DynaGen Inc. scientists on Monday presented data on two of the company's newest diagnostic tests -- for tuberculosis -- at the World Congress on Tuberculosis in Bethesda, Md. The tests include a five-minute latex agglutination test for detecting mycobacteria in sputum, and an enzyme immunoassay for detecting anti-mycobacterial antibodies. The Cambridge, Mass., company (NASDAQ:DYGN) said that the latter test can be used to distinguish between patients with active disease and those who have been
Liposome Technology Inc. announced that it is now producing commercial-scale batches of Amphocil for use in its Phase III clinical trials. Amphocil, a lipid-complexed amphotericin B formulation, is being tested in patients for its ability to treat life-threatening systemic fungal infections. "The timing of commercial-scale production is crucial for initiating a planned pivotal Phase III clinical trial, for conducting product stability studies and for expediting the timely filing of FDA
Lifecore Biomedical Inc.'s stock jumped 25 percent Monday, up $2.25 per share to $8.88. The jump was apparently sparked by an announcement from Ethicon Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, that it will continue its development project on Chaska, Minn.-based Lifecore's sodium hyaluronate technology to create a product for the reduction of surgical adhesions. Ethicon's continued involvement in the project was in question due to their analysis of a human clinical study that showed Lifecore's
Seragen Inc. on Saturday reported results of its interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor-targeted fusion toxin, DAB486IL-2 in two applications, severe rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, at the Seventh Annual Conference of the Clinical Immunology Society in Philadelphia. According to Seragen spokeswoman Helen Maslocka, data from the severe rheumatoid arthritis trial, which were retreatment data from ongoing Phase I safety studies, demonstrated that the duration of response to the IL-2 fusion toxin
Vical Inc. announced Monday that it received a $500,000 small business innovation research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop Vical's proprietary cytofectins. Cytofectins are a family of lipids for delivering functional genes to cells and tissues in vivo. According to Philip Felgner, Vical's chief scientist, cytofectins readily form stable complexes with genetic material such as DNA or RNA, enabling its safe delivery to the interior of the cell and bypassing
True to analysts' predictions, the FDA's Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee on Monday recommended unanimously approval of Bristol-Myers Squibb's taxol for metastatic ovarian cancer therapy. "Although this indication alone (for treating patients who have failed standard therapy) is unlikely to generate domestic sales much greater than $20 million annually, taxol revenues could approach $1 billion in mid-decade if this novel chemotherapeutic realizes its promise in the treatment of breast and non
Researchers reported Monday at the 65th Annual American Heart Association Meeting in New Orleans that an anti-P- selectin antibody can protect against reperfusion injury in animal models. The antibody, CY1747, developed by Cytel Corp. of San Diego, apparently inhibits the migration of neutrophils to tissue that has been ischemic (deprived of blood and oxygen) during reperfusion. It was already known that such migration of neutrophils could lead to substantial and often irreversible tissue
Researchers are homing in on the gene(s) that predisposes people to the often deadly skin cancer, malignant melanoma. A virtual consortium of researchers and institutions, led by Lisa Cannon-Albright from the University of Utah Medical School, has strong evidence linking the genetic susceptibility locus to the short arm of chromosome 9. In Friday's issue of Science, the researchers reported results of a genetic linkage analysis on 11 extended families, with 82 cases of melanoma diagnosed
Collagen Corp. said it intends to sell one-third of its stock in Target Therapeutics Inc. to boost its cash reserves, and expects to raise about $15 million after expenses from the deal. In the form of a public offering, Target (NASDAQ:TGET) of Fremont, Calif., filed a registration statement on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the sale by stockholders of 1,050,000 shares of common stock. Collagen Corp. (NASDAQ:CGEN) of Palo Alto, Calif., will sell 1,004,700 shares. Target
Published Oct. 14 & 21 (EPO) and Oct. 15 (WO ) BioWorldLs weekly European patent preview lists in alphabetical order by assignee, and briefly summarizes, all salient biotechnology patent applications as they are made public in Europe. European patent offices publish full texts of patent applications worldwide within six months of their filing, and months to years before the corresponding U.S. patent issues. Two organizations comprise the European system: -- The European Patent Office (EPO
Analysts are predicting that an FDA advisory committee, expected to meet today to review Bristol-Myers Squibb's new drug application for taxol to treat refractory ovarian cancer, will recommend approval. "Taxol is viewed as being the most significant chemotherapy in the last 10 or 15 years, so there's enormous excitement about this product," according to Christina Heuer, an analyst with Smith Barney. "We think final approval could come as fast as the end of the year, and we think there's going
Escagenetics Corp. said it has expanded its True Potato Seed (TPS) program into Spain and Portugal -- markets that combined represent almost $500 million of the estimated $8.5 billion world seed tuber market, according to the company. If field trials in Spain and Portugal with the company's hybrid TPS and hybrid seed tubers are successful, Escagenetics (ASE:ESN) of San Carlos, Calif., will be able to register TPS hybrids in the Commercial Catalog and the Plant Variety Protection List of Spain
Results obtained in rats or mice on the pharmacokinetics of a candidate therapeutic drug don't always apply in humans. One reason, apparently, is because a change of as little as one amino acid in the sequence of otherwise homologous drug receptors can dramatically affect the receptor's drug-binding abilities. In particular, researcher Avi Ashkenazi of Genentech Inc. and his collaborators have found that the human and rat receptors for the neurotransmitter 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), while
To the biotechnology community, the biodiversity treaty is a givaway from an intellectual property standpoint. The treaty was signed last summer in Rio de Janeiro by a multitude of countries worldwide, but not by the U.S. As currently written, it says developed countries must work toward requiring that companies that exploit resources from the developing world hand over the means of production of any new products to the private sector in those developing countries that were the source of the
Cephalon Inc. announced Thursday that it will purchase for $14 million the manufacturing facilities and related technology of contract manufacturer Bio Science Contract Production Corp. of Beltsville, Md. "The acquisition of this facility provides Cephalon with a manufacturing operation in the United States," said Frank Baldino Jr., the West Chester, Pa., company's president and chief executive officer. "This facility has broad utility for the production of recombinant products, such as
ImClone Systems Inc. announced Thursday that it has received a notice of allowance on a U.S. patent on a murine totipotent stem cell receptor, FLK-2. The New York biopharmaceutical company (NASDAQ:IMCL) will get an exclusive license on the patent, which is assigned to ImClone's scientific collaborators at Princeton University. Totipotent stem cells, which are located in the bone marrow, produce red and white blood cells. "As parent cells of mature blood cell lineages, totipotent stem cells
Enzon Inc. (NASDAQ:ENZN) of Piscataway, N.J., announced Thursday that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed public offering of 1.6 million shares of convertible exchangeable preferred stock. Prudential Securities Inc. will underwrite the offering. Under the terms of the offering, holders of preferred stock will have the option to convert to common shares at a rate to be determined. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights
American Biogenetic Sciences Inc. (ABS) announced Wednesday that it acquired worldwide rights from Anthony McHale of the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland for a series of drug targeting systems for use in certain forms of cancer and cardiovascular conditions. McHale's systems combine light-activatable reagents with laser technology to deliver active drugs to any part of the body. The technique has been highly effective in destroying tumor tissues, according to ABS. Aoibheann Gibbons, a
Advanced Tissue Sciences (ATS) reported at a recent Montgomery Securities meeting in New York that it plans to take its expertise in growing human skin, bone and cartilage into the realm of facial reconstruction. The La Jolla, Calif., company (NASDAQ:ATIS) plans to take "a whole new approach to wound healing" by combining its core tissue-growing technology with computer contour mapping techniques to reconstruct the faces of children born with abnormalities, said Arthur Benvenuto, ATS's chairman
SAN FRANCISCO -- Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, have developed a new analytical technique -- comparative genomic hybridization -- to identify DNA defects in breast cancer cells. Researchers Anne and Olli Kallioniemi have pinpointed chromosomal regions of abnormal DNA in breast cancer cells from 32 different tumors. Speaking today at the American Society of Human Genetics meeting here, the research team explained that the actual number of abnormal chromosomal regions
DynaGen Inc. scientists on Monday presented data on two of the company's newest diagnostic tests -- for tuberculosis -- at the World Congress on Tuberculosis in Bethesda, Md. The tests include a five-minute latex agglutination test for detecting mycobacteria in sputum, and an enzyme immunoassay for detecting anti-mycobacterial antibodies. The Cambridge, Mass., company (NASDAQ:DYGN) said that the latter test can be used to distinguish between patients with active disease and those who have been