Ecogen Inc. has signed a worldwide gene licensing agreement with Monsanto Co. to develop and market seeds containing Ecogen's insecticidal genes derived from Bacillus thuringiensis. The BT bacteria genes produce a protein toxic to insects, but harmless to mammals. Monsanto of St. Louis will use the genes to develop cotton, potatoes, tomatoes and corn resistant to caterpillars and beetles. Langhorne, Pa.-based Ecogen will receive license fees based on milestones as well as royalties on sales
Immunomedics Inc. has begun European trials of one of its monoclonal antibody contrast agents to detect infection, and has won an orphan product grant to study two more of its imaging agents to detect malignancies. The infection imaging agent, ImmuRAID-MN3, expands the company's product line beyond the cancer field. As with its other imaging agents, a monoclonal antibody is linked to a common contrast agent, technetium-99m, to target granulocytes that congregate at infection sites. Preliminary
ImmuCell Corp. (NASDAQ:ICCC) of Portland, Maine, has appointed Thomas Hatch, formerly manager of commercial development, to president and chief executive officer. He replaces Thomas Adelman, who was appointed chairman. Michael F. Brigham, formerly director of finance and administration, was named chief financial officer of the maker of human and bovine diagnostics. George R. Evanega, Ph.D., was named president and chief operating officer of Oncor Inc. Evanega was corporate vice president, chief
NeoRx Corp. has repurchased $7 million principal amount of its $8.2 million par value 9.75 percent convertible subordinated debentures in exchange for 1.74 million shares of common stock. The Seattle company, a developer of monoclonal antibody- based products to treat and detect cancer, has 18.7 million shares outstanding after the transaction. The repurchase will reduce NeoRx's annual interest payments by $680,000, leaving it with $1.2 million principal amount of debentures outstanding and
Cephalon Inc. said Friday that it has received orphan drug designation from the Food and Drug Administration for Myotrophin to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Myotrophin recombinant IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor) is a protein that stimulates the growth and prolongs the life of motor neurons. ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive nervous system disorder affecting about 30,000 people in the United States. There is no known cause or cure. The West Chester, Pa., company recently
Shares of Amgen Inc. fell $1.88 to $61.13 on Thursday after Kidder, Peabody & Co. analyst Robert Kupor lowered his rating on the company to a "hold" from a "buy." Kupor told BioWorld the rating was not an implied "sell" on the Thousand Oaks, Calif., company (NASDAQ:AMGN). "People have a fairly tight consensus on Amgen projections for the next few years, and this leads to the stock being fairly stable," he said. "It would take a significant new event to make it go up from here." Kupor said
Oxford Partners and Fairfield Venture Partners said Thursday that they plan to raise $50 million for a new fund, Oxford Bioscience Partners. The new fund will focus on health care and bioscience venture investments, annually funding about four or five companies from early to late stages of development. Individual companies would receive between $1 million and $5 million, said Edmund Olivier, a partner at Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Fairfield. Olivier told BioWorld that fund-raising efforts will
A low-tech approach to stimulating the immune system appears to work well against bladder cancers, according to findings by scientists from the Southwest Oncology Group. Of 285 patients with various types of recurrent bladder cancer, the probability of being cancer-free after five years was 37 percent after immunotherapy with bacille Calmette- Guerin (BCG), a weakened cow bacterium developed in the 1920s as a vaccine against tuberculosis. By comparison, the probability was 17 percent after a
ImClone Systems Inc. on Thursday filed for an initial public offering of 2 million shares of common stock with a proposed price range of $13 to $15 per share. If the offering is completed, ImClone would have 7.1 million shares outstanding. ImClone is developing monoclonal anti-idiotype antibodies to treat cancers. Anti-ids mimic antigens by binding to the same antibody sites. The company is developing recombinant proteins to treat blood and immune system disorders and inflammatory diseases. In
Immunex Corp. on Thursday reported a second consecutive quarter of profits, posting net income of $883,000, or 5 cents per share, on revenues of $17.4 million for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. In the comparable 1990 quarter, Immunex lost $4.5 million, or 44 cents a share, on revenues of $6.2 million. Net product sales, virtually all of which were from granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor, totaled $11.7 million. Of that amount, $9.5 million was from direct sales of Leukine GM
The National Cancer Institute has awarded a $1.27 million grant to a five-member consortium to study large-scale taxol production using suspension cell tissue culture. Consortium members are Phyton Catalytic Inc., Hauser Chemical Research Inc., Cornell University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service and Colorado State University. Hauser (NASDAQ:HAUS) of Boulder, Colo., has a $56 million, three-year agreement to produce taxol from yew tree bark for Bristol-Myers
Ribi ImmunoChem Research Inc. on Thursday said it has raised $473,000 through the exercise of warrants for about 95,000 shares of stock at $5 per share by S.R. One Ltd. S.R. One, the venture capital subsidiary of SmithKline Beecham, received the warrants in a June 1990 private placement. S.R. One paid $1 million for about 284,000 shares of stock and warrants to purchase 284,000 shares at $5 a share. The exercise of one-third of the warrants is a result of Ribi's stock reaching an average price
Selected biotechnology-related patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Oct. 22. U.S. Class: 424--4.1 Patent Number: 5,059,413 Assignee: Xoma Corp. Claims/Description: 23 claims for the use of a radiolabeled immunotoxin to determine whether the protein reaches its site of action. U.S. Class: 424--417 Patent Number: 5,059,421 Assignee: The Liposome Co.Inc. Claims/Description: 68 claims for a targeted liposome complex consisting of a protein bound to a liposome. U.S. Class: 424
Ivax Corp.'s plans to acquire Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc., announced in September, have been canceled because it could not meet the accounting rules contemplated by the deal. The transaction, originally valued at about $47 million, was to involve Ivax's acquisition of the 13.4 million outstanding shares of Noven stock for $3.50 a share, payable in shares of Ivax common stock. Ivax (AMEX:IVX) closed Thursday at $35.13, down $1.13, while Noven (NASDAQ:NOVN) closed at $2.37, up 13 cents. Both are
Repligen Corp. said Wednesday that its decision to reacquire its anti-HIV monoclonal antibodies from Merck & Co. reflected differences of "scope" between the two companies' development priorities. Repligen stock (NASDAQ:RGEN) on Wednesday reeled from the news, dropping $8.75 to close at $20.25. However, Repligen did not give back all of the $11.63 it had gained since Oct. 18, when Merck announced at a scientific meeting that a chimpanzee had been protected against AIDS infection by one of
Gynex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received Food and Drug Administration approval to begin supplying the steroid oxandrolone for treating delayed growth in boys while the drug is still in Phase III clinical testing for that use. Under the treatment investigational new drug (IND) approval, Gynex can now supply the drug on a physician's order and charge for the cost of production, distribution and research, in addition to its use in the clinical trial at no charge. A year's therapy of Oxandrin
SAN FRANCISCO -- Jury deliberations began late Wednesday here in the trial of Xoma Corp.'s patent infringement suit against Centocor Inc. involving their competing antibody products for treatment of gram-negative sepsis. The jury must decide whether Centocor Inc. has proved its contention that claim 7 of Xoma's patent is invalid by clear and convincing evidence -- evidence that produces a firm belief or conviction that a fact is true, according to instructions issued at the close of the trial
Vestar Inc. announced on Wednesday its first profitable quarter, based on sales of its flagship product, AmBisome. AmBisome is an injectable, liposome-based form of amphotericin B, a broad spectrum anti-infective to treat potentially fatal systemic fungal infections. For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, Vestar of San Dimas, Calif., had profits of 500,000, or 3 cents a share, on revenues of $4.6 million. Product revenues were $4.2 million. For the comparable 1990 quarter, Vestar had a net loss
Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Wednesday said it has completed a public offering of 2 million shares at $19.25 per share. Of those shares, 60,000 were sold by a selling shareholder and 1.94 million were issued by the La Jolla, Calif., company. Agouron grossed $37.3 million. After the offering, the maker of drugs based on the molecular structures of proteins has 6.8 million shares outstanding. Underwriters PaineWebber Inc., Smith Barney, Harris Upham & Co. Inc. and Hambrecht & Quist Inc. have
Interferon Sciences Inc. has netted $8.5 million through a public offering of 2 million shares priced at $5 per share, the New Brunswick, N.J., company said Wednesday. Interferon shares (NASDAQ:IFSC) closed at $7, up $1.50. Underwriter Commonwealth Associates has an option to buy an additional 300,000 share overallotment. Interferon had announced in June that it would offer 1 million shares of convertible preferred stock at $10 per share. Interferon is developing alpha interferon-based
Ecogen Inc. has signed a worldwide gene licensing agreement with Monsanto Co. to develop and market seeds containing Ecogen's insecticidal genes derived from Bacillus thuringiensis. The BT bacteria genes produce a protein toxic to insects, but harmless to mammals. Monsanto of St. Louis will use the genes to develop cotton, potatoes, tomatoes and corn resistant to caterpillars and beetles. Langhorne, Pa.-based Ecogen will receive license fees based on milestones as well as royalties on sales