Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Friday that it has signed an agreement with Eisai Co. Ltd., granting Eisai an exclusive license in Japan to develop and market an Isis antisense drug to treat ocular and genital herpes infections. Under the terms of the agreement, Isis will receive a "substantial" up-front licensing fee and milestone payments, said Chief Executive Officer Dr. Stanley Crooke. "Milestone payments for the two indications will generate significant revenues for Isis in the next several
A monoclonal antibody developed in collaboration by Repligen Corp. and Merck & Co. Inc. has shown promise as an anti- infective against HIV in a chimpanzee study. Repligen said Friday the result "indicates it may be feasible to develop an anti-infective to prevent HIV in humans." A chimpanzee injected with infectious doses of HIV-1 and then infused with monoclonal antibody to the V3 loop of the virus has remained free of HIV infection since the test was begun in March. A control animal exposed
Chiron Corp. told BioWorld on Friday that it hopes to send to shareholders within about 10 days its proxy statement on the proposed merger with Cetus Corp. If the proxy is mailed about Oct. 28, the shareholder's meeting to approve the merger would be held late in the first week of December, said Chiron spokesman Larry Kurtz. The Emeryville, Calif., company has sent a copy to the Securities and Exchange Commission for final approval. Since Oct. 10, Chiron stock has been trading above the $49 to
Cephalon Inc. has received a notice of allowance from the Patent and Trademark Office on a patent application for the use of IGF-1 to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. West Chester, Pa.-based Cephalon is developing insulin-like growth factor under the name Myotrophin to treat ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The disease, a progressive nervous system disorder, affects about 30,000 people in the United States and has no known cause or cure. Preclinical studies indicate that Myotrophin
Icos Corp. has entered into a five-year joint research agreement with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to initiate collaborations related to cell activation and cell metabolism, the company said Friday. The deal is "an umbrella agreement to cover project-related financing," said Janice LeCocq, executive vice president for finance and administration at Icos. The program will be funded by Icos and managed jointly with CSHL. Icos will have the option to license inventions arising from the
Donald E. O'Neill has been elected chairman of Nova Pharmaceutical Corp., succeeding John Lloyd Huck, who will remain as a director. O'Neill was executive vice president and chairman of international operations for Warner-Lambert Co. until his retirement this year. Baltimore-based Nova Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:NOVX) is focused on treatments for central nervous system disorders and inflammation. Dr. Alex McPherson has been appointed president and chief executive officer of Biomira Inc. of Edmonton
Centocor Inc. said Friday that its Myoscint cardiac imaging agent will be reviewed on Nov. 26 by the Food and Drug Administration's biological response modifiers advisory committee. The committee will discuss the use of Myoscint as an adjunct to the diagnosis of myocardial infarct. Myoscint, which is sold in eight European countries, is a radiolabeled imaging agent that uses a fragment of a monoclonal antibody to seek out and bind to dead heart tissue. Malvern, Pa.-based Centocor expects to
Somatix Therapy Corp. on Thursday announced that it intends to merge with GeneSys Therapeutic Corp., a start-up gene therapy company headed by former Amgen President Harry Hixson Jr., in a deal worth about $22 million. Impetus for the deal came from the venture group Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers, said Hixson, who will become chairman of the merged company. "We were out pursuing classic venture capital financing, and they were concerned the field had become too fragmented," Hixson told
Amgen Inc. on Thursday released results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30 that showed continued strong sales of its Epogen and Neupogen products. Epogen erythropoietin sales totaled $112.2 million, compared with $73 million for the 1990 quarter. More than 100,000 kidney dialysis patients in the United States are now using the drug. Sales of Neupogen granulocyte colony stimulating factor, which began this year, were $59.7 million, compared with second-quarter sales of $33.4 million. Based on
Cambridge Biotech Corp. has raised $25.6 million through a secondary public offering of 3.3 million shares of common stock at $7.75 per share. The company's stock (NASDAQ:CBCX) closed unchanged on Thursday at $8.25. The Worcester, Mass., company said Thursday that the offering was increased from an anticipated 3 million shares. After the offering, the developer of products to detect, prevent and treat infectious diseases will have 21.4 million shares outstanding. Underwriter Sutro & Co. has a
Immunex Corp. said Thursday that it is starting Phase I clinical trials in sarcoma patients of PIXY321, a genetically engineered protein that stimulates the growth of white blood cells and platelets. Immunex said it hopes the "second-generation" colony stimulating factor will help patients suffering from chemotherapy or radiation therapy-induced blood disorders. These treatments may induce neutropenia, a decrease in the white blood cell count that can lead to infections, and thrombocytopenia
Celtrix Laboratories Inc. has begun a Phase II trial of its wound-healing growth factor as an aid in repairing a form of detached retinas, the Palo Alto, Calif., company announced Thursday. The multicenter clinical study is an extension of an investigator-sponsored investigational new drug study that used different doses of transforming growth factor (TGF) beta. The agent was placed on the detached, macular portion of the retina during an eye operation that is used to treat the condition known
Imre Corp. said the Food and Drug Administration has approved a clinical trial of its Prosorba column for the treatment of patients suffering from a major subcategory of lupus, systemic lupus erythematosus. About 500,000 people in the United States are affected by SLE, for which there is no treatment, according to Edward Yoshida, vice president of regulatory affairs at the Seattle company (NASDAQ:IMRE). The Prosorba column, which is used to treat a diseased patient's blood outside of the body
Deprenyl Animal Health Inc. on Tuesday said it has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute (ITRI) to evaluate the effects of the drug deprenyl on various physiologic functions during aging in dogs. Trials are expected to start this month, according to Deprenyl. The Overland Park, Kan., company (NASDAQ:DAHI) has committed about $1 million over the course of the five-year agreement and will retain all rights to pre
CellPro Inc. has begun marketing its first product, the Ceprate LC (CD34) Laboratory Cell Separation System, for cellular research. The monoclonal antibody-based system can be used to purify stem cells from bone marrow or blood. Stem cells, which constitute less than 1 percent of all cells in bone marrow, are responsible for generating all blood cells. CellPro estimates the world market for research cell separations at $50 million to $75 million. The Bothell, Wash., company said the market is
Mycogen Corp. on Thursday said it has filed for an offering of 2 million shares of common stock. About 1.3 million shares would be sold by the company and about 728,000 would be offered by stockholders who received their shares as part of Mycogen's acquisition of SoilServ, a crop-protection service, in August. If the offering is completed, Mycogen will have 14 million shares outstanding. Underwriters Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. and Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood Inc. have an option to buy an
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a broad patent for Centocor Inc.'s Centoxin, a monoclonal antibody to treat gram-negative bacteremia and septic shock. Analysts said the patent further strengthened Centocor's lead over rival Xoma Corp., driving Centocor stock (NASDAQ:CNTO) up $3.50 to $53.50. The patent is comparable to a broad European composition of matter patent on Centoxin that issued in July, said Centocor spokesman Richard Koenig. The U.S. patent contains additional method
Roberta Friedman, Ph.D. Special to BioWorld Preliminary results with an AIDS vaccine made of a core protein show that 16 HIV-negative volunteers so far have responded in a promising manner, with induction of killer cell activity, as well as stimulation of T cell replication. The results were announced Wednesday at an AIDS vaccine con- ference by Alpha 1 Biomedicals Inc. of Washington, D.C., and Cel-Sci Corp. of Alexandria, Va., who have formed a joint venture, Viral Technologies Inc., to
Cytel Corp., a developer of carbohydrate-based treatments for inflammatory conditions, has filed for an initial public offering of common stock. Cytel, which Wednesday confirmed that it has done a "silent" filing for its IPO, revealed few details of the offering. About 2.5 million shares will be offered through underwriters Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. On Tuesday, the San Diego company said it had agreed to acquire GlycoGen Inc. for an undisclosed sum. GlycoGen of South
Enzo Biochem Inc. on Wednesday said it expects to gain a strong position in genetic antisense technology as a result of the settlement of a patent dispute between the State University of New York and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Enzo, SUNY's exclusive licensee, predicted it would receive broad patent protection for its technology as a result of the settlement. But Gilead Sciences Inc., MIT's licensee, downplayed the significance of the agreement. The Patent and Trademark Office
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Friday that it has signed an agreement with Eisai Co. Ltd., granting Eisai an exclusive license in Japan to develop and market an Isis antisense drug to treat ocular and genital herpes infections. Under the terms of the agreement, Isis will receive a "substantial" up-front licensing fee and milestone payments, said Chief Executive Officer Dr. Stanley Crooke. "Milestone payments for the two indications will generate significant revenues for Isis in the next several