A program between Exogene and SmithKline Beecham (SKB) studying Exogene’s hemoglobin technology has been extended for another year following promising first-year results. Financial details of the arrangement were not disclosed. The program is seeking to improve the manufacture of certain SKB products using Exogene’s oxygen-enhancing technology that can increase yields of recombinant proteins made from genetically engineered cells. Using this approach, the Monrovia, Calif., company offers
Medarex Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDX) announced Wednesday that it has developed a humanized version of one of the murine antibodies it uses in its bispecific antibody therapeutic. Speaking at the CS First Boston Healthcare Conference in London, Donald Drakeman, Medarex's president and chief executive officer, said: "The antibody is essentially 99 percent human, with only the highly specific antigen recognition sites of the antibody still derived from mice. Thus, the humanized trigger antibody maintains
According to a report due to appear in Friday's issue of Science, the Army has launched an investigation of Lt. Col. Robert Redfield and his lab about data from trials of gp160, a therapeutic AIDS vaccine under development by MicroGeneSys. The concern is that Redfield, one of the Army's prominent AIDS researchers, may have overstated the significance of clinical data he reported in July at the international AIDS conference in Amsterdam. Redfield told the meeting that "the vaccine reduced the
DynaGen Inc. announced Monday that it has started selling its diagnostic test for determining whether tuberculosis (TB) patients comply with their drug therapy regimen. The diagnostic strip urine test, Mycodyn Uritec, detects isonicotinic acid, a metabolic byproduct of isoniazid, the drug of choice for treating TB. Tuberculosis is once again becoming a health threat in the U.S., largely because it is an opportunistic infection that flourishes in immunocompromised people, such as those who have
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. of Indianapolis stunned Wall Street in late October when it announced its first earnings loss since 1951 -- $268.5 million for the third quarter. Part of this loss can be attributed to strategic alliances with other drug companies, including biotech companies. "Lilly has about 20 collaborations with a variety of biotech and medical device companies," D. Larry Smith, an analyst with Hambrecht & Quist of New York, told BioWorld. Lilly's "up-front investment
Vical Inc. of San Diego announced today that it has acquired rights to two separate gene therapy technologies that are being developed at the University of Chicago and at the University of Michigan. Vical's "direct gene transfer technology requires no viral components, cellular hosts or other delivery vehicles," Robert Zaugg, Vical's director of business development, told BioWorld. "Naked DNA is injected directly into the patient." Zaugg explained that in animal studies using this technique to
Biogen Inc. announced Monday that the European Patent Office's (EPO) Technical Board of Appeal has upheld all of the claims in Biogen's patent for genetically engineered alpha interferon (IFN). The decision is final and binding. The EPO's Opposition Division had already ruled in 1990 that "the claims in Biogen's patent were patentable in all aspects," the Cambridge, Mass., company said. But Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma Ges. mbH, Boehringer Mannheim GmbH and Bender & Co. Ges. mbH sought to
Imutec Corp. (NASDAQ:IMUTF) announced that it netted $US4.03 million ($C5 million) from the exercise of more than 95 percent of its outstanding warrants. This gives the Scarborough, Ontario, biotech company about $7.25 million in working capital. "These funds will allow the company to accelerate the scientific and clinical programs related to the marketing approval of Virulizin and to broaden the application of the company's technology to other diseases," said Richard Potts, president and chief
Osteotech Inc. announced Monday that it has received a patent on artificial skin made from the Shrewsbury, N.J., company's Polyactive polymer. Osteotech's subsidiary, HC Implants of Leiden, the Netherlands, developed the resorbable polymer with the University of Leiden's Biomaterials Research Group. "Osteotech will concentrate on musculoskeletal applications for Polyactive while seeking corporate partnerships for other unique surgical applications," said Patrick McBrayer, Osteotech's president
Lidak Pharmaceuticals announced that it has received a $50,000 small business innovation research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop human monoclonal antibodies in SCID (immunodeficient) mice. "The six-month Phase I study will investigate optimal conditions for immunization of human lymphocytes prior to and after transferring these cells to surrogate human mice," according to David Katz, the San Diego company's president and chief executive officer. The strategy is
Univax Biologics Inc. announced Monday an agreement with Rh Pharmaceuticals (Rh) of Winnipeg, Manitoba, giving Univax of Rockville, Md., exclusive marketing rights for Rh's WinRho SD product in the U.S. WinRho consists of antibodies to the Rh factor used for the prevention of Rh disease in mothers. WinRho SD is a new formulation of Rh's WinRho product currently sold in Canada and, according to Mike Woloski, Rh's director of clinical research, is a second-generation Rho "D" immunoglobulin that
Scios Nova announced Monday that it has reacquired the rights to a recombinant human lung surfactant (hLS) licensed to Genentech Inc. in 1989. Under the terms of the new deal, all rights to the recombinant hLS technology will be returned to Scios Nova, including worldwide marketing and manufacturing rights. In return, Scios Nova issued common stock to Genentech, and upon marketing approval, Scios Nova will again issue common stock and pay a royalty on sales of the product. Scios Nova would not
Michael J. Astrue, general counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has joined the Boston law firm Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. and its health services group. Astrue will also serve as a managing director of Mintz Levin's strategic consulting affiliate, ML Strategies Inc. Astrue submitted his resignation as general counsel of HHS in June. Selectide Corp. of Tucson, Ariz., name Bruce E. Seligmann vice president of research. Seligmann was a senior
Applied Microbiology Inc. (AMBI) announced Friday that it received U.S. patent No. 5,135,190 for the use of Ambicin-N bacteriocin to treat conditions of the oral cavity. Ambicin-N is a form of nisin, a non-toxic, naturally occurring peptide effective against bacteria in the oral cavity. AMBI's scientists have increased nisin's effectiveness against gram- positive bacteria, the only application nisin had been considered active against, and extended its scope of activity to include gram-negative
Oxford GlycoSystems (OGS) said today that it has developed a revolutionary method to systematically sequence oligosaccaride molecular structures, known as carbohydrates. OGS's GlycoMap 1000, (Map is an acronym for measurement, analysis and preparation) is a chromatographic-based system that separates and purifies carbohydrates from glycoproteins. It uses an array of enzymes in mathematically determined mixes and relies on software algorithms able to rapidly carry out sequencing procedures
Envirogen Inc. announced that it has completed the first phase of its field trials to biodegrade trichloroethylene (TCE). The Lawrenceville, N.J., environmental biotech company (NASDAQ:ENVG) is testing the ability of its biocatalyst-reactor system, which contains a pure culture of TCE-degrading microbes to degrade TCE-contaminated air streams. The bioreactor was installed as a slip-stream biotreatment system on an existing air stripper treating TCE-contaminated ground water. It may provide a
MedImmune Inc. announced that it has signed a letter of intent to reacquire all rights to its product CytoGam from an unnamed distributor. MedImmune (NASDAQ:MEDI) will pay the distributor $4.5 million up front, give it royalties on future sales, and purchase the distributor's current inventory once the two parties have executed a definitive agreement. MedImmune of Gaithersburg, Md., and Massachusetts Health Research Institute co-developed the product. CytoGam is a polyclonal antibody indicated
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. of Nutley, N.J., and its wholly owned subsidiary, Roche Molecular Systems Inc. of Branchburg, N.J., announced that they have sued Promega Corp. for breaching a license agreement regarding the manufacture and sale of nTaq polymerase, the temperature-stable enzyme used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) gene amplification. The patent covering this enzyme, which is used in PCR technology, was issued to Cetus Corp., which is now a subsidiary of Chiron Corp., in December 1989
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman announced Friday a USDA proposal to ease regulating biotech-derived plants by simplifying the approval process for field tests and exempting adequately tested plants from any further regulations. However, the agency's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) does not intend to totally deregulate agbiotech. Where currently a company or academic institution must apply to USDA for a permit to field-test an engineered plant, in the future it may
Oncor Inc. of Gaithersburg, Md., said it formed an exclusive marketing agreement with Amersham Buchler of Braunschweig, Germany, for the sale of Oncor's products in certain European countries. According to Steven Turner, Oncor's chief executive officer, under the terms of the agreement Amersham will receive exclusive distribution rights in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and some Eastern European countries in exchange for a guarantee that Amersham achieves a minimum level of sales of Oncor's DNA
A program between Exogene and SmithKline Beecham (SKB) studying Exogene’s hemoglobin technology has been extended for another year following promising first-year results. Financial details of the arrangement were not disclosed. The program is seeking to improve the manufacture of certain SKB products using Exogene’s oxygen-enhancing technology that can increase yields of recombinant proteins made from genetically engineered cells. Using this approach, the Monrovia, Calif., company offers