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
Genetics Institute Inc. and its research spinoff, SciGenics Inc., announced Tuesday that FDA has finally given them the nod to begin human clinical trials on macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) for lowering cholesterol. GI (NASDAQ:GENIZ) still needs to complete its final site selection and get institutional review board approvals, but plans to start the trials in the first half of this year, according to Dennis Harp, the Cambridge, Mass., company's director of corporate communications
Biotechnology analysts issued a flurry of ratings changes on Centocor Inc.'s stock in response to Monday's news that the company has stopped its Phase III clinical trial of its septic shock drug, HA-1A, and suspended sales in Europe due to unexpected patient deaths. The Malvern, Pa., company's stock (NASDAQ:CNTO) dropped 63 percent after the announcement on Monday, from $17.75 to $6.63 a share. It dropped another 88 cents a share on Tuesday, closing at $5.75, with almost 5.5 million shares
Calgene Inc. announced Tuesday that it has formed a new company with Quadrant Holdings Ltd. to develop and commercialize the food-related applications of the natural sugar trehalose. Calgene of Davis Calif., and Quadrant of Cambridge, England, will each initially own 50 percent of the new company, Osmotica Foods. Quadrant contributes its U.S. and foreign patents covering the uses of trehalose in all food applications; Osmotica gets Calgene's (NASDAQ:CGNE) license for the trehalose-synthesizing
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- This South Florida resort is the world capital of protein engineering this week, as upward of 700 microbiologists, biophysicists, chemists and crystallographers converge for the 25th Annual Winter Symposium. The theme of the conference, co-sponsored by Bio/Technology magazine, is protein engineering. Opening the event on Monday, William J. Whelan, conference co-director and president of the University of Miami's Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Foundation Inc., announced
Liposome Technology Inc. (LTI) announced Tuesday that it has received a U.S. patent, No. 5,180,713, for a method of preparing a stable liposome-entrapped amphotericin B drug product. LTI (NASDAQ:LTIZ) of Menlo Park, Calif., believes the patented technology could be key to the commercialization of a liposome-entrapped version of the drug because it provides the Ioptimal meansJ of preserving the particle size of amphotericin B-containing liposomes during storage. LTI scientists developed the
Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Tuesday that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a secondary offering of 2.5 million shares of common stock, with an overallotment option of 375,000 shares. The San Diego companyLs stock (NASDAQ:AMLN) closed Tuesday at $12.75, down $1.50 per share. Underwriters for the offering are Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. The company completed an initial public offering (IPO) last January, raising $64.4 million
Genzyme Corp. announced Tuesday that it has received FDA approval to market its kit for the direct measurement of low- density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The Cambridge, Mass., company (NASDAQ:GENZ) claims that its kit is the first product that will allow routine and direct measurement of LDL cholesterol, a primary factor in coronary heart disease. Current tests are indirect and rely on calculations to arrive at LDL values that may not be accurate. They measure total cholesterol
Ciba Corning Diagnostics Corp., of Medfield, Mass., said it has acquired the cancer diagnostics business of Triton Diagnostics inc., a subsidiary of Shell Oil Co. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Triton Diagnostics now becomes Triton Laboratories, which will operate as a fully integrated unit of Ciba Corning. Triton of Alameda, Calif., currently has a portfolio of five manual, non-isotopic in vitro cancer diagnostics. Four assays use breast cancer markers -- one being the
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and the Max Planck Institute have received a U.S. patent covering the gene for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Regeneron announced Tuesday. Regeneron (NASDAQ:REGN) and Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) are jointly developing BDNF for the treatment of neurological diseases. Regeneron is the exclusive licensee of BDNF technology from the Max Planck Institute. Regeneron of Tarrytown, N.Y., said it plans to begin clinical trials by midyear to treat diseases of the
DNA Plant Technology Corp. announced Tuesday that it has licensed to the Dutch company Mogen International N.V. its patents for the expression of chitinase in genetically engineered plants to enable them to resist fungal disease. The license gives Mogen, a plant biotech company that has close ties with seed companies, the exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize the patent for all applications to all crops except in DNAP's key business areas, principally premium fruits and vegetables and
ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp. announced that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a public offering of 2.5 million shares of common stock with an overallottment option of 375,000 shares. Managing underwriters for the offering will be Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and Hambrecht & Quist Inc. ImmuLogic of Waltham, Mass., completed a secondary offering last January, raising $48.5 million from the sale of 2.1 million shares at $22.75 a share. The companyLs stock (NASDAQ
In a major setback to its lead product for sepsis, Centocor Inc. announced Monday that it has suspended its second Phase III trial of HA-1A and stopped product sales in Europe due to an excess of mortality observed in one arm of the study. Stock in the Malvern, Pa., company (NASDAQ:CNTO) dropped 63 percent -- $11.13 a share -- after the announcement, closing the day at $6.63. Nearly 14 million shares changed hands, the most the company's stock has traded since last April 15, when the company
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