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 The court dismissed the action after the plaintiff, Roger Zurn, decided that the complaint should be withdrawn.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
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
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.