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
InnoVet Inc. has completed its previously announced acquisition of Brooks Feeds Inc. for an undisclosed amount of cash and stock, InnoVet said Thursday. Brooks, an animal specialty nutrition company based in Swanton, Vt., had $10 million in 1991 sales. InnoVet expects $15 million to $18 million in 1992 revenues from Brooks, High Springs Milling Co., another animal nutrition company acquired by InnoVet last year, and sales of its own products. InnoVet (NASDAQ:IVET) expects the acquisitions to
Despite widely held perceptions that biotech stocks have drifted down as a group this year, much of the fallout has been focused on top-tier stocks, with many smaller-cap companies sustaining gains made last year. The top-tier biotech stocks remain an average of 16 percent below their Dec. 31 close, despite getting an upward bounce on Wednesday. Of the nine stocks in the group -- Amgen Inc., Biogen Inc., Centocor Inc., Chiron Corp., Genentech Inc., Genetics Institute Inc., Genzyme Corp
WASHINGTON -- Genzyme Corp. said Sen. Howard Metzenbaum, D-Ohio, used inaccurate information in recent Senate hearings to portray as excessive the company's orphan drug sales. At the Jan. 21 hearing of the Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, monopolies and business rights, Metzenbaum said Genzyme and other companies charged "unbelievable" prices for their orphan drugs. He said Genzyme had Ceredase revenues of $120 million on an R&D investment of $54 million. According to a Jan. 23 letter to
Idec Pharmaceuticals Corp. said Wednesday that it plans to expand to a new headquarters site in the La Jolla/San Diego area and bring its entire staff together in the new facility by the end of 1993. The company currently operates from facilities in La Jolla and Mountain View, Calif. The company (NASDAQ:IDPH) said it expects to take a one-time charge of $2 million to $3 million this quarter for human resource-related, moving and miscellaneous expenses. The stock lost 50 cents to $13.25 on
Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. said Wednesday that it has obtained from Pharmaceutical Quality Associates an exclusive worldwide license to diphencyprone, a drug to treat a suspected autoimmune disorder known as alopecia areata. Terms weren't disclosed. Alopecia areata, which affects about 2.6 million Americans, results in partial hair loss. Current treatment involves injection of steroids directly into the scalp and skin. Diphencyprone has been tested on more than 750 patients in pilot studies
Miller Diversified Corp., a commercial cattle feeder and agricultural finance services company, said it has acquired Genetic Engineering Inc. Genetic Engineering of Denver specializes in bovine genetics, technology aimed at improving the quality of cattle reproduction. Under the deal, it will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the La Salle, Colo., company in a swap of common stock and warrants. The price will be determined by the value of the stock when the deal is approved by regulatory
Environmental Remediation Inc. said it has acquired The International Biochemicals Group, previously a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. Terms were not disclosed. ERI, located in Baton Rouge, La., specializes in biotreatment technology for the hazardous and non-hazardous waste industries. IBG, with units in Dublin, Ireland, and London, and a sales organization in Naperville, Ill., develops microbiological products for use in environmental protection and pollution control
The European Community Council of Ministers on Tuesday extended the ban on the use of bovine somatotropin (BST) in the 12-nation European Community through December 1993. The ministers based their decision on an EC Commission report that details potential economic effects of BST on the production and consumption of milk products. The hormone increases milk production in cows. The politics of BST, stymied in the United States primarily by concern about its impact on small dairy farmers, is at
The setbacks for U.S. Bioscience Inc. and MGI Pharma Inc. should neither surprise investors nor be taken as a harbinger for biotech therapeutics, even though most of the highly visible drug flops are yet to come. Instead, analysts predict that biotech drugs will prove to be more approvable than conventional chemical pharmaceuticals. An FDA advisory committee's rejection of U.S. Bioscience's Ethyol chemoprotective on Jan. 31, followed on Monday by MGI's announcement that it was suspending Phase
Telios Pharmaceuticals Inc. said that it has filed for an initial public offering of 3 million shares of common stock with a proposed price of $10 to $12 per share. Telios was founded in 1987 to develop drugs based on the role of the extracellular matrix, a meshwork of proteins and other compounds that surrounds most cells. OcuNex, an adhesion peptide-based drug, is in Phase II trials to treat corneal damage caused by dry eye. The drug stimulates the attachment and growth of epithelial cells
Seragen Inc. said Tuesday that it has filed for an initial public offering of 3 million shares of common stock with a proposed price of $17 and $20 per share. Seragen, which has no corporate partners, is developing drugs based on fusion toxins. Fusion toxins consist of fragments of toxin linked to ligands that target specific cell surface receptors. The company's interleukin-2 fusion toxin is in Phase II trials for cutaneous T cell lymphoma and for severe rheumatoid arthritis. The company has
Collagen Corp. on Tuesday announced that a District Court has dismissed a product liability case brought against the company by a woman who claimed the company's injectable collagen implants caused her to develop an autoimmune disease. The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the company's request for a summary judgment against the plaintiff's claims that collagen implants caused her to develop polymyositis/dermatomyositis. The case was the 14th product liability suit
Calgene Inc. has filed for a secondary offering of 2 million shares of common stock, the Davis, Calif., company said. Calgene hopes to begin marketing in 1993 the first genetically engineered food, a tomato with enhanced shelf life. The tomato is being reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration. The ag biotech company is also developing canola oil products and herbicide-tolerant cotton. Last April, Calgene raised $21 million through an offering of 3.5 million shares at $6 per share. Calgene
MGI Pharma Inc. lost more than half its market value on Monday, closing down $11.63 at $10.75, following the announcement that the company has suspended clinical trials of MGI 136, a chemoprotective agent. The Minneapolis company (NASDAQ:MOGN) said it was immediately halting Phase III trials of MGI 136 because patients receiving the therapy were dropping out at a higher rate than those receiving a placebo, and were losing more weight, according to spokeswoman Lori Weiman. The trial was testing
Biomira Inc. and Sterling Winthrop Inc. on Monday announced a multiyear agreement to develop cancer products incorporating Biomira's monoclonal antibodies. Biomira shares (NASDAQ:BIOMF) rose $1 to $24.88. Under the agreement, Sterling of New York has an exclusive option to license worldwide, excluding Canada, five of Biomira's existing murine antibodies that recognize carbohydrates on the surface of cancer cells. The MAbs are products of Biomira's Active Specific Immunotherapy therapeutic
Alpha 1 Biomedicals Inc. said Monday that it has received a $1 million order for Thymosin alpha 1 from its Italian licensee, Sclavo S.p.A. The order is the Washington, D.C., company's first product sale. Thymosin is a synthetic version of a natural thymic hormone that plays a role in modulating the immune system. Sclavo filed last July for Italian marketing approval of Thymosin to treat several immunodeficiency diseases. It expects a decision by midyear, according to Alpha 1 (NASDAQ:ALBM
ProCyte Corp. for the first time has presented data on the mode of action of the company's Iamin peptide-copper compound in wound healing. According to data presented last week at the Society for Investigational Dermatology Conference in Carmel, Calif., the peptide portion of the compound delivers the copper ion to fibroblast cells and the copper ion activates the fibroblast to produce collagen. Fibroblasts are the cells that make collagen, one of the proteins required for wound healing. "We
Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has entered into a collaboration with Ohio University to isolate, grow and genetically engineer yolk sac stem cells. The technology, which is in very basic research, has potential applications in treating certain cancers and immune system diseases, including use in bone marrow transplants. But human uses are very far off, said Dr. Morris Laster of The Castle Group, which brought Interneuron and the university together. The mammalian embryonic yolk sac stem
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