British Bio-technology Group plc (BBL) plans to use InSite Vision Inc.'s drug delivery systems to evaluate BB-94, BBL's collagenase inhibitor, in human eye disease. BBL of Oxford, England, said Monday that it will investigate BB- 94 as a topical treatment for post-corneal surgery. Under the terms of the agreement, InSite will fund and conduct U.S. Phase I trials in mid-1993. If the safety trials are successful, InSite will also fund and manage Phase II trials in patients undergoing corneal
Lifecore Biomedical Inc. has initiated a research agreement with Iolab Corp. to develop a high molecular weight sodium hyaluronate based on Lifecore's microbial fermentation process for use in Iolab's ophthalmic products. Under the terms of the agreement announced last week, Iolab, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary based in Claremont, Calif., will fund the project for an undisclosed sum in exchange for the right to negotiate an exclusive commercial supply agreement covering Iolab's ophthalmic use
Decorin, a human proteoglycan that is a natural inhibitor of TGF-beta, seems to be capable of preventing the progression of kidney disease. Researchers from the University of Utah, the La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation and Telios Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:TLIO) of San Diego reported last week in Nature that decorin prevents scarring in kidney disease in animals. Scarring is the leading cause of kidney failure in humans. Decorin is normally found in cartilage, skin and other extracellular
By Michelle Slade Associate Editor Calgene Inc. announced Monday that it has exclusively licensed from the University of Tromso in Norway the genes that convert glucose into trehalose, a simple sugar that preserves flavor and texture in frozen, dehydrated or dried foods. Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide composed entirely of glucose, a basic building block of starches and complex sugars. Studies show that the compound preserves the "fresh" flavor and texture of foods such as milk
ICI Seeds of Wilmington, Del., a global business group of Imperial Chemical Industries plc (NYSE:ICI) of London, announced that its Japanese collaborator, Kagome, will begin large-scale field trials of ICI's gene technology for fruit ripening, especially of tomatoes. ICI Seeds has a "broad-based research program on fruit ripening," Simon Best, the company's business manager for fruit and vegetable technology, told BioWorld. "We have 13 fully characterized ripening genes," he said, including
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have found that anti-HIV RNA can reduce production of the virus in infected cells by as much as 99 percent. Saswati Chatterjee, Philip Johnson and K.K. Wong Jr. used as their antisense targets sequences that are present in all HIV-1 transcripts -- the TAR sequence, essential to viral transcription and replication, and the polyadenylation sequence. As detailed in last week's issue of Science, the researchers used an adeno-associated virus
Published Nov. 11 & 19 (EPO) & Nov. 12 (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 and Great Britain (GB) comprise the European system: -- The European
Collagen Corp. announced that it raised about $15 million after expenses and taxes in a public offering of Target Therapeutics Inc.'s common stock (NASDAQ:TGET). The public offering price for the 1.05 million shares of Target common stock was $26.75 per share. Collagen Corp. (NASDAQ:CGEN) sold 1,004,700 shares in the offering, and 45,300 shares were sold by stockholders. The company has approximately 6,674,488 shares outstanding after the offering. Collagen will get 36 percent of the
Published Oct. 28 & Nov. 4 (EPO) & Oct. 29 (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
For 30 years or more, farmers have been spraying bacterial toxins synthesized by Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) as their insecticide of choice to protect crop plants. Now, several biotechnology companies are on the verge of bringing to market plants genetically transformed to carry the gene for the bug-killing Bt toxin. This "organic" approach to pest control should further reduce the need for expensive, polluting chemical insecticides, and Bt's wide spectrum of toxin varieties targeted at
Cell Therapeutics Inc. (CTI), a privately held Seattle biotechnology company, told BioWorld late Wednesday that it has raised $38.5 million in a private placement by D. Blech and Co. and Alex. Brown & Sons. Blech provided the initial seed capital for CTI, which was incorporated in September 1991. The company is developing therapeutics to interfere with abnormal cellular functions, such as inflammation and cancerous cell growth, by way of a unique second messenger pathway, the Bursten pathway
Glycomed Inc. (NASDAQ:GLYC) announced Wednesday that it has filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a public offering of $50 million in principal amount of convertible subordinated debentures, plus an additional $7.5 million to cover overallotments. The debentures will be due in 2003. The Alameda, Calif., company is developing carbohydrate drugs for treating heart disease, including restenosis and blood clots, and inflammatory diseases such as arthritis
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine and ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp., both in Palo Alto, Calif., have devised a way to prevent and possibly treat multiple sclerosis (MS) in animal models. Amitabh Gaur, Garrison Fathman and their associates reported in last Friday's issue of Science that they can prevent experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the mouse equivalent of MS, in susceptible animals by inducing tolerance to fragments of myelin, the protein that forms a
Immunomedics Inc. announced that it has begun advanced clinical trials in Europe on six of its monoclonal antibody-based diagnostics and one therapeutic product. The imaging agents, which incorporate the radioisotope technetium-99m, include ImmuRAID-CEA. Immunomedics (NASDAQ:IMMU) filed for marketing approval in Europe for ImmuRAID-CEA for detecting colorectal cancer in March. The trials will be conducted in England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Austria, and will test ImmuRAID-CEA
Alamar Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:ALMR) has developed a non- toxic indicator dye called Alamar Blue for use in in vitro testing of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, household cleaners and personal hygiene products. The Sacramento, Calif., company said that the new dye is the first non-toxic test of its kind. Company officials believe that the product could significantly reduce the practice of toxicity testing on animals because it is harmless to humans, cells and the environment. Formed in 1988, Alamar
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) of Washington, D.C., has asked about 100 biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and state regional biotech centers to elaborate on their legal and technical concerns regarding the Convention on Biological Diversity -- article by article. UNEP culled the mailing list for its survey from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers' Association, the Association of Biotechnology Companies, the Industrial Biotechnology Association and the North Carolina
Cortech Inc. announced Tuesday that it has filed an initial public offering of 4 million common stock units at $8 per unit. Montgomery Securities and Hambrecht & Quist Inc. are co- managing the offering. According to the company, the net proceeds will be used to finance clinical trials (approximately $10 million), research and development (about $8 million) and capital expenditures (about $2 million). All of the units consist of one share of common stock and one common stock conversion right
Cytel Corp. announced Tuesday two major restructuring efforts in the focus of its major research program on antigen recognition and in its collaborative research plans with Swiss pharmaceutical giant Sandoz AG. Cytel (NASDAQ:CYTL) will now concentrate on developing therapeutic vaccines, largely through Sequel Therapeutics, its joint venture with The Scripps Research Institute. Gone is the drug CY727 for treating rheumatoid arthritis that Cytel and Sandoz were developing, but the obligations of
The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) space tissue loss (STL) project, the military's top-ranking life sciences project, will send 16 billion cells into space aboard the shuttle Discovery next week to further investigate the effect of microgravity on cellular activity. The mission, due to depart Dec. 2, will take a closer look at effects studied on a flight in March that involved bone and muscle cells, and will extend the scope of those studies to include immune and bone marrow
National Institutes of Health Chief Bernadine Healy's "blue ribbon" review panel on the gp160 AIDS vaccine voted unanimously on Monday to recommend multiproduct trials rather than a trial exclusively devoted to MicroGeneSys Inc.'s gp160 AIDS vaccine. Healy had assembled the panel following Congress' unprecedented vote providing the Army with $20 million for a trial of MicroGeneSys' vaccine. The panel will make recommendations to Congress about how any trials should be conducted. There is
British Bio-technology Group plc (BBL) plans to use InSite Vision Inc.'s drug delivery systems to evaluate BB-94, BBL's collagenase inhibitor, in human eye disease. BBL of Oxford, England, said Monday that it will investigate BB- 94 as a topical treatment for post-corneal surgery. Under the terms of the agreement, InSite will fund and conduct U.S. Phase I trials in mid-1993. If the safety trials are successful, InSite will also fund and manage Phase II trials in patients undergoing corneal