The Liposome Co. Inc. will receive four years of research funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop a drug formulation for an AIDS infection as part of a National Cooperative Drug Discovery Grant. The Princeton, N.J., company (NASDAQ:LIPO) will receive commercial rights to any lipid-based drug developed under the cooperative effort, which is funded by a total of $3.1 million to collaborators at four centers. How the funds will be shared was not disclosed. The effort will focus
Idec Pharmaceuticals Corp. said Tuesday it may have to obtain a license to a recently issued patent to market two of its products in the United States. The patent, which issued Oct. 1, covers the use of anti- idiotype antibodies for the treatment of solid tumors. Wistar Institute of Philadelphia is the assignee for the patent, No. 5,053,224. Anti-ids mimic antigens by binding to the same antibody sites, which are called idiotypes. The Idec products potentially covered by the patent, I-Mel-1
WASHINGTON -- ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its Viratek Inc. subsidiary have agreed to avoid violations of securities laws in a settlement of a complaint brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC said Tuesday. The SEC filed the complaint on Monday, alleging that the companies made false statements regarding the results of clinical trials of the effectiveness of ribavirin, an anti-viral drug, against AIDS. According to the complaint, during January and February 1987, the
Ribi ImmunoChem Research Inc. said Tuesday that it plans to begin a multicenter Phase III trial of its Melacine melanoma therapeutic vaccine. About 27,600 new cases of melanoma and about 6,300 deaths are reported in the United States annually. Median survival for patients with disseminated melanoma receiving chemotherapy is about 12 months. In a Phase II trial, median survival for patients receiving Melacine was 29 months. Life extension will be one of the key end points of the open- label
Spain has become the fourth European country to approve the sale Bio-Technology General Corp.'s recombinant human growth hormone to treat short stature, the New York-based company said Tuesday. Spain, with $100 million in hGH sales in 1990, is the largest single market for hGH in Europe, according to BTGC. Total European sales are about $300 million annually. SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals will market the product under the name Eskatrope. The drug has received approvals in the Netherlands
Effective today, the NASDAQ symbol for Applied Microbiology Inc. stock is to change to AMBI. The previous symbol was APLY. The symbol for the company's warrants will be AMBIW. New York-based Applied Microbiology's major product is Ambicin, an anti-microbial that is being developed to treat bovine mastitis and for human oral health care and dermatological uses. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court decision on Monday not to review Genetics Institute Inc.'s patent appeal for erythropoietin bolstered rival Amgen Inc.'s stock and left untested procedural issues related to deposition of cell lines in patent cases. The decision leaves intact Amgen's monopoly over sales of the anti-anemia drug in the United States, where its orphan drug exclusivity is now bolstered by unchallenged patent rights. Amgen stock (NASDAQ:AMGN) closed Monday at $54.88, up $2
Glycomed Inc. said Monday that it intends to file for a public offering of 2 million shares of common stock, making it the second company this year to file a secondary offering only months after its initial public offering. Glycomed stock (NASDAQ:GLYC) closed Monday at $11.25, down 75 cents. Cor Therapeutics Inc. of South San Francisco, Calif., announced last week that it was filing for a 2 million-share offering. Alameda, Calif.-based Glycomed, which is developing drugs based on carbohydrates
Ecogen Inc. announced Monday the signing of a long-term distribution agreement with Australia-based Incitec Ltd. The agreement follows from Ecogen's previously announced purchase of the majority interest in FRM Agricultural Sciences Partnership (FASP), an Israeli partnership from First Mississippi Corp. The conditions of the acquisition called for the restructuring of an R&D agreement between FASP and Incitec. Under the original agreement, Incitec was to develop a microbe to control powdery
Repligen Corp. has obtained exclusive rights to a broad U.S. patent on antibodies that block inflammation and tissue damage, the company said Monday. The company is developing therapeutics based on antibodies covered by the patent, which was issued to Kabi Pharmacia AB of Sweden, and under another patent licensed from the University of Michigan. Targeted conditions are trauma- induced and septic shock, heart attacks, and other situations where return of blood to tissues can trigger the
Oncogene Science Inc. said Monday it has completed its acquisition of Applied bioTechnology Inc.'s cancer business for 2.2 million shares of Oncogene common stock. Oncogene will use the acquired cancer technology in a collaborative program with Becton Dickinson Inc. to develop and market cancer diagnostics. The Uniondale, N.Y., company also said Monday it had formally entered into the agreement with Becton. Oncogene stock (NASDAQ:ONCS) closed Monday at $5.63, down 13 cents. The program with
Biogen Corp. has reached a joint agreement with Australia’s largest biopharmaceutical company, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Ltd., to research and develop hirulog, a molecule based on a leech protein, as a human therapeutic. The agreement--Biogen’s second license involving the anti-thrombotic--covers Australia, New Zealand and certain other countries in the South Pacific. Commonwealth will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development, and all regulatory filings, while Biogen
Icos Corp. on Friday announced its collaborative agreement with Glaxo Holdings p.l.c. to develop drugs to treat inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases, ending a summer of speculation about the deal. The companies will develop therapeutic agents to modulate the activity of a key regulator of intracellular messengers that affect a broad range of conditions, including inflammation and cardiac contractility. Glaxo and Icos will share research and development of compounds and will co-promote
Liposome Technology Inc. stock picked up $1 last week when Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Jeffrey Casdin said LTI has a potential blockbuster drug in its S-Dox (Stealth doxorubicin) to treat cancer patients with solid tumors. The stock (NASDAQ:LTIZ) closed Friday at $8, down 50 cents, after closing on Sept. 27 at $7. If S-Dox is successful, LTI and its marketing partners could capture half of the potential $1 billion world market for liposomal doxorubicin, Casdin said. LTI's Stealth technology
Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Friday that it has filed for a public offering of 2 million shares of common stock. Of those shares, 1.94 million are being offering by the company and 60,000 shares are being offered by a shareholder. If the offering is successfully completed, Agouron will have 6.7 million shares outstanding. Agouron stock (NASDAQ:AGPH) closed up $1.75 at $20.75. La Jolla, Calif.-based Agouron on Thursday filed its first investigational new drug application to begin a pilot
Carrington Laboratories Inc. of Dallas, which focuses on wound healing, began trading on the American Stock Exchange on Monday under the symbol CRN. It previously had traded under the NASDAQ symbol CARN. The stock closed Friday at $12.50, up 25 cents. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Genzyme Corp. said Friday that it has privately placed $100 million principal amount of 6.75 percent convertible subordinated notes due in 2001. The notes are immediately convertible by holders into common stock at $52.875 per share. The stock (NASDAQ:GENZ) was unchanged Friday at $44.75. Cambridge, Mass.-based Genzyme has the right to call the notes after Oct. 1, 1993, if the market price of common stock averages 150 percent of the conversion price for a specified period. After Oct. 1, 1994
Bio-Technology General Corp. has initiated a Phase I clinical study of BioTropin, its recombinant human growth hormone, in elderly patients hospitalized with hip fracture. The New York company said Friday that hGH supplementation may enhance protein synthesis in these patients and prevent wasting (loss of lean body mass), thereby improving recoveries and shortening hospital stays. Up to 20 percent of hip fracture patients die within the first year following injury. The company said the trauma
Gerard J. McGarrity, Ph.D., has accepted the position of vice president and director of development at Genetic Therapy Inc. McGarrity had been president of Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, N.J. He has also been chairman of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Health since 1987. Genetic Therapy (NASDAQ:GTII) of Gaithersburg, Md., is developing delivery systems for human gene therapy. ProCyte Corp. of Kirkland, Wash., has elected Jules Blake, Ph.D
IN VITRO CANCER TESTS This is another profile of a private biotech company that presented itself last week to venture capitalists attending the Mid-Atlantic Venture Fair '91 in Baltimore. ChekTec Corp. The Baltimore company is developing a series of proprietary in vitro diagnostic products for breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder and stomach cancers based on Onco-antigen 519 (OA- 519) and proliferation associated (PAN) protein technology. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has
The Liposome Co. Inc. will receive four years of research funding from the National Institutes of Health to develop a drug formulation for an AIDS infection as part of a National Cooperative Drug Discovery Grant. The Princeton, N.J., company (NASDAQ:LIPO) will receive commercial rights to any lipid-based drug developed under the cooperative effort, which is funded by a total of $3.1 million to collaborators at four centers. How the funds will be shared was not disclosed. The effort will focus