Genta Inc. on Tuesday said it has filed its first investigational new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration, for Phase I/II clinical trials of its antisense compound to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Genta's filing will make it the first antisense compound to enter the clinic, said Thomas H. Adams, chairman and chief executive officer of the San Diego company. "This is a real milestone for Genta and for antisense in general," he said. CML is a life-threatening
Stock of Synergen Corp. climbed for a third consecutive day following positive comments by several analysts and an investment manager in the Sept. 2 issue of Business Week. Synergen stock (NASDAQ:SYGN) closed up $2.50 at $57 on Tuesday, after gaining $5.63 on Monday and $3.88 on Friday. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Receptech Corp. on Tuesday said that it is dropping a project to engineer a soluble interleukin-8 receptor and will focus clinical development on its IL-1 receptor and tumor necrosis factor receptor. "Because of the complex structure of IL-8, it would be difficult to engineer a soluble receptor that would block the action of IL-8," said Jason Rubin, a spokesman for Immunex Corp. Receptech, which was formed by Seattle-based Immunex in 1989 to fund several soluble receptor projects, had hoped to
GenPharm International Inc. on Monday said it has produced the first transgenic dairy calf by introducing a gene for the milk- specific production of human lactoferrin (hLF). GenPharm will begin breeding the 9-month-old bull calf in October or November to produce transgenic offspring that will produce large quantities of hLF in cow milk, said Dr. Jonathan MacQuitty, president and chief executive officer of the Mountain View, Calif., company. GenPharm will harvest the hLF from the milk and sell
Alkermes Inc. on Monday filed its first investigational new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration to begin Phase I clinical trials of RMP-7, a compound designed to enable drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). RMP-7 (receptor-mediated permeability-7) is a synthetic peptide developed by Cambridge, Mass.-based Alkermes that transiently increases the permeability of the BBB. "We think it loosens the tight bonding or matrix between the endothelial cells that line the blood
Applied Immune Sciences Inc. has received a $50,000 Phase I small business innovation research grant from the National Institutes of Health to evaluate use of its Cellector technology to harvest hematopoietic stem cells from the blood of cancer patients. Hematopoietic stem cells are the parent cells for all blood and immune cells. If the procedure works, it might obviate the need for autologous bone marrow transplants in patients undergoing chemotherapy. The transplants involve removing the
Bio-Technology General Corp. has raised $3.1 million in a private placement of 590,471 units of common stock and warrants, the New York company announced Monday. Each unit, priced at $5.25, includes one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase one-half share of common stock at $8 per whole share. The warrants will expire on either Aug. 26, 1995, or when the stock price reaches $13, whichever comes first. BTGC stock (NASDAQ:BTGC) closed at $5.63, down 25 cents, on Monday. After the
Synthetech Inc., a producer of peptide building blocks used by drug companies to make peptide-based drugs, on Monday said it has completed a $1 million private placement of stock and warrants. Synthetech stock (NASDAQ:NZYM) closed at 91 cents, up 6 cents, on Monday. An investment partnership affiliated with Peter B. Cannell & Co. Inc., a New York investment management firm, purchased 1 million shares of restricted common stock at $1 per share. The stock will be tradeable after two years. After
Stock of Immune Response Corp. has picked up $5.38 since biotech analyst Mark Simon of Robertson, Stephens & Co. published a report on Friday reiterating his aggressive "buy" on the San Diego company's stock. The stock (NASDAQ:IMNR) closed up $2.88 on Monday at $22.38. Simon, who has had a strong buy on the stock since April, set a target price of $24 within the next nine to 12 months. Immune Response has a vaccine based on the inactivated core of the HIV virus in Phase II/III clinical trials
Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that it has received a $50,000 Phase I small business innovation research grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to support development of an antisense compound targeted at human papilloma virus (HPV). Genital warts caused by the virus can lead to cervical cancer. Isis has targeted a specific gene product of HPV that the company believes is responsible both for viral replication and latency, said Christopher Mirabelli, senior
The potential development of inexpensive, low-tech, new treatments for diseases like cystic fibrosis won't preclude the use of biotechnology products, according to CF experts. But gene therapy might. A report in last week's New England Journal of Medicine holds the promise of a cheap new treatment for CF. Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, showed that the nucleotides ATP and UTP can stimulate chloride secretion independently of the ion pathway that is damaged in the
Microprobe Corp., a privately held biomedical company based in Bothell, Wash., has acquired Source Scientific Systems Inc., a manufacturer of automated medical diagnostic equipment, from Quixote Corp. The merged companies will operate under the MicroProbe name, with the headquarters relocated to Source's Garden Grove, Calif., location. Research and development will continue at the Bothell facility. As part of the agreement, Quixote and Microprobe's principal investors, led by Olympic Venture
Cambridge Biotech Corp. on Friday said it has filed for a secondary offering of 3 million shares of common stock. Sutro & Co. is underwriting the offering. Stock of the Worcester, Mass., company (NASDAQ:CBCX) closed Friday at $7.25, down 50 cents. Proceeds will be used to fund possible acquisitions and joint ventures, and to expand U.S. and European operations. Cambridge Biotech is developing products to detect, prevent and treat infectious diseases. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All
REPLIGEN NAMES VP OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Repligen Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., has appointed Howard L. Levine, Ph.D., to the new position of vice president of product development. Levine had been director of the pilot plant at Xoma Corp., where he was responsible for the scale-up and production of E5. Repligen (NASDAQ:RGEN) develops and manufactures health care biochemical products, primarily in the areas of AIDS, cancer and inflammation. In addition, Michael Nemzek has joined the company as vice
Stock of Boulder, Colo.-based Synergen Corp. closed up $3.88 on Friday at $48.88 after positive comments by several analysts and an investment manager in the Sept. 2 issue of Business Week. Investment manager Wayne Greene, president of American Investors Growth Fund, characterized Synergen as "the next Amgen." Greene, who has been buying Synergen stock (NASDAQ:SYGN), said the company had "the best batch of important biopharmaceuticals that will hit the market" in the mid-1990s. Analysts Warren
Israeli scientists have found the three-dimensional structure of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), an enzyme targeted by therapies for glaucoma, myasthenia gravis and possibly Alzheimer's disease, and by drugs to counteract nerve gas. Writing in today's issue of the journal Science, researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science showed that the active site of the enzyme, where the nerve signaller acetylcholine is split in two, lies near the bottom of a deep cleft in the enzyme molecule. Primarily
American Biogenetic Sciences Inc. of Notre Dame, Ind., said Thursday that it has filed for a patent covering a method of diagnosing Alzheimer's disease using monoclonal antibodies. The method involves the detection of an undisclosed substance that the company said is normally present in the brain in small amounts that increase substantially with the onset of Alzheimer's. The diagnostic blood test will permit screening of large populations and facilitate early treatment, said Alfred Roach, ABS
Scientists have cloned the gene in tomatoes that forms ethylene, the fruit-ripening regulator whose enzyme has previously proved recalcitrant to purification, according to the most recent edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers from the University of Nottingham in England and French collaborators at ENSA Toulouse generated a cDNA that confers ethylene-forming activity to yeast. The cloned gene directs synthesis of ethylene in transgenic plants. Previous
BioCarb Inc. has been sold for an undisclosed amount to Howard Krivan, its former vice president of research and development. The Gaithersburg, Md., company, which had been a subsidiary of BioCarb AB of Sweden, has been renamed MicroCarb Inc., with Krivan as its president. MicroCarb, with total assets of $3.3 million, is refocusing its efforts away from cancer therapeutics and toward diagnostics based on its cell adhesion receptor technology. This technology can determine why and how different
ProCyte Corp. has reported that it is meeting with multinational pharmaceutical companies to discuss strategic partnerships. The Kirkland, Wash., company (NASDAQ:PRCY) is developing products to accelerate wound healing and tissue repair, and to promote hair growth. In April, ProCyte and Schering-Plough Corp. terminated a 1989 agreement to develop Procyte's Iamin compound for wound healing following disappointing Phase II topical clinical studies of patients with stasis ulcers and diabetic
Genta Inc. on Tuesday said it has filed its first investigational new drug application with the Food and Drug Administration, for Phase I/II clinical trials of its antisense compound to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Genta's filing will make it the first antisense compound to enter the clinic, said Thomas H. Adams, chairman and chief executive officer of the San Diego company. "This is a real milestone for Genta and for antisense in general," he said. CML is a life-threatening