Genzyme Corp. said Friday that it has privately placed $100 million principal amount of 6.75 percent convertible subordinated notes due in 2001. The notes are immediately convertible by holders into common stock at $52.875 per share. The stock (NASDAQ:GENZ) was unchanged Friday at $44.75. Cambridge, Mass.-based Genzyme has the right to call the notes after Oct. 1, 1993, if the market price of common stock averages 150 percent of the conversion price for a specified period. After Oct. 1, 1994
Bio-Technology General Corp. has initiated a Phase I clinical study of BioTropin, its recombinant human growth hormone, in elderly patients hospitalized with hip fracture. The New York company said Friday that hGH supplementation may enhance protein synthesis in these patients and prevent wasting (loss of lean body mass), thereby improving recoveries and shortening hospital stays. Up to 20 percent of hip fracture patients die within the first year following injury. The company said the trauma
Gerard J. McGarrity, Ph.D., has accepted the position of vice president and director of development at Genetic Therapy Inc. McGarrity had been president of Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, N.J. He has also been chairman of the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee of the National Institutes of Health since 1987. Genetic Therapy (NASDAQ:GTII) of Gaithersburg, Md., is developing delivery systems for human gene therapy. ProCyte Corp. of Kirkland, Wash., has elected Jules Blake, Ph.D
IN VITRO CANCER TESTS This is another profile of a private biotech company that presented itself last week to venture capitalists attending the Mid-Atlantic Venture Fair '91 in Baltimore. ChekTec Corp. The Baltimore company is developing a series of proprietary in vitro diagnostic products for breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder and stomach cancers based on Onco-antigen 519 (OA- 519) and proliferation associated (PAN) protein technology. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has
Alfacell Corp. said Friday that it will expand its Phase II clinical trials of Onconase to include treatment of cancer patients with malignant mesothelioma, a lung cancer associated with asbestos exposure, and to urothelial carcinoma, a form of bladder cancer. The company is already conducting Phase II trials of Onconase in patients with solid tumors. Phase I/II trials are under way in pancreatic cancer patients. Those trials combine Onconase with Tamoxifen, a drug used to treat breast cancer
Cel-Sci Corp. said Friday that it has closed a $1.275 million private placement of common stock to institutions and private individuals. The company sold 1.275 million shares at $1 per share. Cel-Sci stock (NASDAQ:CELI) closed at $2 on Friday, down 3 cents. Geert Kersten, Cel-Sci's vice president of operations, said the company also has increased the amount it hopes to raise in a previously announced unit offering from $5 million to between $9 million and $10 million. The company will offer 900
Stephen Evans-Freke, who invented the research and development limited partnerships used by many biotechnology companies to raise funds, will head up a new company formed to exploit the new wave of cell receptor technology. Sugen Inc. will develop small-molecule drugs to treat diabetes and cancer, and blood, neurological and immune disorders. The therapeutics will be based on two classes of cell receptor systems that act as key regulatory mechanisms for cell physiology. Receptor tyrosine
Synergen Inc. on Thursday announced a 3-for-2 stock split, subject to board approval, for shareholders of record as of Oct. 15. The split will take the form of a stock dividend. Stock of Boulder, Colo.-based Synergen (NASDAQ:SYGN) closed at $66.38, up 88 cents, on Thursday. The company's stock climbed 72 percent in the third quarter. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
The effectiveness of an AIDS vaccine appears to depend on its ability to conform to the shape of viral proteins, according to findings by Chiron Corp. scientists. Scientists working to devise AIDS vaccines have found that the antibodies made in response to their test vaccines will not neutralize all strains of the virus, yet human antibodies collected from infected individuals can react to a wide range of viral strains. Researchers had thought that the best immune target to include in a
DNA Plant Technology Corp. said Thursday that it has netted $28.4 million from the sale of 1.2 million shares of convertible exchangeable preferred stock priced at $25 per share. The stock is convertible at any time into common stock at a conversion price of $6.15. DNAP common stock (NASDAQ:DNAP) closed unchanged Thursday at $5.13. Underwriters Lehman Brothers and Vector Securities International Inc. have an option to buy up to 180,000 additional shares to cover overallotments. Cinnaminson, N
Centocor Inc. stock (NASDAQ:CNTO) lost $2.50 on Thursday, closing at $48.75, after Montgomery Securities analyst Brandon Fradd said physicians at a Chicago infectious disease conference gave a chilly reception to the company's Centoxin to treat gram-negative sepsis. Nevertheless, Fradd said, Centoxin could still post sales of $300 million within two years. In addition, the company is likely to launch two or more new products within the next two to three years. Earlier this week, Goldman, Sachs
Cytogen Corp.'s OncoScint CR103, a monoclonal antibody-based colorectal cancer imaging agent, has received its first European marketing approvals in Germany and Luxembourg, the company said Thursday. EuroCetus B.V., which has exclusive European marketing rights, will begin selling the product immediately and expects additional EC country approvals by the end of the year. No pricing information was available. The Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products recommended approval of OncoScint in
Private biotech companies continued to make presentations Thursday to venture capitalists attending the Mid-Atlantic Venture Fair '91 in Baltimore. Highlights from the two-day conference continue today and will continue next week in BioWorld Today. Affinity Biotech Inc. The Boothwyn, Pa., company is developing oil-in-water and water-in-oil microemulsion systems that allow the reformulation of peptide and protein drugs so that they can be taken orally instead of by injection. Affinity plans to
VimRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Stamford, Conn., (NASDAQ:VMRX) said Thursday that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is beginning Phase I clinical trials of VimRxyn hypericin in its AIDS clinical trial unit at New York University Medical Center. In vitro studies of hypericin, a plant derivative of St. John's wort, show it to be effective in preventing the spread of HIV from infected cells to uninfected cells. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
Antisense molecules are showing promise in attacking inflammation in preclinical experiments, according to findings published by scientists at Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. In the Sept. 25 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the company showed that oligonucleotide molecules, constructed to block the genetic message for the inflammation mediator ICAM-1, worked in tissue culture to prevent expression of ICAM-1 on the surface of cells. ICAM-1, an adhesion molecule on the surface of cells
Martek Corp. said it received four small business innovation research grants, totaling more than $1 million, in September from the National Institutes of Health for development of new algal-based products for nutrition and for rational drug design. The Columbia, Md., company cultures microalgae to produce biochemicals and substances for use in food, pharmaceuticals and aquaculture. It was awarded a $437,000 Phase II SBIR grant for research on carbon 13 glycerol. "This is a molecule that is
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee has recommended that all blood establishments institute HIV-2 testing by June 1992. Two HIV-2 blood tests, both manufactured by Genetic Systems Corp., have been approved by the FDA. One test is solely for HIV-2. The FDA approved the company's combined HIV-1/HIV-2 test on Sept.26. The Blood Products advisory committee voted unanimously on Sept. 27 to recommend HIV-2 testing. There are about 2,500 blood establishments in the United States
Research using technology patented by Medizone International Inc. has shown that ozone can inactivate the AIDS virus but does not destroy the hemophilia treatment protein, Factor VIII, in blood products. The New York company is developing its ozone system to preserve important blood proteins while inactivating viruses that have lipid-based coats, such as HIV and the hepatitis and herpes viruses. Company researcher Joseph Latino told BioWorld that Medizone has filed an investigational new drug
Top management from private biotechnology companies are presenting their companies to about 500 venture capitalists and investors at the Mid-Atlantic Venture Fair 1991 in Baltimore. Highlights from Wednesday's presentations and interviews with company executives follow. Cellco Inc. The Kensington, Md., company has developed a therapeutic cell culture system using proprietary artificial capillary technology. The company's scientific founders, Richard Knazek and William Kidwell, developed the
If any proof was needed that the public offering window is still open, Cor Therapeutics Inc. provided it on Tuesday when it announced plans for an offering of about 2 million shares of stock. The proposed offering comes just three months after the South San Francisco, Calif., company raised $15 million in an initial public offering priced at $7.50. Now, with its stock up 117 percent for the quarter at $16.25, Cor (NASDAQ:CORR) could raise another $32 million or so. BioWorld's quarterly stock
Genzyme Corp. said Friday that it has privately placed $100 million principal amount of 6.75 percent convertible subordinated notes due in 2001. The notes are immediately convertible by holders into common stock at $52.875 per share. The stock (NASDAQ:GENZ) was unchanged Friday at $44.75. Cambridge, Mass.-based Genzyme has the right to call the notes after Oct. 1, 1993, if the market price of common stock averages 150 percent of the conversion price for a specified period. After Oct. 1, 1994