Genetics Institute Inc. said Monday that it expects to mail to shareholders this week a proxy statement relating to its proposed merger with American Home Products Corp. A special stockholders meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 16 to vote on the merger. The Securities and Exchange Commissions has declared effective the Cambridge, Mass., company's registration statement for the shares that will be issuable upon completion of the merger, under which AHP would purchase 60 percent of GI for $666
While Xoma Corp.'s E5 and Centocor Inc.'s (NASDAQ:CNTO) Centoxin monoclonal antibody treatments for gram-negative sepsis await final U.S. marketing approval and resolution of prolonged patent litigation, other potential treatments for the deadly infection are being developed. Following are three new reports: BPI Protein Xoma scientists were to present new data on a potential treatment for sepsis, bactericidal/permeability increasing protein (BPI), at a meeting Sunday of the American Society of
BioTechnica International Inc. has decided to leave the biotechnology business, announcing on Friday that it has sold its Plant Science Research Inc. subsidiary to DeKalb Genetics Corp. for undisclosed terms. Plant Science of Minnetonka, Minn., has been developing genetically engineered corn and soybeans. In January 1990, BioTechnica announced the first successful transformation of a corn gene into a subsequent generation. BioTechnica has received long-term marketing rights to certain products
Alza Corp. and Marion Merrell Dow Inc. said late Friday that the U.S. District Court in San Francisco indicated it will rule today on a motion by Elan Corp. plc and American Cyanamid Co. for a preliminary injunction to block the sale of Nicoderm transdermal nicotine patch. Elan of Athlone, Ireland, and Cyanamid last month sued Alza and MMD for allegedly infringing U.S. patent No. 4,943,435. The court earlier issued a temporary restraining order to delay the introduction of Nicoderm pending a
Synergen Inc. shares picked up $3 on Friday, closing at $53.50, after the company said it has received Food and Drug Administration approval to begin testing Antril interleukin-1 receptor antagonist in three new indications. The Boulder, Colo., company (NASDAQ:SYGN) plans to begin Phase I/II clinical trials in asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and graft-vs.-host disease within the next few weeks. Antril is being tested in four other indications. Phase II trials in sepsis have been completed
William J. Foran has been named president and chief executive officer of Quadra Logic Technologies Inc. He was previously president and CEO of Cyanamid Canada Inc. Quadra Logic (NASDAQ:QLTIF) of Vancouver, British Columbia, is developing drugs that are activated by light. Biogen Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., said John W. Catterall has resigned as vice president and treasurer. No replacement was named. Biogen (NASDAQ:BGEN) is a broad-based biopharmaceutical company. Arris Pharmaceutical Corp. of
WASHINGTON -- Federally supported biotechnology-related research is a candidate for a "presidential initiative" in President Bush's fiscal year 1993 budget, which he will present to Congress on Feb. 4. If the Bush administration launches a biotechnology initiative, it will commit the government to increased funding and better coordination of federal biotechnology research activities, said Ralph Brescia, a senior policy analyst for the Federal Coordinating Council on Science, Engineering and
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., the victim of an increasingly selective public offerings market, said Thursday that it sold 1 million shares of common stock at $12.50 per share, half the number of shares it had proposed to sell. "Investors only want to buy stocks of companies in human clinical trials, and they're not in clinicals," said Larry Bloom, an analyst at SoundView Financial. Isis has hit weak markets twice this year. In May, the Carlsbad, Calif., antisense company raised $25 million in an
American Biogenetic Sciences Inc. said Thursday that it has received a notice of allowance for a U.S. patent on its monoclonal antibody for imaging blood clots. The Notre Dame, Ind., company's MH-1 is a murine monoclonal antibody fragment linked to technetium. It targets the cross- linked fibrin component of blood clots. Phase I trials are scheduled to begin in February or March. ABS is also looking at MH-1 as a vehicle to deliver clot- dissolving drugs to the clot. That research is in in
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. has filed a document in Delaware Chancery Court that Cetus Corp. and Chiron Corp. on Thursday said will permit their merger to proceed. Eastman Kodak Co. filed suit in August seeking to enjoin the sale of Cetus' polymerase chain reaction technology to Roche for $300 million as part of the Cetus-Chiron deal. On Monday the court denied Kodak's motion for a preliminary injunction on the sale on the condition that Roche agree to be bound by the decision of a pending
Cytogen Corp. has won marketing approval in Denmark for its monoclonal antibody-based cancer imaging agent for colorectal cancer. The Princeton, N.J., company previously had received approvals in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. OncoScint CR103 will be sold in Europe through EuroCetus, Cytogen's exclusive marketing partner. Cytogen stock (NASDAQ:CYTO) closed down 13 cents at $15.63. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Shares of MGI Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ:MOGN) rose 26 percent on Thursday, up $3.38 to $16.13, probably as a result of the recent upswing in competitor U.S. Bioscience Inc.'s stock, MGI spokeswoman Lori Weiman told BioWorld. U.S. Bioscience shares (AMEX:UBS) had risen 97 percent since the company's Nov. 19 announcement that its Ethyol product will be reviewed by a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee by Jan. 31. Ethyol protects normal tissue from the effects of chemotherapy. Stock of the
Amgen Inc. on Thursday said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has decided in favor of the Thousand Oaks, Calif., company's patents on erythropoietin in three instances in which Genetics Institute Inc. had also filed patents. The three interferences included the process of producing human recombinant EPO, the EPO product itself and the previously issued patent that had been awarded to Amgen's Dr. Fu-Kuen Lin, which in-cluded the DNA, vectors and host cells required to produce EPO. Amgen now
Stock of Enzo Biochem Inc. soared on Wednesday after the company said its Enzo Diagnostics Inc. subsidiary has begun marketing to the research community a test for direct detection of the AIDS virus. The Farmingdale, N.Y., company (AMEX:ENZ), which has been in default on its bonds and was considering entering a prepackaged Chapter 11 settlement with bondholders, jumped $4.50 to close at $5.63. Enzo spokeswoman Carol Dempster told BioWorld that the company intends to seek approval to market the
U.S. Bioscience Inc. shares jumped $9.25 to $78.25 on Wednesday after two analysts repeated "buys" on the stock, citing a study on the company's Ethyol product that is to be presented at a conference next week. The West Conshohocken, Pa., company's shares (AMEX:UBS) gained 58.4 percent in three days last month after it announced that the Food and Drug Administration would review Ethyol by Jan. 31. Ethyol protects normal tissue from the effects of chemotherapy. Data from a pilot study of 12
WASHINGTON -- A U.S. Department of Agriculture advisory committee voted 11-2 on Wednesday to approve a final version of guidelines for researchers who conduct field studies with genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The guidelines of USDA's Agricultural Biotechnology Research Advisory Committee (ABRAC) are patterned after National Institutes of Health guidelines on recombinant research and apply to federally funded research. They provide a road map for researchers to assess the level of
Alza Corp. and Marion Merrell Dow Inc. said Wednesday that a U.S. District Court in New Jersey denied a request by Ciba-Geigy Corp. for a temporary restraining order to prevent sales of Alza's Nicoderm transdermal nicotine patch. The court set a Dec. 23 hearing date to act on Ciba-Geigy's motion for a preliminary injunction against Palo Alto, Calif.- based Alza and its marketing partner, MMD of Kansas City, Mo. Nicoderm received Food and Drug Administration marketing approval on Nov. 8. Ciba
Nova Pharmaceutical Corp. has filed for a public offering of 3.4 million shares of common stock, of which 3 million newly issued shares will be offered by the company and 400,000 shares will be offered by stockholders. If the offering is completed, Nova will have 30.9 million shares outstanding. The selling stockholders are SKB Properties, an affiliate of SmithKline Beecham plc, and Marion Merrell Dow Inc. Baltimore-based Nova is developing drug delivery systems and drugs to treat inflammation
Ecogen Inc. and ChemLawn Services Corp., a subsidiary of Ecolab Inc., said Wednesday that a proprietary Bacillus thuringiensis strain isolated by Ecogen has shown significant activity against lawn and ornamental plant pests. In greenhouse tests by ChemLawn, the Bt caused up to 90 percent mortality in Japanese beetles and up to 70 percent mortality in northern masked chafer grubs. In North America, more than $50 million is spent annually to control these pests on professional turf alone
Applied Microbiology Inc. said that it has granted Babson Brothers, its strategic partner, an exclusive license to market Consept bovine teat dip in Mexico, and non-exclusive licenses for Latin America, Switzerland, Korea and Taiwan. Consept is a preventative for bovine mastitis based on Applied's Ambicin bactericide. According to the New York company, bovine mastitis results in lost milk production of $35 billion annually worldwide. Babson of Naperville, Ill., said it will sell about 120,000
Genetics Institute Inc. said Monday that it expects to mail to shareholders this week a proxy statement relating to its proposed merger with American Home Products Corp. A special stockholders meeting has been scheduled for Jan. 16 to vote on the merger. The Securities and Exchange Commissions has declared effective the Cambridge, Mass., company's registration statement for the shares that will be issuable upon completion of the merger, under which AHP would purchase 60 percent of GI for $666