rights to any inventions resulting from the collaboration. "We believe that the Foundation's extensive clinical and research experience, coupled with Somatix's expertise in gene
About 75 AIDS activists chained themselves to the gates of the Hoffmann-La Roche headquarters in Nutley, N. J. Tuesday morning, delaying traffic coming into New York City as motorists slowed to observe the protest. An unidentified number were arrested at the unit of Swiss-based Roche Holding Ltd. The demonstrators demanded quicker testing of the company's experimental tat inhibitor and detailed plans for clinical testing of the ddC drug. The company denied delaying research of its tat