International Murex Corp. of Toronto is negotiating to acquire the diagnostics business of The Wellcome Foundation Ltd., the companies announced on Tuesday. Potential terms were not disclosed. The possible acquisition of Wellcome Diagnostics, based in the United Kingdom, is part of Murex's strategy for building a diversified, international diagnostics company. In September, it acquired Amtec Diagnostics International of Houston, maker of blood-typing products. Murex's other operating units
Organogenesis Inc., a developer of human tissue and organ equivalents, has filed for a public offering of 1.25 million shares of common stock. If the offering is completed, the Canton, Mass., company will have about 8 million shares outstanding. The offering will be managed by Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co. Inc. Overallotment options haven't been determined. The stock (AMEX:ORG) closed unchanged Tuesday at $19.88. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Genetic Therapy Inc. has signed a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with the National Institutes of Health to research the development of gene therapy treatments for pulmonary diseases such as cystic fibrosis and hereditary emphysema. Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, head of the pulmonary branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) will serve as principal investigator. Crystal and his colleagues have adapted adenovirus vectors to express in rats the protein that is
Sphinx Pharmaceuticals Corp. said Monday that it has established a four-year collaborative partnership with Eli Lilly and Co. to discover and develop a novel class of drugs to treat cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory disorders and central nervous system diseases. The compounds, based on Sphinx's lipid second messenger program, will focus on controlling a family of enzymes called protein kinase C (PKC), which play a key role in regulating cellular functions such as cell proliferation
Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Jeffrey Casdin said publicly on Monday what many biotech stock watchers have been thinking: "Time to take some chips off the table." according to Casdin, "We now see unmistakable signs of a blow-off coming in the biotech sector." With hot money now concentrating in biotech, some event will occur that "will bring the festivities to an end." Casdin's remarks follow Alteon Inc.'s spectacular showing last Friday, when the company's stock rose from its Thursday initial
Genta Inc. on Monday confirmed that it has done a "quiet" filing for an initial public offering of up to 2.5 million shares of common stock. The developer of antisense products declined to reveal further details. Genta raised $8.4 million in a venture financing round in August, bringing to $17 million the total raised since its founding in 1989. The San Diego-based company in August filed to begin Phase I/II clinical trials of its antisense compound to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia. If
Immune Response Corp. announced Monday that it will file an investigational new drug application to test a therapeutic vaccine for rheumatoid arthritis by the end of the year, with a similar approach to multiple sclerosis and diabetes to follow. The company's stock (NASDAQ:IMNR), which has been trading heavily on the basis of its AIDS therapeutic vaccine, closed Monday at $57.25, down $2.25. At a Montgomery Securities biotech conference in New York, the company said it is completing animal
Carrington Laboratories Inc. on Monday said it has received an early approval to market its acemannan immune stimulant to treat a cancer in dogs and cats. The company also said it plans to expand clinical trials of the drug in humans. Acemannan is a macrophage stimulant, which prods the disease-fighting white blood cells to release the cytokines IL- 1 and tumor necrosis factor. The patented drug is a stable form of an agent isolated from the aloe vera plant. The marketing go-ahead for pets is
Genzyme Corp. has acquired the diagnostic enzyme products business of Genencor International Inc. for cash "in excess of $8 million," according to Genzyme spokeswoman Donna LaVoie. The acquisition allows privately held Genencor to focus on its high-grade, high-volume industrial enzymes for applications such as cleaning and the fruit juice industry, said Carole Cobb, director of diagnostics for Genencor, headquartered in Rochester, N.Y. Genzyme acquired Genencor's product line and inventory of
ImmunoGen Inc. announced Monday that it has filed for a 2 million-share secondary offering of common stock, making it one of a growing number of biotech companies going back to the public offerings well for a second time in 1991. In March, the Cambridge, Mass., company raised $38 million by selling 2 million shares priced at $19 per share. ImmunoGen plans two Phase III trials in 1992 of Oncolysin B, its Anti-B4 monoclonal antibody linked to blocked ricin, a plant toxin. A trial slated to begin
Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received Food and Drug Administration approval to begin a Phase I clinical trial of its rationally designed drug for topical treatment of psoriasis, the company announced on Monday. The drug, designated AG-85, halts the abnormal proliferation of skin cells that characterizes psoriasis by inactivating the enzyme thymidylate synthase. TS is a building block of DNA that is responsible for the rapid proliferation of cells. The National Psoriasis Foundation
Applied Bioscience International Inc. has acquired Pharmaco Dynamics Research Inc. for 2.9 million shares of APBI common stock. The transfer of APBI stock is likely to take place after the end of this year, according to Marvin Hendrix, APBI controller. The stock (NASDAQ:APBI) closed Monday at $33.25, down 50 cents. APBI of East Millstone, N.J., provides biological safety testing, clinical and agrochemical research and development, and environmental risk assessment. Pharmaco is a privately held
Ecogen Inc. will receive a $7 million equity investment as part of an agreement for the marketing and distribution of its Cutlass Bt, Condor Bt and Foil Bt bioinsecticides in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore through an industrial group led by Lawrence Quah Gin Khoon. Under the agreement, which is subject to government approval in Malaysia, Quah will invest $7 million in Ecogen common stock (NASDAQ:EECN), which closed Monday at $12.50, down 25 cents. Ecogen has about 15 million shares
Somatix Therapy Corp. has obtained options for exclusive worldwide licenses to two U.S. patents on catheters owned by Trimedyne Inc. With the catheters, insulin-producing cells can be inserted into the abdomens of diabetics and tested to see if they provide sufficient insulin to eliminate the need for injections. Somatix (NASDAQ:SOMA) is conducting preliminary animal studies focused on implanting islet cells into the abdomens of animals. However, the Alameda, Calif., company is focused on gene
Alteon Inc., which late last Thursday priced its initial public offering at $15, is the latest beneficiary of the biotech stock feeding frenzy. The stock opened on Friday at $26.50 and hit a high of $30.25 before closing at $28.75 on a volume of 4.7 million shares. The offering was one of the year's larger IPOs, raising $45 million on the sale of 3 million shares. The company had originally proposed to sell 2.5 million shares priced between $12 and $14 per share. Alteon is developing
Immune Response Corp. shares fell $7.25 to $52 on Friday before recovering to close at $59.50, up 25 cents, after Kidder, Peabody analyst Robert Kupor said a rival AIDS vaccine may gain quicker Food and Drug Administration approval. The stock (NASDAQ:IMNR) had jumped $19.50 since Oct. 28, based on favorable reports about its AIDS therapeutic vaccine. Privately held MicroGeneSys Inc. of Meriden, Conn., and American Home Products Corp. (NYSE:AHP) are developing a vaccine using a genetically
Injection of a naked gene construct based on a section of the AIDS virus has induced both an antibody response and activation of killer T cells in mice, scientists from Vical Inc. were to report today at an AIDS conference in San Diego. However, the particular plasmid, which was developed by Chiron Corp., was only used to validate Vical's technology, and Vical does not intend to develop it as an AIDS therapeutic, company officers told BioWorld. The results do show that injections into muscle
Centocor Inc. has filed a post-trial motion in the patent infringement suit it recently lost to Xoma Corp., asking the court to reverse at least some of the jury's verdict, a Xoma spokeswoman said on Friday. Centocor spokesman Richard Koenig declined to elaborate, but said the company may also ask U.S. District Court Judge Robert H. Schnacke to order a new trial. On Oct. 28, a San Francisco jury found that Centocor (NASDAQ:CNTO) infringed the patent covering Berkeley, Calif.- based Xoma's E5
Biogen Inc. said Friday that it has filed for an offering of 2 million shares of common stock. If the offering is completed, Biogen will have 30 million shares outstanding. Underwriters Lehman Brothers, Hambrecht & Quist Inc. and Merrill Lynch and Co. have a 300,000-share overallotment option. Biogen stock (NASDAQ:BGEN) closed down $1.50 at $42.25. The Cambridge, Mass., company's revenues are generated from worldwide sales by licensees of five products, including alpha interferon and vaccines
Bio-Technology General Corp. said Friday that it has begun Phase I clinical trials of BioTropin recombinant human growth hormone in patients with HIV. The trials will examine the potential of BioTropin to reverse or slow down wasting in HIV- infected and AIDS patients. The New York company is also conducting two additional Phase I trials of BioTropin to prevent wasting, one in cancer patients and a second in elderly patients hospitalized with hip fracture and suffering from muscle atrophy. In
International Murex Corp. of Toronto is negotiating to acquire the diagnostics business of The Wellcome Foundation Ltd., the companies announced on Tuesday. Potential terms were not disclosed. The possible acquisition of Wellcome Diagnostics, based in the United Kingdom, is part of Murex's strategy for building a diversified, international diagnostics company. In September, it acquired Amtec Diagnostics International of Houston, maker of blood-typing products. Murex's other operating units