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
In separate announcements late Tuesday, Repligen Corp. said it is dissolving its collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc. to develop an anti-infective monoclonal antibody against AIDS, and Merck said it has reached a $13 million agreement to develop similar therapeutics with MedImmune Inc. Repligen will reacquire from Merck its rights to the monoclonals and will continue the program on its own from its cash reserves. Repligen of Cambridge, Mass., said details of the reacquisition have not been
WASHINGTON -- The National Institutes of Health's application for a patent on partially sequenced DNA fragments reflects the increasingly aggressive posture the NIH is taking toward government-derived intellectual property and transferring technology to private industry. NIH has filed a patent application for about 340 partial complementary DNA (cDNA) sequences obtained by Dr. Craig Venter of the Institute for Neurological Diseases and Stroke, and intends to file on an additional 1,500
Hycor Biomedical Inc. on Tuesday said it has received Food and Drug Administration approval to market its Pyloragen Helicobacter pylori tests. H. pylori is a bacterium associated with chronic gastritis and peptic ulcers. It is implicated in gastric cancer. Hycor (NASDAQ:HYBD) said its serological test produces results faster than any other FDA-approved product. In recent months, Whittaker Bioproducts Inc., Enteric Products Inc., Biomerica Inc., Meridian Diagnostics Inc. and Quidel Corp. have
SAN FRANCISCO -- Closing arguments were expected to wind up today in the patent infringement trial in U.S. District Court here between Xoma Corp. and Centocor Inc. over competing antibodies to treat gram-negative sepsis. Jurors are being asked to decide four issues: Has Centocor proved that Xoma's U.S. patent No. 4,918,163 is invalid? Has Xoma proved that Centocor literally infringed Claim 7 of the patent? Has Xoma proved that Centocor infringed Claim 7 under the doctrine of equivalence? Does
MicroCarb Inc. on Tuesday said it has developed a prototype diagnostic receptor-based assay for verocytotoxin-producing bacteria. The Gaithersburg, Md., company said its assay is the first rapid diagnostic for E. coli 0157:H7, as well as for other toxigenic serotypes in humans, animals or foodstuffs. MicroCarb's technology is based on carbohydrates that occur naturally in humans and animals and that are receptors for the attachment of disease-producing bacteria and their toxins. The test
Cel-Sci Corp. Tuesday said it has started a second Phase II study of its BC-IL lymphokine cocktail, in malignant melanoma that has metastasized and has failed to respond to other therapies. The cell culture-derived mixture of lymphokines currently is in Phase II clinicals for head and neck cancer. Malignant melanoma is now the fastest-growing cancer in the United States, according to the company, which cited estimates that one in 90 people will have the disease by the year 2000. (c) 1997
Biomira Inc. announced on Monday a three-year project totaling about $15 million (C$17 million), supported by the Canadian government, to develop radiolabeled monoclonal antibody- based agents for the detection and potential therapy of cancer. The technology will use Biomira's monoclonal antibodies conjugated with radioisotopes developed by Nordion International Inc. to target cancer tissue either for diagnostic imaging or therapeutic attack. "Canadian industry must be competitive, and this
Synergen Inc. stock has climbed $3.75 in the past two sessions, closing Monday at $72, on prospects that its Antril IL-1 receptor antagonist might be used as an anti-bacterial therapy. Researchers at Tufts University reported Friday in Science that interleukin-1 can act as a growth stimulant for disease- causing strains of a common bacteria. The scientists also found that an agent that blocks IL-1 from binding to its cell surface receptor blocked the stimulatory effect of IL-1. The researchers
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