By Dean Haycock Special to BioWorld International The approach seems almost too simple but it works. Purified or "naked" DNA, free from protein, can evoke a response from the immune system. Although no one can explain exactly how naked DNA does it, it has been known for nearly a decade that when injected into an animal's muscle, the DNA can induce an immune response. The type of immune response is determined by the kind of cell the DNA enters. For this reason, there are perhaps more
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 9, 1998
PARIS - Immuno-Designed Molecules (IDM) has completed another private funding round, in which it raised US$15 million from a group of existing and new shareholders. A second tranche of US$3 million to US$5 million could be arranged in the coming weeks, according to Chairman and CEO Yves Fouron. Before the latest financing, IDM had raised a total of $14 million since its inception in December 1993, most from venture capitalists. The five venture capital companies that were already shareholders
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 9, 1998
I. FINANCING OF PRIVATE BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANIES: $100.2M Company Location Date Amt. (M) Investors CropDesign NV Ghent, Belgium 8/18 $5 GIMV-Biotech Fund Flanders co-led this (1st round) financing round, with additional funds contribed by Sofinnova Dynavax Berkeley, Calif. 8/3 $16.5 New investors in this Series B financing Technologies Corp. included Axiom Venture Partners, Banc- (2nd round) America Ventures and Biotechvest LP; they were joined by previous investors Alta
Company Type Of Number Of Amount Investors; Placement Agents; (Symbol) Financing Shares, Units Raised (M) Details (Date) Or Warrants (M) Alliance Private 0.1S $6 Alliance sold 0.1M shares of convertible, Pharmaceutical placement redeemable preferred stock at $60 each to Corp. (ALLP) 3 institutional investors led by Brown Simpson Asset Management; the preferred shares are convertible into common stock at $6 per share through 1/3/99 and there- after at a price adjusted to
I. COMMENCED TRADING IN AUGUST INITIAL OFFERINGS There were no initial public offerings in August. FOLLOW-ON OFFERINGS There were no follow-on offerings in August. II. FILED AND PENDING Company Date Shares/ Price Shares Lead, Value@ (Symbol) Filed Units (M) Range Out (M) Other UWs ($M) INITIAL OFFERINGS Albany Molecular Research Inc. 7/9 2.2S $15-$17 9.5 INGB; HQ $33 Anthra Pharmaceuticals Inc.* 3/11; 2.7S $9.50- 7.6 AC; GRU $25.7 5/21 $11.50 Centaur Pharmaceuticals
By Ludger Wess Special To BioWorld Financial Watch HAMBURG, Germany — Between its innovative mechanisms to encourage biotechnology startups and its equally unique programs for supporting viable biotechnology clusters around universities and pharmaceutical centers, Germany has successfully launched its own biotechnology industry in just three short years. Germany has successfully initiated a tremendous "founding wave" within the life sciences community here, resulting in a veritable explosion
LONDON - The FDA approval last week of Centocor Inc.'s monoclonal antibody Remicade (formerly Avakine) for the treatment of Crohn's disease is good news for U.K. company Celltech plc, on whose technology the product is based. The approval triggers a second license payment. With the launch of Remicade later this year, Slough-based Celltech will receive ongoing royalties on sales. The license covers Celltech's Boss patent for the production of genetically engineered antibodies. Royalty payments
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 2, 1998
LONDON - Prolifix Ltd., of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, which specializes in the discovery and development of small-molecule drugs that modulate the cell cycle, has entered a collaboration with combinatorial chemistry company Biofocus plc, of Sittingbourne, Kent. Under terms of the deal, Biofocus will optimize lead molecules for Prolifix's anticancer program. At the same time, Prolifix announced the appointment of Paul Finn to the new post of head of chemistry. Finn, who joins the company from New
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 2, 1998
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - Determining the best antigen presentation to elicit a broad immune response in humans is an enormous challenge in preventing cancer, said Randal Chase, president and CEO of Pasteur Merieux Connaught Canada (PMCC). Chase spoke at Dalhousie University, in Halifax, where two research teams from the medical school there will study basic interactions between the immune system and cancer cells in an effort to uncover ways of stimulating an enhanced immune response against
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 2, 1998
BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Union (EU) attempts to update heavily criticized 1990 rules on biotech research have undergone another twist, with the appearance of a "re-examined proposal" from the European Commission. The latest version - a response to the views of the European Parliament (EP) - runs the risk of making more complex the debate over a new set of rules that originally were intended to be more streamlined, more industry-oriented and less bureaucratic. The EU directive 90/219 on
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 2, 1998
HAMBURG, Germany - German biotechnology company BioTuL Bio Instruments GmbH, of Munich, this week invited researchers and business experts to the First Conference on Kinomics: Molecular Recognition in Life Sciences. Speakers will discuss new technologies and instruments to recognize molecular interactions and measure biomolecular kinetics. During the conference, BioTuL will announce the winners of its Young Scientist Award for the most innovative research projects using the company's biosensor
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 2, 1998
LONDON - ReGen Therapeutics plc raised £2.1 million (US$3.5 million) from institutional and private investors to commercialize the Alzheimer's disease treatment Colostrinin, developed over the past 20 years at the Institute of Immunology at the Academy of Science in Wroclaw, Poland. The majority of the 5 million shares, offered at £0.50 each, have been taken up. The company is valued at around £16 million. From early this month the shares will be traded on OFEX, the unregulated trading
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 2, 1998
REHOVOT, Israel - XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. completed a private placement, raising US$10.1 million for 22.4 percent of its shares. The money will be used to advance the company's agent to fight hepatitis B, said Martin Becker, CEO of the Kiryat Weizmann-based firm. "The biotech field in Israel suffers from difficulties in raising money locally," he said. "Only one new investment fund, Medica [Investments], specializes in Israeli biotechnology, which has been frustrating and disappointing
BioWorld International | Wednesday, September 2, 1998
Company** Product Description Indication Type Action/Date CANCER Amgen Inc. Stemgen Ancestim; r-metHuSCF; Combination therapy FDA's Biological recombinant human with granulocyte- Response Modifiers Ad- stem cell factor colony stimulating visory Committee recom- factor to increase pro- mended approval in nar- genitor blood cells (stem row indication (10-1 vote) cells) for autologous stem but not for broader use to cell transplants in cancer reduce the number of pro
By Jennifer Van Brunt Editor Good things come to those who wait — especially to biotech investors, who no doubt have seen the prices of their favored stocks continue to erode in the current financing environment. However, in marked counterpoint to the market's decidedly negative opinion of biotechnology stocks, the FDA has recognized the value of the new therapeutic products coming from this industry sector. In just the last week, the agency approved for sale two important new biotech
Company** Product Description Indication Type Action/Date CANCER AltaRex Corp. OvaRex Anti-idiotype induction Late-stage ovarian Initiated open-label (Canada) Therapeutic vaccine; consists of cancer in patients who Phase II trial in Canada Vaccine modified murine mono- have relapsed after (7/9) clonal antibody that surgery and/or chemo- binds to CA125 antigen therapy Antisoma plc* Theragyn Murine monoclonal Adjuvant therapy for U.K. Medicines Control (U.K.) antibody
LONDON - British Biotech plc has appointed a new CEO to replace founding CEO Keith McCullagh, who is being forced to step down following severe problems at the company. He will be replaced Sept. 23 by Elliot Goldstein, who joins from London-based SmithKline Beecham plc, where he is senior vice president and director of worldwide strategic product development. British Biotech, based in Oxford, also said it will continue two clinical trials, despite the fact that they have been unblinded on
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 26, 1998
PARIS - Second-quarter revenues of the Paris-based drug discovery company Cerep amounted to FFr14.9 million (US$2.5 million), representing a 44 percent increase over the same period last year. Turnover in the first half of this year was FFr31.5 million, up 72 percent from the FFr18.3 million in the first six months of 1997. The company attributed its strong revenue growth to rapidly rising demand for its high-throughput pharmacological profiling services and combinatorial chemistry activities
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 26, 1998
SYDNEY - A company that specializes in organizing the vast amounts of genomic and biochemical data now being collected is set to receive an investment of about A$2 million (US$1.16 million) from the fund Biotechnology Investments Ltd., of London. EnCompass Bioinformatics Pty. Ltd., being set up now in Sydney, is a commercial spin-off from an existing collection of databases known as the Australian National Genomic Information Service (ANGIS), based at the University of Sydney. ANGIS was
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 26, 1998
By Dean Haycock Special to BioWorld International The approach seems almost too simple but it works. Purified or "naked" DNA, free from protein, can evoke a response from the immune system. Although no one can explain exactly how naked DNA does it, it has been known for nearly a decade that when injected into an animal's muscle, the DNA can induce an immune response. The type of immune response is determined by the kind of cell the DNA enters. For this reason, there are perhaps more