LONDON - Cantab Pharmaceuticals plc reported results from Phase I trials of its herpes simplex virus (HSV) vaccine for treatment and prevention of genital herpes, under development with Glaxo Wellcome plc. The studies showed the vaccine is safe and immunogenic at three lower dose levels. Trials of mid-to-high doses of the DISC HSV vaccine should be completed by the end of 1998, with Phase II multi-center, placebo-controlled studies due to begin in 1999. The findings, presented at the 8th

LONDON - Polyclonal antibody company Therapeutic Antibodies Inc. (TAB) has been commissioned by G. D. Searle & Co. to identify and develop a new antibody-based drug. Under the agreement, Searle forecasts it will pay TAB US$8 million for research and development milestones, and for supplies of the product. The first payment of $1 million was received on signing the contract. If the product is launched, TAB will be responsible for supplies, Searle will hold worldwide marketing rights and

LONDON - Human antibody specialist Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) Group plc has withdrawn from its joint venture with California-based Techniclone Inc. for development of tumor necrosis therapy (TNT) for treatment of cancer. While this leaves CAT without a cancer program, David Chiswell, CEO, told BioWorld International, "I wouldn't say that as a company we are out of cancer." The decision to pull out of the joint venture was made as a result of a "conventional review of the portfolio

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Following Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp.'s multiyear research collaboration deal with Massachusetts-based Sequitur Inc., Inex becomes the U.S. company's first subscriber to a functional genomics program that offers access to the latest antisense compounds and technology. The program has been built around data from Sequitur's in-house cellular screening system and its network of experts in the antisense field. James Miller, president and CEO of Inex, of Vancouver

LONDON - Women who have inherited a particular form of the tumor suppressor protein p53 may be up to seven times more likely to develop cervical cancer than others, an international group of researchers has found. The discovery suggests there may be a subgroup of women who would benefit from more intensive screening for precancerous changes in the cervix, or who might in the future gain greater benefit from a vaccine to protect against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is present in more

SYDNEY - The Australian Technology Group (ATG) has invested A$2 million in a company with promising technology in the hot new area of manufacturing carbohydrates as material for other biotech applications. To be invested through the biotech investment management company Start-up Australia, the A$2 million will be spent in setting up the new company, Alchemia Pty. Ltd., in Brisbane. Start-up director Stephen Robinson said Alchemia has "novel technology" that allows the solid-state synthesis

BRUSSELS, Belgium - For years, analysts of Europe's biotechnology sector have been arguing that one of Europe's major disadvantages is lack of support from the finance sector. In mid-May, a systematic step was taken to try to remedy the deficiency. More than 30 European Union biotech companies came together with leading figures from the European finance and investment community, and with scientists and policy makers, at the first conference of the Biotechnology and Finance Forum, in Brussels

LONDON - Celltech plc has reported "promising" results in the interim evaluation of 23 patients in a pivotal trial of its lead product, CMA 676, an antibody-cytotoxic drug, in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. In the trial, conducted by Celltech's partner, American Home Products Corp. (AHP), of Madison, N.J., 43 percent of patients experienced major responses, characterized by complete clearance of leukemic cells. Peter Fellner, Celltech CEO, said, "The safety profile of the drug

SYDNEY - Researchers in Australia and the U.S. have combined to discover an antibody that they say is a promising new vaccine for rheumatoid arthritis. Discovered by Richard Bucala, of the Picower Institute, in New York, the antibody recently was tested in rats by Eric Morand of the Centre for Inflammatory Disease at Monash Medical Centre, in Melbourne. The antibody, which targets a molecule known as macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), successfully prevented the occurrence of

LONDON - Drug delivery specialist Cortecs plc, of London, signed an agreement with London-based Glaxo Wellcome's Greek subsidiary to market Macritonin, Cortecs' oral calcitonin product for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Cortecs will manufacture and supply the product. Cortecs, which submitted a registration application for Macritonin in Greece in October 1997, said Glaxo Wellcome will assist in the registration process. Nicholas Manasskasis, managing director of Glaxo Wellcome

LONDON - The final chapter in the changeover of power at Scotia Holdings plc has been written, with founder David Horrobin resigning as nonexecutive director after failing to oust Robert Dow, who succeeded him as CEO. Horrobin did not agree with the restructuring and revised strategy put in place by Dow, who said earlier this month he was cutting the research program from 20-plus projects to six, and focusing the company's expertise in lipids on cancer treatments. A statement from James

LONDON - Xenova Group plc started Phase I trials of XR9576 for the prevention of multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer chemotherapy. The compound inhibits the action of P-glycoprotein, a transport protein which acts as a pump, expelling drugs from a cell before they have reached their target. Paul Bevan, head of development for Xenova, of Slough, U.K., told BioWorld International, "We have done a lot of preclinical work on this. XR9576 is replacing an earlier candidate, 9051, because it has

DUBLIN, Ireland - Dublin-based clinical trials company Icon plc netted about US$50 million from an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq. Underwriters Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., both of New York, and William Blair & Co., of Chicago, exercised overallotment options Monday, raising the total gross proceeds of the offering to US$72.45 million. Of this, US$17.32 million went to selling shareholders and about 10 percent of the remainder went toward expenses, said Icon's chief

PARIS - Researchers at the Institut Curie and the Institut Gustave Roussy (IGR) have discovered a new vector for administering an antitumor vaccination. The vector consists of exosomes secreted by dendritic cells, which express class I and II CMH (complex major histocompatibility) molecules and can thus specifically stimulate T lymphocytes. Using them as an antitumor vaccination entailed producing exosomes from dendritic cells that previously had been exposed to tumor fragments (peptides

LONDON - Botanicals specialist Phytopharm plc has been granted a clinical exemption certificate to begin Phase II trials of P54, a single plant extract, in treatment of osteoarthritis. The company said the compound has actions similar to the currently prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), but with none of the gastrointestinal side effects. The NSAIDS inhibit the cyclo-oxygenase enzyme, COX2, which plays a major role in causing inflammation associated with osteoarthritis

LONDON - Vanguard Medica Ltd. lost more than 25 percent of its share price last week, following disclosure that SmithKline Beecham plc dropped plans to market Vanguard's lead product, the migraine treatment frovatriptan, which has completed Phase IIIa studies. Vanguard's stock closed Friday down 26 percent, at £4.35. This is a considerable blow for Vanguard, a development company set up in 1991 by executives from London-based SmithKline, which licensed in frovatriptan from the pharmaceutical

SYDNEY - Management of Biotech International Ltd. plans to "unlock the potential" of diagnostic and imaging technology held by Agen Ltd. after gaining control of the company in a A$17.8 million stock market takeover bid last week. By late last week, with acceptances still coming in, Perth-based Biotech had gained 90 percent of the stock of Agen, based in Brisbane, with its bid of A$0.25 a share, after Agen's board was unable to attract a better offer. Despite a brave face earlier in the bid

LONDON - A tit-for-tat between public sector and commercial interests broke out last week when the Wellcome Trust, the world's largest charity, said it would spend an extra £110 million on its human genome sequencing effort in a bid to ensure that sequence data is freely available. The move by London-based Wellcome Trust is a direct challenge to a new genomics company set up by J. Craig Venter and the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), of Rockville, Md., in collaboration with Perkin-Elmer

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Parliament has given its backing at last to the European Commission's plan to boost patent protection for biotechnology products. At its plenary session in Strasbourg, France, on May 12, the Parliament formally approved the proposal for a directive on the legal protection of biotechnology inventions. This is the last serious hurdle to the new legislation, after more than 10 years' work on it. All that remains now is for European Union (EU) ministers to put