Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc. has raised $29 million in a secondary offering of 2 million shares of common stock at $14.50 per share, the company said Friday. The stock (NASDAQ:ATISA) closed at $14.88, down $1.88, on Friday. The company will use the proceeds to accelerate development of its skin-related products and for R&D of therapeutics incorporating other human tissue types. The La Jolla, Calif., company is focusing its resources on clinical trials of Dermagraft, a living dermal
The Liposome Co. on Friday said it has filed for a secondary offering of 3 million shares of common stock. The proceeds will be used primarily to continue development and clinical testing of the company's self-funded products, including TLC G-65 and TLC C-53. G-65 is a liposomal gentamicin to treat Mycobacterium avium intracellulare, a common infection in AIDS patients. The company has completed a Phase II trial of G-65 and plans to conduct in 1992 further Phase II trials in the United States
GenPharm International Inc. has filed for an initial public offering of 2.5 million shares of common stock with a proposed price of $10 to $12 per share. The Mountain View, Calif, company is focused on the development of transgenic dairy cattle capable of producing human milk proteins for use in nutritional and therapeutic products; on transgenic mice capable of generating human monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic purposes; and on transgenic mice and rats for use as research models in drug
CytoTherapeutics Inc. filed on Friday for an initial public offering of 2.25 million shares of common stock with a proposed price of $12 to $14 per share. The company is developing therapeutics in which cells or tissue are encapsulated within semi-permeable polymer membranes. The cellular replacement by immunoisolatory biocapsule technology (CRIB) is designed to protect the cells from the host's immune system and the host from having to mount an immune response. The company's lead product
Belmac Corp. said Friday that it has raised $11.6 million in a private placement of common and preferred stock. Belmac (AMEX:BLM) was to begin today Phase III trials of its Biolid macrolide antibiotic to treat upper and lower respiratory tract infections. By the end of 1992, Belmac of Tampa, Fla., expects to have filed investigational new drug applications for two more drugs. Its Alphanon transdermal patch, a formulation of camphor that acts as an anti-inflammatory and vasorelaxant, will enter
Hycor Biomedical Inc. has licensed a patented leukocyte histamine- release technology from Allergifonden AF of Denmark. The Garden Grove, Calif., company has exclusive worldwide rights except in Japan and Scandinavia to sell products for any applications using the technology. Hycor initally plans to use the technology to develop a blood test for food allergies. If an allergic person's blood is exposed to an allergen, the leukocyte cells will release histamine, said spokesman Reg Jones. Hycor
Ecova Corp., a bioremediation company, has been acquired by Waste- Tech Services Inc. for an undisclosed sum. Waste-Tech of Golden, Colo., a subsidiary of Amoco Oil Holding Co., bought Ecova to round out its hazardous waste management and remediation services, said John Nepywoda, director of planning and corporate development. Waste-Tech previously had no bioremediation capability. Ecova, which uses naturally occurring microbes enhanced with nutrients and oxygen, will maintain its focus on
Abbott Laboratories has received FDA approval to market a combination test for simultaneous detection of antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2, the company said Friday. The Abbott Park, Ill., company's combination test is the second approved by the FDA, which last September approved an enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) test produced by Genetic Systems Corp. According to Abbott (NYSE:ABT), the FDA intends to require blood banks to test their supplies for HIV-2 beginning June 1. (c) 1997 American Health
NeoRx Corp. has acquired an exclusive worldwide license to a cancer treatment technology invented at Stanford University. The patented approach is called pre-targeting technology. Its advantage is that normal tissues should be exposed to less radiation while the cancer is irradiated, said Dr. Paul Abrams, president of the Seattle company. In conventional form, radioimmunotherapy uses antibodies to bring radioactivity specifically to tumors. Pre-targeting uses a separate injection of antibody
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania last week dismissed a class action suit that was filed against Centocor Inc. in November, the company said. The court dismissed the action after the plaintiff, Roger Zurn, decided that the complaint should be withdrawn. Zurn filed the suit after the Malvern, Pa., company (NASDAQ:CNTO) lost a patent suit to Xoma Corp. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
General Biometrics Inc. has signed a joint venture with Syntello Di- agnostics, a peptide research firm associated with the Goteburg Hospital in Sweden. The San Diego company has acquired all rights to Syntello's existing products, will acquire Syntello's existing research and will support new research on peptides that Gen Bio will incorporate into assays for blood screening, sexual diseases, and allergy. Financial terms of the three-year agreement were not revealed. Fred Adler, Gen Bio
U.S. Bioscience Inc. has not yet set a firm date to meet with the FDA this month to discuss resubmission of Ethyol, Robert Kriebel, senior vice president of finance and administration, told BioWorld on Friday. The company (AMEX:UBS) had said it hoped to meet with the agency this week to discuss continuation of clinical trials that would result in sufficient data to warrant approval of the chemoprotective drug, which was turned down by an advisory committee on Jan. 31. (c) 1997 American Health
Targeted Genetics Corp. and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center said Thursday that they have received approval to begin a human gene therapy trial in HIV-infected patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation for AIDS- related lymphoma. The goal of the trial will be to augment the immune response in patients after the transplant, said H. Stewart Parker, president and chief executive. Researchers will use CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte cells isolated from patients. Targeted Genetics will
WASHINGTON -- The National Institutes of Health will make public in a few weeks its patent application for 2,400 partial cDNA sequences, Reid Adler, head of NIH's Office of Technology Transfer, said Thursday. The agency, which last June initiated its controversial policy of filing for patents on human gene sequences, on Wednesday filed a second application. According to Adler, the filing consolidates the 500 cDNA fragments in the earlier application with some 1,900 new sequences derived from
Applied Immune Sciences Inc. said Thursday that it raised $70 million through a secondary offering of 2.5 million shares of common stock at $28 per share. The offering was increased from a proposed 2 million shares. The stock (NASDAQ:AISX) closed down 38 cents Thursday at $28.13. The company, which is developing technology to treat immune system disorders outside of the body, in May completed a 2.6 million-share IPO at $12. AISX expects to complete this quarter Phase I trials of its CELLector
NIH scientists expect to sequence the genes expressed in the human brain over the next two to five years, using automated technology that can read DNA at the rate of 168 genes a day. The scientists reported Thursday in Nature that they have added 2,300 new sequences of brain genes to the 347 genes that they identified last June. The NIH on Wednesday said it had filed for patents on about 2,400 of the DNA fragments, called "expressed sequence tags" (ESTs), although critics have noted that most
Gynex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reached an agreement in principle with investor David Blech under which he will buy $3 million of new common stock and warrants, the company said Thursday. Gynex will issue 666,667 units to Blech. Each unit will consist of two shares of stock, two class A warrants and one class B warrant. After the units are issued, Gynex will have 12.8 million shares of stock outstanding and Blech will hold a 10 percent equity interest. He will have one board seat. The class A
Selected biotechnology-related patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Feb. 11. U.S. Class: 424--85.2 Patent No.: 5,087,448 Assignee: U. of Oklahoma Claims/Description: 4 claims for the use of interleukin 6 (IL-6) to increase the number of platelets in a mammal. U.S. Class: 424--450 Patent No.: 5,087,453 Assignee: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. Claims/Description: 6 claims for the use of macrophage colony stimulating factor to treat weight loss or hypoglycemia caused by
Results from Phase II testing of ProCyte Corp.'s wound healer Iamin showed that the copper-peptide can increase closure of diabetic skin ulcers by 20 percent, the company said Thursday. Two-week application of the drug achieved the increase in the average surface healed after it was injected into chronic leg wounds in 17 patients. The Kirkland, Wash., company (NASDAQ:PRCY) has a new, topical formulation of Iamin in a multicenter Phase II trial. The stock lost 50 cents to $11.50 on Thursday
ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp. said Thursday that it has received a $7 million license payment from Marion Merrill Dow Inc. in connection with the signing of a final agreement to jointly develop allergy therapeutics based on ImmuLogic's Allervax compounds. In November, MMD purchased 1 million ImmuLogic shares for $18 million and acquired for $1.2 million an option to buy 250,000 more shares (NASDAQ:IMUL) for $35 per share. Additional license fees and milestone payments would range between $25
Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc. has raised $29 million in a secondary offering of 2 million shares of common stock at $14.50 per share, the company said Friday. The stock (NASDAQ:ATISA) closed at $14.88, down $1.88, on Friday. The company will use the proceeds to accelerate development of its skin-related products and for R&D of therapeutics incorporating other human tissue types. The La Jolla, Calif., company is focusing its resources on clinical trials of Dermagraft, a living dermal