With a few notes of dissent, shareholders of Scios Inc. and Nova Pharmaceutical Inc. separately approved a merger of the two companies Thursday morning. The rechristened Scios Nova Inc. laid out an ambitious strategy for a leaner operation that aims to take at least a half-dozen homegrown drugs into clinical trials by 1995 and usher five others, now in clinical trials, into the market by late in the decade. The company hopes by 1997 to grab an additional $100 million in sales from acquired
Elan Corp. of Athlone, Ireland named Donal J. Geaney president and chief operating officer. He is currently chief financial officer. Geaney, along with Kenneth W.H. McVey and Seamus Mulligan, was also named to the newly created office of the chairman. McVey is executive vice president for business planning and development and Mulligan is executive vice president for pharmaceutical operations worldwide. Sepracor Inc. of Marlborough, Mass., named Gunnar Aberg vice president of research and
Antisense technology has scored its first success in blocking undesired cell growth in live mammals. In today's edition of the journal Nature, molecular hematologist Robert D. Rosenberg of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reports that antisense gene sequences inhibited obstructive buildup of arterial smooth muscle cells in rats and rabbits. "To the best of our knowledge," he writes, "these studies constitute the first reported use of antisense oligonucleotides to inhibit synthesis of a
Cantab Pharmaceuticals and its collaborative partner, Cambridge University, reported at a recent herpes virus workshop promising preclinical results from studies of the company's HSV-1 vaccine. Cantab reported at the17th International Herpes Virus Workshop in Edinburgh, Scotland, early studies showing that a prototype disabled infectious single cycle (DISC) HSV-1 vaccine was 100 times more effective in preventing development of the herpes virus HSV-1 in a mouse model than a conventional killed
Genzyme Corp. said Wednesday that its thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) Thyrogen may enable thyroid cancer patients undergoing periodic diagnostic tests to continue taking replacement hormone without interruption. Thyroid cancer patients who stop thyroid hormone treatment in the weeks prior to diagnostic tests often experience hypothyroidism, which is characterized by weakness, weight gain, constipation, lethargy and depression. Patients are usually advised to stop taking the hormone from two
Biotechnology's biggest corporate merger so far this year is expected to debut later today as Scios-Nova Inc. emerges as the successor to Scios Inc. and Nova Pharmaceutical Corp. Scios' proposed stock acquisition of Baltimore-based Nova goes before shareholders of both companies this morning. They are expected to approve. The meetings should also provide details on the strategy the combined company intends to pursue to unlock the synergies both have claimed as the merger's rationale. Analysts
Immunex Corp. (NASDAQ:IMNX) said Wednesday that its GM- CSF permitted unusually intensive and repeated doses of chemotherapy to cancer patients in a Phase I/II trial at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Immunex stock rose $1.75 a share on volume of 775,000 shares to close at $39.62 on Wednesday. The trial backs up data from a similar study at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, reported in the August issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. That study also found that
British Bio-technology Group PLC will be included in the Financial Times' 500 share index as of this month, the London Stock Exchange announced Friday. The emerging pharmaceutical company is based in Oxford, England, and has a market valuation of $300 million. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Affymax announced Tuesday that it received a U.S. patent giving it broad control over a technology for rapidly producing and testing thousands of chemical analogs on a silica chip of less than a half-inch square. Affymax's Affinity Matrix technology has drawn attention for its potential for sharply stepping up the pace of drug discovery. It is based on an unusual marriage of synthetic chemistry with photolithography, a technology more commonly associated with the process of layering miniature
Genzyme's planned acquisition of Vivigen Inc. is still valued at the $40 million mark set nearly six weeks ago, but it could become a bit more costly in terms of the number of Genzyme Corp. shares that will be given up to acquire the clinical testing company. A definitive agreemeent announced this week for Genzyme's acquisition of Vivigen sets the deal's value at $40 million, but pegs the exchange of Vivigen stock for Genzyme shares on Genzyme's share price in the days before the deal's closing
Bio-Technology General Corp. announced Tuesday it was issued patent No. 5,143,836 directed at plasmid for the production of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD), a naturally occurring enzyme. The patent is one of two issued to New York, N.Y.,-based BTG this year covering SOD. The patent is wider in scope than patent No 5,112,774 the company was issued in May. SOD is produced in body tissues to detoxify oxygen-free radicals (superoxides). Unless these superoxides are neutralized in the body
Applied Immune Sciences Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif., named K. Frank Austen to its board of directors. He is a Harvard Medical School professor and chairman of the department of rheumatology and immunology at The Brigham and Women's Hospital. Therapeutic Antibodies Inc. of Nashville, Tenn., named John S. Cipriano vice president of regulatory affairs and compliance. He was deputy director of the Division of Biological Investigational New Drugs at the Office of Biologics of the FDA. Kenneth W
Selectide Corp. of Tucson, Ariz., said Tuesday it has received a four-year grant from the National Cancer Institute that will provide more than $3.1 million for the development of peptide- based, anti-cancer drugs. The grant establishes a National Cooperative Drug Discovery Group to support the work of scientists from The University of Arizona, New York University Medical School, the Max-Planck Institut Fur Biochemie in Germany, as well as those at Selectide. Commercial applications will be
Even though it is only in the research stage, SangStat Medical Corp.'s strategy to prevent graft tissue rejection kindled interest at the recent Transplantation Society Conference in Paris. Carol Clayberger, a professor in the cardiothoracic surgery department at Stanford University, which collaborates with SangStat, hinted at the peptide's potential. "Our results demonstrate that short synthetic peptides derived from HLA molecules are immunosuppressive in vitro, and may be exploited
ImmuCell Corp. (NASDAQ:ICCC) said the stock purchase agreement with Cambridge Biotech Corp. became effective on Tuesday. Cambridge acquired a 15 percent stake in ImmuCell through a stock purchase and was granted two options that could allow Cambridge an additional interest in ImmuCell later. ImmuCell anticipates it will be allowed a listing on the NASDAQ Small-Cap Market with the equity raised from the transaction. The companies intend to collaborate in the use of passive immunotherapy for
In a paper published in the September issue of Nature Genetics researchers from the Muscular Dystrophy Association report they have discovered a segment of genetic material of generally shorter than normal length in people who have facioscapulohumeral (FSH) muscular dystrophy. The segment is located in the region of chromosone 4 where the defective gene responsible for FSH is known to be located. FSH dystrophy occurs in one in 20,000 people normally during their teens or early 20s. It causes
Gen-Probe Inc. and Molecular Biosystems (NYSE:MB), both of San Diego, Calif., announced Monday they have settled their patent litigation concerning diagnostic test kits using genetic probe technology. In the settlement, Molecular Biosystems' wholly-owned subsidiary Syngene Inc. agreed that Gen-Probe's U.S. patent No. 4,851,330 for targeting ribosomal RNA is valid. Syngene also will discontinue its SNAP mycobacterium diagnostic kits and pay Gen-Probe an undisclosed sum. (c) 1997 American Health
Vicki Sato will join Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., as vice president, chief scientific officer and chairman of the scientific advisory board. Sato had been vice president for research at Biogen Inc. Somatix Therapy Corp. of Alameda, Calif., appointed Ronald J. Mandel as section head for in vivo models in the company's neural diseases program. Mandel was an assistant professor at the University of Illinois. Deprenyl Research Ltd. of Toronto appointed Sen. Stanley Haidasz and
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. is using its novel oligonucleotide- binding technique to target one of the key regulatory RNA regions of HIV. Isis reported in Science its new approach, called pseudo-half- knot formation, and its use in the design of antisense oligonucleotides to target regions of viral or cellular RNA. According to Christopher Mirabelli, Isis' senior vice president, RNA consists of complex secondary structures, such as stems and loops, that are difficult to bind with antisense
Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that it received its first-ever orphan drug designation, covering L-threosine as a proposed treatment for a rare neurological disease. Interneuron of Lexington, Mass., said it aims to start by late 1993 clinical trials of L-threonine to treat familial Spastic Paraparesis, of which there are believed to be more than 5,000 cases in the United States. Symptoms include rigid and spastic movements that affect the ability to walk smoothly. L-threosine is
With a few notes of dissent, shareholders of Scios Inc. and Nova Pharmaceutical Inc. separately approved a merger of the two companies Thursday morning. The rechristened Scios Nova Inc. laid out an ambitious strategy for a leaner operation that aims to take at least a half-dozen homegrown drugs into clinical trials by 1995 and usher five others, now in clinical trials, into the market by late in the decade. The company hopes by 1997 to grab an additional $100 million in sales from acquired