Repligen Corp. has obtained exclusive rights to a broad U.S. patent on antibodies that block inflammation and tissue damage, the company said Monday. The company is developing therapeutics based on antibodies covered by the patent, which was issued to Kabi Pharmacia AB of Sweden, and under another patent licensed from the University of Michigan. Targeted conditions are trauma- induced and septic shock, heart attacks, and other situations where return of blood to tissues can trigger the
Oncogene Science Inc. said Monday it has completed its acquisition of Applied bioTechnology Inc.'s cancer business for 2.2 million shares of Oncogene common stock. Oncogene will use the acquired cancer technology in a collaborative program with Becton Dickinson Inc. to develop and market cancer diagnostics. The Uniondale, N.Y., company also said Monday it had formally entered into the agreement with Becton. Oncogene stock (NASDAQ:ONCS) closed Monday at $5.63, down 13 cents. The program with
Biogen Corp. has reached a joint agreement with Australia’s largest biopharmaceutical company, Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Ltd., to research and develop hirulog, a molecule based on a leech protein, as a human therapeutic. The agreement--Biogen’s second license involving the anti-thrombotic--covers Australia, New Zealand and certain other countries in the South Pacific. Commonwealth will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development, and all regulatory filings, while Biogen
Icos Corp. on Friday announced its collaborative agreement with Glaxo Holdings p.l.c. to develop drugs to treat inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases, ending a summer of speculation about the deal. The companies will develop therapeutic agents to modulate the activity of a key regulator of intracellular messengers that affect a broad range of conditions, including inflammation and cardiac contractility. Glaxo and Icos will share research and development of compounds and will co-promote
Liposome Technology Inc. stock picked up $1 last week when Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Jeffrey Casdin said LTI has a potential blockbuster drug in its S-Dox (Stealth doxorubicin) to treat cancer patients with solid tumors. The stock (NASDAQ:LTIZ) closed Friday at $8, down 50 cents, after closing on Sept. 27 at $7. If S-Dox is successful, LTI and its marketing partners could capture half of the potential $1 billion world market for liposomal doxorubicin, Casdin said. LTI's Stealth technology
Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Friday that it has filed for a public offering of 2 million shares of common stock. Of those shares, 1.94 million are being offering by the company and 60,000 shares are being offered by a shareholder. If the offering is successfully completed, Agouron will have 6.7 million shares outstanding. Agouron stock (NASDAQ:AGPH) closed up $1.75 at $20.75. La Jolla, Calif.-based Agouron on Thursday filed its first investigational new drug application to begin a pilot
Carrington Laboratories Inc. of Dallas, which focuses on wound healing, began trading on the American Stock Exchange on Monday under the symbol CRN. It previously had traded under the NASDAQ symbol CARN. The stock closed Friday at $12.50, up 25 cents. (c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.
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
Repligen Corp. has obtained exclusive rights to a broad U.S. patent on antibodies that block inflammation and tissue damage, the company said Monday. The company is developing therapeutics based on antibodies covered by the patent, which was issued to Kabi Pharmacia AB of Sweden, and under another patent licensed from the University of Michigan. Targeted conditions are trauma- induced and septic shock, heart attacks, and other situations where return of blood to tissues can trigger the