SYDNEY - An Australian group has raised A$96 million (US$55.9 million) for research into the processes of aging, including the development of a diagnostic kit to assess cellular energy levels. Anthony Linnane, a fellow of the Royal Society and director of the Centre for Molecular Biology and Medicine, in Melbourne, is leading the team developing the kit, which will check the levels of the Coenzyme Q10 as a measure of cellular energy. Linnane, who has done extensive research on aging, said
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 26, 1998
Company** Product Description Indication Status (Date) CANCER Alfacell Corp. Onconase Cytotoxic ribonuclease; Pancreatic cancer Preliminary analysis of (NASDAQ:ACEL) member of the super- Phase III trials did not family of pancreatic demonstrate survival ribonucleases benefit over standard therapies; company has stopped trial and will not file NDA for this indi- cation (7/15) Aronex Atragen Liposomal formulation Relapsed or refractory Initiated Phase I trial in
By Jennifer Van Brunt Editor The biotech product pipeline is full to bursting. More companies in the sector means more products in the clinic and — eventually — in the marketplace. Never before in the relatively short history of the biotechnology industry has there been such a wealth of promising products, some of them representing the first of their kind. Exactly how many products are in the pipeline is a matter of some debate, for the various sources that track this information use
REHOVOT, Israel - D-Pharm Ltd. received notice of allowance on a U.S. patent covering use of its DP-BAPTA family of neuroprotective drug candidates. The lead compound is in advanced preclinical development for the treatment and prophylaxis of ischemia-reperfusion damage in stroke, head trauma and open-heart surgery. "We are very pleased by the patent office's allowance of our broad claims on medical uses of the DP-BAPTA family," said Yaffa Beck, executive vice president and chief operating
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
BRUSSELS, Belgium - The director of Europe's principal consumer lobby has dismissed as inadequate European Union attempts to legislate a better deal for consumers with respect to genetically modified foods. The latest attempt - a new regulation requiring labeling to indicate food and food ingredients that contain genetically modified DNA or protein - is "almost entirely irrelevant," said Jim Murray, head of the Bureau de Européen des Unions de Consommateurs (BEUC). "In BEUC, we think this
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
PARIS - Appligène Oncor SA's turnover in the second quarter of 1998 amounted to FFr10.9 million, which was a 3.6 percent increase from the corresponding period of 1997, but slightly lower than 1998's first-quarter figure of FFr11.1 million. Revenues in the first half of this year as a whole were 8.4 percent higher, at FFr22 million, than last year. The first-half loss has not been disclosed, but Chief Financial Officer Marc Vander Linden welcomed the return to revenue growth. In June, when
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
REHOVOT, Israel - The Clal Group, one of Israel's largest industrial concerns, formed Clal Biotechnology Industries (CBI) and will invest $10 million in D-Pharm Ltd., a developer of drug-targeting technologies. This is the concern's first investment in the biotechnology field and is "in accordance with corporate strategy," said a CBI spokesman, adding "Clal Industries' management estimates biotechnology has one of the largest growth potentials in the coming decade. The company intends to
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
PARIS - A gene therapy for treating cancers using the protein urokinase has yielded promising results in laboratory experiments in France. Scientists at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale) and the National Scientific Research Center (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in Paris have succeeded in reversing tumor growth and inhibiting the dissemination of cancerous cells in mice. The therapy
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
SYDNEY - Australia's biotechnology industry has marked differences from biotechnology sectors in other countries, including a much greater reliance on research institutions, a national report on the industry has found. A paper published in the August/September edition of the journal Australasian Biotechnology, by Lyndal Thorburn, of Macquarie University, in Sydney, stated 40 percent of the latest wave of Australian biotechnology companies are spin-offs from research institutions. Thorburn
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
SYDNEY - Amrad Corp. Ltd. suspended a clinical trial of a reformulation of the fast-acting injectable anesthetic propofol after healthy volunteers developed adverse reactions, including irritation around the injection sites. Amrad's managing director, John Grace, said the bioequivalence trials were suspended pending investigation of the data. "The result of the trial is unexpected for Amrad and our partner, RTP Pharma Inc.," Grace said. "Despite the potential advantages of AM149, there was
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
DUBLIN, Ireland - Copenhagen-based functional genomics company Display Systems Biotech A/S is planning to ramp up its U.S. presence over the next six months. CEO Thomas Warthoe said the company is transferring its technology platform, a technique for high-throughput gene expression analysis based on what it calls restriction fragment differential display (RFDD) PCR, to the U.S. It also is negotiating terms to lease a 40,000-square-foot facility in partnership with Bio 101 Inc., of Vista, Calif
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
OTTAWA - Following extensive, broad-based consultations with key stakeholders and the public, the federal government has released the long-anticipated update to its Canadian Biotechnology Strategy (CBS). The previous CBS was formulated more than 15 years ago and signified, at that time, Canada's intention to nurture a strong biotechnology industry. To arrive at the new strategy, a Canadian Biotechnology Strategy task force organized a number of consultations across Canada and involved more
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
HAMBURG, Germany - MorphoSys AG plans to list on Germany's high-tech stock exchange, Neuer Markt, within the next few months. Already the company has been converted to a corporation. Last week MorphoSys, of Munich, disclosed the termination of a collaboration with Pharmacia & Upjohn, of London, and reported entering a new deal with DuPont Pharmaceutical Co., of Wilmington, Del. Set up in 1992, MorphoSys, which uses combinatorial biology techniques, has acquired a strong position in drug
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
LONDON - The U.K. biotechnology industry needs a tighter regulatory regime to avoid a repeat of the problems that have dogged the onetime flagship of the sector, British Biotech plc, during 1998. This is the view of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, which issued a report Monday of its investigation into events at Oxford-based British Biotech. In particular the committee, composed of members of Parliament, said the government should use the drug regulatory system to
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
LONDON - Xenova Group plc, which specializes in discovery and development of small molecule drugs from natural sources, said it is looking for new funding, following financial results for the first six months of 1998 showing losses of £6.5 million, up from £5.8 million for the same period last year. With reserves of £8.7 million as of June 30 and a burn rate of £1.1 million per month, there is now little more than six months' cash in hand. The share price hit an all-time low of £0.70 on Aug
BioWorld International | Wednesday, August 19, 1998
I. FINANCING OF PRIVATE BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANIES: $94.6M Company Location Date Amt. (M) Investors BioMarin Novato, Calif. 7/15 $11 BioMarin raised $11M in a series of pri- Pharmaceutical Inc. vate placements; major investors included (2nd round) BB BioVentures LP, BankInvest, Glyko Biomedical Ltd. (which founded BioMarin in 1996) and Grosvenor Capital Esperion Ann Arbor, Mich., 7/10 $15.5 Esperion Therapeutics was founded by Therapeutics Inc. and Stockholm, Scheer & Co. Inc
Company Type Of Number Of Amount Investors; Placement Agents; (Symbol) Financing Shares, Units Raised (M) Details (Date) Or Warrants (M) Aastrom Biosciences Private ND $5 Aastrom sold $5M in Series I convertible Inc. (ASTM) placement preferred stock to a single investor; the pre- ferred stock yields 5% annual interest and is convertible for the 1st nine months only af- ter the market price of Aastrom's common stock reaches $4.83 per share; Aastrom will register the underlying
I. COMMENCED TRADING IN JULY Company Date Date Shares/ Price Gross Net Shares Fully Lead (Symbol) Filed Comm. Units Per Share/ (M) (M) Out Dil. Underwriters (M) Unit (M) (M) INITIAL OFFERINGS Abgenix Inc. 4/6 7/2 2.88S $8.00 $23.0 $20.6 11.0 14.3 BARS; LB (ABGX)* Collateral 4/24 7/2 2.2S $7.25 $16.0 $13.9 10.5 13.0 BS; RJA; VSI Therapeutics Inc. (CLTX)** Pharming 6/18 7/2 4.1S $15.00 $61.5 $57.2E 11.7 11.7 MP; BARS; PAR Group NV (EASDAQ:PHAR)*** TOTAL
By Jennifer Van Brunt Editor The continuing volatility of the stock market has taken a heavy toll on many sectors of the economy, but the stocks of companies with market capitalizations of less than $1 billion — the small-cap stocks — have been punched down time and time again. Toward the middle of last week, however, various analysts who follow these trends were beginning to predict that the bottom had finally been reached. In fact, they have gone even further, forecasting that mutual
SYDNEY - An Australian group has raised A$96 million (US$55.9 million) for research into the processes of aging, including the development of a diagnostic kit to assess cellular energy levels. Anthony Linnane, a fellow of the Royal Society and director of the Centre for Molecular Biology and Medicine, in Melbourne, is leading the team developing the kit, which will check the levels of the Coenzyme Q10 as a measure of cellular energy. Linnane, who has done extensive research on aging, said