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
Sugen Inc. announced Monday that it has signed an exclusive three-year collaborative agreement with Selectide Corp. to develop novel, small-peptide therapeutics targeting two classes of cell receptors. The deal entails a stock swap of roughly 10 percent of the two privately held companiesL respective capitalizations. Under the terms of the agreement, each company may create its own scientific team within its collaboratorLs laboratory facilities to pursue specific research projects. The two
Vestar Inc. announced that it has initiated a limited program to provide DaunoXome free of charge to AIDS patients with advanced Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) who have failed at least one other cytotoxic therapy. DaunoXome is Vestar's liposomal formulation of the anti-cancer drug daunorubicin. The San Dimas, Calif., company (NASDAQ:VSTR) said it intends to start shipping DaunoXome immediately to a limited number of hospital centers; the program will be administered by PACT, a clinical research
Glaxo Canada, a subsidiary of Glaxo Holdings plc, on Monday exercised its option to purchase about 3.9 million common shares of BioChem Pharma Inc. at an exercise price of C$7.80 (US$6.01) per share for a total of C$30.3 million (US$23.6 million). Glaxo was granted the option in January 1991 under agreements between the companies covering the research and development of compounds discovered by BioChem for the treatment of viral diseases and cancer, BioChem said. Glaxo has now invested about C
Deprenyl USA Inc. reported Monday that an independent study showed that ALA photodynamic therapy, the company's proposed treatment for skin cancers and other dermatological disorders, is "effective for superficial epithelial skin tumors." Reporting in the January issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the researchers said: "We observed a complete response after a single treatment for all nine solar keratoses, five of six early invasive squamous cell carcinomas, and 36 of
Applied Bioscience International Inc. said Monday that it has consolidated into one organization three major companies in the phamaceutical, consumer product and chemical contract research areas. Pharmaco, Life Science Research and Bio/dynamics will operate under a new company name, Pharmaco-LSR. Grover C. Wrenn, president and chief executive officer of Applied Bioscience of Arlington, Va., said the anticipated restructuring costs associated with the formation of Pharmaco-LSR were included in a
Baxter International's Biotech Group has granted to Applied Immune Sciences Inc. (AIS) a non-exclusive license covering certain patents for Baxter's anti-CD34 antibodies and stem cell populations, AIS said Monday. AIS declined to disclose terms of the arrangement. AIS of Santa Clara, Calif., said it will use the antibodies with its proprietary stem cell separation device, the AIS Cellector. Stem cells are the cells in the blood and bone marrow from which all blood cells are derived. The goal
Chiron Corp. announced on Monday that it has established Chiron Mimotopes U.S. (CMUS) to market custom peptides and multipeptide synthesis kits and related products. CMUS is an affiliate of Chiron Mimotopes Pty Ltd. of Australia, which Chiron acquired in 1991. Chiron Mimotopes Pty's proprietary Multipin Peptide Synthesis technology synthesizes custom peptides at a variety of purity levels and lengths. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Canguard Health Technologies Inc. announced that, together with its corporate partner Pharmasciences Inc. of Montreal, it has signed a commercial agreement with Athena Neurosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:ATHN) of South San Francisco, Calif. Athena will develop and commercialize two unidentified Canguard products in the U.S. Canguard of Vancouver, British Columbia, recently raised about C$165,000 (US$129,000) in a private placement to support the company's drug development program, which is currently
Cytogen Corp. said Monday that it has begun shipping commercial quantities of OncoScint CR/OV, which was granted marketing approval by FDA in December. Cytogen of Princeton, N.J., said it began shipping the monoclonal antibody-based diagnostic imaging agent for colorectal and ovarian cancer to its co-promotion partner, Knoll Pharmaceuticals, a division of BASF K&F Corp., for national distribution on Friday. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Genetics Institute Inc. has licensed from British Technology Group U.S.A. Inc. rights to produce recombinant human Factor IX protein from cell culture to treat hemophilia B, the companies announced Monday. Hemophilia B, caused by a defect or deficiency of Factor IX, afflicts 2,000-3,000 people in the U.S. GI (NASDAQ:GENIZ) of Cambridge, Mass., said that combining its genetic engineering and cell culture technology with the Factor IX patent rights will enable GI to begin development of a
Mycogen Corp. (NASDAQ:MYCO) announced that its Agrigenetics division has signed an agreement with Forage Genetics Inc. of West Salem, Wis., to jointly develop and market genetically engineered alfalfa varieties that will be resistant to important insect pests. Initial research and product development will focus on introducing genes from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacteria into alfalfa varieties to protect them against the alfalfa weevil. Forage Genetics will manage marketing the new varieties
Gensia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:GNSA) announced that it filed a marketing authorization application (MAA) with the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) in the United Kingdom for Arasine in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The San Diego company has also submitted MAAs to each of the other 11 members of the European Community and to the five countries that are members of the European Free Trade Association. In addition, Gensia plans to file a regulatory submission in Canada
Neurex Corp. announced last week that it filed on Dec. 24 an amendment to its registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO) of 3 million shares of class A common stock at $10-12 per share. Lehman Brothers and Kidder Peabody Inc. will co-manage the offering, and the underwriters have been granted a 30-day overallotment option to purchase an additional 450,000 shares of class A common stock. The Menlo Park, Calif., company
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