SYDNEY - Shares in Biota Holdings Ltd. jumped A$0.23 to A$4.63 on the Australian exchange following news last week that its U.S. development partner filed for FDA approval of a flu diagnostic kit. As previously reported Glaxo Wellcome Australia has kicked off registration of the flu drug Relenza, owned by Biota, by applying for registration in Australia. (See BioWorld International, April 8, 1998, p. 2.) Last week's announcement involved the related development of a flu detection kit by

LONDON - British Biotech plc said Tuesday founder and CEO Keith McCullagh will resign in September, but the company also released a statement to shareholders rebutting allegations of mismanagement made by the former director of clinical research, Andrew Millar, who was fired in April. The statement claims the allegations made against the company and McCullagh are unfounded, and denies any connection between the resignation and the Millar affair. It states, "The board is fully satisfied that

MONTREAL - An HIV protein that prevents infected cells from proliferating is the subject of a strategic alliance between Montreal-based Theratechnologies Inc. and Cambridge, Mass.-based Genetix Pharmaceuticals Inc. During the replication of the HIV virus, the Vpr protein, identified in 1988 by Theratechnologies' Eric Cohen, is specifically incorporated into the newly produced virus, making it an ideal target for gene therapy. Genetix has licensed the exclusive rights to the Vpr gene from

PARIS - Flamel Technologies SA raised US$10 million through the sale of 2 million ordinary shares to Financière et Industrielle Gaz et Eaux (G&E), a French holding company with assets of $2.4 billion that is affiliated with the Lazard group. The funds will be used to finance ongoing research and development programs, capital investments and other corporate needs at Flamel, of Vennisseux, France. The deal, which will give G&E a 14 percent stake in Flamel, is to be submitted for the approval

LONDON - A viral protein that is naturally transported into neighboring cells may be able to overcome one of the main hurdles of gene therapy: delivering the gene or its product into enough cells to bring about a therapeutic effect. Researchers in the U.K. have shown that the VP22 protein of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) can ferry other functional proteins into neighboring cells. They were able to bring about significantly raised levels of apoptosis (programmed cell death) in tumor cells

DUBLIN, Ireland - The leader of a research group at Trinity College Dublin that first described a new species of Candida received the Royal Irish Academy prize for excellence in microbiological research last week. The species, dubbed Candida dubliniensis, has emerged as a significant opportunistic pathogen in AIDS patients worldwide. The yeast initially was confused with Candida albicans, long-recognized as a source of opportunistic infections in immunocompromised individuals. "Phenotypically

DUBLIN, Ireland - Alltracel Pharmaceuticals has reported positive results from a preliminary clinical study on the use of its micro-dispersed oxidized nitrocellulose (MDOC) formulation in inoperable cancer patients. Gerry Brandon, CEO of Dublin-based Alltracel, said all 23 patients in the study, carried out in the Czech Republic, displayed tumor reduction following administration of the product in combination with a cytostatic drug. MDOC's mode of action is twofold. The product binds

LONDON - Therapeutic Antibodies Inc. (TAb) has submitted a product license application to the FDA for its CroTAb antivenom product. CroTAb, which has been granted orphan drug status, is a polyclonal antibody designed to neutralize the effects of bites from North American pit vipers. TAb, headquartered in Nashville but based in London, said 8,000 people a year are treated for such bites in the U.S. The application triggers a milestone payment from Altana Inc., of Melville, N.Y., which is a

SYDNEY - A cancer vaccine for treating breast and colorectal cancer developed in Australia has moved into Phase I/II trials in a clinic in Greece, following positive results from Phase I trials in Australia. Ian McKenzie, director of the Austin Research Institute, part of the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, in Melbourne, said the vaccine was tested in several Phase I trials involving 80 patients over two years with no adverse effects. In addition, patients treated with the vaccine were

Less than six months after starting operations, Devgen NV, which focuses on functional genomics, has secured its first pharmaceutical partner, Janssen Pharmaceutica NV. Ghent, Belgium-based Devgen has agreed to a drug discovery collaboration based on the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans with Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, N.J. "It is Janssen policy not to reveal details," said Thierry Bogaert, CEO of Devgen. "However, the partnership is an extension of an

SYDNEY - Researchers at the Brisbane-based Cooperative Research Centre for Vaccine Technology and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research are testing a system for producing personalized vaccines against skin cancer in a Phase I/II clinical trial at the Mater Hospital. The trial is expected to involve 10 patients with Phase III skin cancer - that is, cancer that has not spread beyond the regional lymph nodes. Patients will be treated over several months. A successful treatment for skin

LONDON - Peptide Therapeutics Group plc, of Cambridge, has agreed to a deal with the vaccine manufacturer Pasteur Merieux Connaught France, of Lyon, and its partner, OraVax Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., to develop a vaccine for Helicobacter pylori, the major cause of stomach ulcers. Under terms of the agreement, Pasteur Merieux will pay Peptide to incorporate its proprietary H. pylori antigens into Peptide's Salmonella typhi oral vaccine delivery system. The vaccine company will then test the

LONDON - Antisoma plc has taken ownership of Cancer Therapeutics Ltd. (CTL), the 50-50 joint venture it set up with the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) to speed development of drugs discovered by the charity. The deal gives London-based Antisoma full control of a novel treatment for ovarian cancer, Theragyn, which is currently in pivotal Phase III trials in the U.S. and Europe. Under terms of the agreement, Antisoma has bought ICRF's half-share of CTL from the charity's commercial arm

DUBLIN, Ireland - Modex Therapeutiques SA, which is using encapsulated cell technology to develop cell and gene therapies for chronic systemic diseases, has raised US$8 million in its second financing round. The company's new shareholders are Atlas Venture and Banexi Ventures, both of Paris, and the Novartis Venture Fund, of Basel, Switzerland. Its earlier investors, Alta Partners, of San Francisco, Alta Berkeley, based in London and Geneva, and Geneva, Switzerland-based Lombard Odier

JERUSALEM - Drug delivery by slow-releasing, biologically compatible nanoparticles loaded with the novel tyrosine kinase blockers, tyrphostins, may be able to prevent coronary restenosis following angioplasty, bypass operations and heart transplantation. Restenosis is the accelerated form of atherosclerosis that starts in response to the injury to the blood vessel wall caused by these procedures. An international Israeli-German research team headed by Alexander Levitzki, of Hebrew University

LONDON - The network of molecules known to be involved in the control of appetite and obesity now has a new member, with the discovery in Denmark of a peptide that makes rats stop eating. Researchers hope, if they can identify the peptide's receptor in the brain, it may be possible to find a drug that will block the receptor and thus control obesity. The peptide is known as CART, which stands for cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript. Peter Kristensen, head of histology at Novo Nordisk

TORONTO - GlycoDesign Inc., focused on enzyme inhibitors involved in synthesizing carbohydrates, raised C$13.65 million (US$9.5 million) from nine venture capital organizations. The investor confidence shown in Toronto-based GlycoDesign, which has raised a total of C$35 million in venture financing since its inception in 1994, revolves around the fact that its founding scientists were among the first in the world to identify the cell-surface carbohydrate structures that make possible the

LONDON - International Biotechnology Trust plc (IBT), of London, reported a profit of £5.4 million for the six months ending February 1998. But it said lack of confidence in the U.K. market and setbacks at Biocompatibles International plc and Core Group plc - two of three U.K. companies in which IBT has investments - were having a direct effect on the fund. "Whilst this is unwelcome, it is not unexpected in the biotechnology industry, and illustrates why a portfolio approach provides investors

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has backed a report that is broadly favorable to the promotion of conservation, collection and utilization of genetic resources in agriculture. The report, prepared by German Green Euro-MP Friedrich-Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf, was adopted by the committee by unanimous vote. Technically, the report concerns new measures for implementing a 1994 EU regulation and proposes a standing inventory of genetic