Quidel Corp. will begin marketing a rapid immunoassay test to detect antibodies to Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that causes chronic stomach upset and has been associated with recurrent ulcers. San Diego-based Quidel said Tuesday that the test, which uses a small blood sample, is the first in vitro immunoassay for H. pylori approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Existing methods include either cultures derived from stomach biopsies or a breath test after patients drink urea labeled
ProCyte Corp. will have its wound-healing candidate tested in inflammatory bowel disease by a Seattle investigator in a Phase I/II study, the company said Wednesday. The compound to be tested is an enema formulation with a different concentration of Iamin than the formulation now in clinical trials for diabetic ulcers. Tests of Iamin-IB in animals suggest that it fights inflammation and induces growth of epithelial tissue. The investigator for the bowel disease trial has asked not to be
Incstar Corp., which manufactures and distributes immunodiagnostic products, said Wednesday that its earnings for the third quarter ending Sept. 30 will be a lower-than- expected 5 to 6 cents per share. Orwin L. Carter, president and chief executive officer, said sales of Incstar's clinical assays product line had not reached forecasted levels. He said analysts had expected the Stillwater, Minn., company to earn about 9 cents per share. Last year, Incstar's third-quarter income before
SAN FRANCISCO -- Synergen Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jon Saxe predicted Tuesday that the company's Antril interleukin- 1 receptor antagonist will be the second or third product into the market to treat sepsis and septic shock. Saxe's remarks came in response to negative analyst comments about Antril that sent the company's stock tumbling. The stock (NASDAQ:SYGN) lost $7.13 on Monday after Merrill Lynch's Stuart Weisbrod predicted that Antril would be the fifth sepsis product to enter the
SAN FRANCISCO -- Lowell Sears, Amgen Inc.'s chief financial officer, on Tuesday said that based on sales for the first half of 1991, total sales are running at more than $500 million for the full year. The company also told the Montgomery Securities 21st Annual Investment Conference here that its Neupogen granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) had 88 percent of the CSF market based on sales through August. Neupogen recently received Italian marketing approval, and Amgen anticipates
The biotechnology industry is poised for tremendous growth, impelled by a new generation of products reaching the end of the R&D pipeline, and simultaneously is undergoing a consolidation that will result in fewer, larger companies, according to the authors of Ernst & Young's annual report on the biotechnology industry. "Biotech '92: Promise to Reality," released Tuesday, depicts an industry being transformed by a continuous flow of new products. Product sales in the past year reached $4
Crop Genetics International has agreed to acquire Espro Inc., a company that is developing a low-cost process for producing and purifying of a wide range of insect virus products (IVPs), which are used as biological pesticides. The deal has a total value of about $3.9 million. Crop Genetics will exchange 450,000 shares of its common stock (NASDAQ:CROP), which closed up 25 cents on Tuesday at $4.25, to acquire all of Espro's capital stock. In addition, Crop Genetics will pay up to $750,000 in
CellPro Inc. stock jumped $3 to close at $14 in its first day of trading on Tuesday after concluding an initial public offering at $11. The Bothell, Wash., company, which is developing cell separation technology, grossed $33 million in its 3 million- share IPO. The company had proposed to sell 2.25 million shares in the $8 to $11 range. After the offering, CellPro (NASDAQ:CPRO) has 8.3 million shares outstanding. Underwriters Paine Webber Inc. and Smith Barney have an option to buy 450,000
Pharmatec Inc., which is developing a carrier system for delivering drugs across the blood-brain barrier, on Tuesday said it will raise $5.5 million in a private financing with investor David Blech. In exchange for the funds, Pharmatec will issue 3,666,667 units composed of two new shares of common stock and one class A warrant. The warrant will be exercisable at $1.25 for a six-year period to purchase a unit consisting of a share of common and one class B warrant. The class B warrant may be
Deprenyl Animal Health Inc. will be the first company to participate in a program that aims to harmonize the U.S and Canadian review process for new animal drugs. The company (NASDAQ:DAHI), based in Overland Park, Kan., will submit a new animal drug application for the pharmaceutical deprenyl to both countries simultaneously and will have the applications reviewed jointly by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Canadian Health Protection Branch Bureau. In the United States, deprenyl
Genelabs Technologies Inc. on Tuesday said it has begun enrolling patients in Phase II clinical trials of its anti-AIDS drug, GLQ223. The one-year trials are intended to establish efficacy of the drug in HIV-infected patients with CD4 T cell counts between 200 and 500 per cubic millimeter. GLQ223 is a protein-based drug derived from the tuber of the Trichosanthes kirilowii plant. In preclinical studies, GLQ223 blocked HIV expression in acutely infected T cells and chronically infected
Merck & Co. Inc. will pay $1 million over the next two years to prospect for natural sources of new therapeutics in the rain forests of Costa Rica. The agreement between the pharmaceutical giant and Costa Rica's Instituto National de Biodiversidad (INBio) was announced by INBio President Rodrigo Gamez on Sept. 20 at a conference at Cornell University. Cornell biologist Thomas Eisner helped mediate the agreement, in which Merck has pledged to donate part of its profits on any resulting products
Synergen stock plunged $7.13 on Monday to $59.88 following a "sell" recommendation from a Merrill Lynch analyst and cautionary remarks about the entire biotech sector from a Morgan Stanley analyst. Merrill Lynch's Stuart Weisbrod touched off sales of Synergen (NASDAQ:SYGN) when he lowered his rating to sell from "neutral" and put a share value of $30 to $47 on the Boulder, Colo., company, which closed Friday at $67. The market also heard a gloomy prediction for the whole sector from Michael
Genentech Inc. has signed a $14 million agreement with Incyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. to co-develop their candidate for the crowded sepsis market. The compound, called BPI (bactericidal/permeability increasing protein), has been shown to protect animals from lethal doses of endotoxin, which is responsible for the cascade of the often-fatal conditions associated with sepsis. Incyte, a privately held company, has discovered that a protein stored in certain white blood cells binds endotoxins from a
SAN FRANCISCO -- Gensia Pharmaceuticals Inc. in March hopes to complete Phase III clinicals of Arasine to reduce heart attacks associated with coronary artery bypass surgery and to file for U.S. and European marketing approval by the third quarter of 1992. The company also told the Montgomery Securities 21st Annual Investment Conference here that it plans Phase II clinicals in the fourth quarter of this year for Arasine in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery who are at risk of cardiac
Shaman Pharmaceuticals Inc. of San Carlos, Calif., said it has received Food and Drug Administration approval to start human trials of its anti-viral drug, SP-303, derived from a medicinal plant. The drug is the first potential product of the ethnobiology- based company to enter clinical testing. Shaman is acquiring its drug candidates directly from the ecosystems of Latin and South America, paying local communities to harvest the plants. The company plans to donate a percentage of its profits
WASHINGTON -- The deadline has passed for any Federal Trade Commission action that would have blocked or delayed sale of Cetus Corp.'s GeneAmp polymerase chain reaction assets to F. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., the company announced on Monday. The deadline for the FTC review of the acquisition of Cetus by Chiron Corp. is Wednesday, unless the agency requests additional information. The FTC completed its review on Sept. 20 into whether the PCR sale would stifle competition under the Hart-Scott
GenPharm International has obtained exclusive worldwide rights from Harvard University to a new variety of immune- deficient transgenic mice, the company announced Monday. The Mountain View, Calif., company will add the mouse -- deficient in certain components of the immune system -- to its other transgenic mouse, whose immune deficits are complementary. The new mice lack the cell surface proteins coded by the gene complex called major histocompatibility complex (MHC) Type II. In March
The merger deal between Genetics Institute Inc. and American Home Products Corp. looks very similar to the 1990 merger between Genentech Inc. and Roche Holding. But analysts scrutinizing the proposed transaction on Friday generally concluded that Genentech shareholders got a better deal. Genentech (NYSE:GNE) was trading at $21-$22 before the merger, and Roche paid an average price of $31 per share, said analyst Denise Gilbert of Smith Barney. In contrast, at the closing, AHP will pay about
Bio-Technology General Corp. has received marketing approval for its first product, human growth hormone to treat short stature, from the Netherlands, Denmark and Luxembourg, the company announced Friday. SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, BTGC's European licensee, expects to begin sales of hGH under the brand name Eskatrope in early 1992. BTGC of New York will receive 30 percent royalties on sales. BTGC estimates the European market for short stature will be $275 million in 1991. The market
Quidel Corp. will begin marketing a rapid immunoassay test to detect antibodies to Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium that causes chronic stomach upset and has been associated with recurrent ulcers. San Diego-based Quidel said Tuesday that the test, which uses a small blood sample, is the first in vitro immunoassay for H. pylori approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Existing methods include either cultures derived from stomach biopsies or a breath test after patients drink urea labeled