3M Drug Delivery Systems, of St. Paul, Minn., said it's seeking partners for a pair of its biotech drug delivery technologies. It said its HFA Metered Dose Inhaler system has been successful in delivering proteins and peptides in a laboratory setting. An additional 3M technology suited to biotech delivery is the Microstructured Transdermal System (MTS), which is said to enable the disruption of the outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum, without causing pain. Several successful development milestones have been achieved with the MTS, the company said.

3rd Millennium Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said it completed the development of a web-based bioinformatics system that it termed the largest public repository of gene expression data. Developed to support Huntington's disease research funded by the Hereditary Disease Foundation, the NeuMetrix Data Repository will help researchers from around the world better identify new therapeutic targets to treat the disease, the company said. The NeuMetrix system contains over 15,000 data files generated from microarray experiments on several different Huntington's disease model organisms.

Artemis Pharmaceuticals GmbH, of Cologne, Germany, a wholly owned subsidiary of Exelixis Inc., of South San Francisco, entered a collaboration with Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., to create customized genetically engineered mouse models of disease based on Artemis' Conditional gene targeting technology. Artemis will create a specified number of customized mouse models based on Merck's genetic specifications. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

Astex Technology Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, entered a structural biology research agreement with Mitsubishi Pharma Corp., of Tokyo, to focus on solving novel human cytochrome P450 crystal structures that will be used in optimization of Mitsubishi's compounds. Astex will apply its X-ray crystallography technologies to obtain crystal structures of cytochrome P450s complexed to Mitsubishi's compounds. Financial terms were not disclosed.

BioVex Ltd., of Oxford, UK, entered into an agreement with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, in the area of immunotherapy. GlaxoSmithKline will evaluate the ability of BioVex's ImmunoVEX vaccine platform to break immune tolerance to chronic disease through the delivery of specific antigens to dendritic cells. Activating dendritic cells has long been considered key to successful immunotherapy for both cancer and chronic infectious disease, BioVex noted. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Cell Therapeutics Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, said at the European Hematology Association meeting in Florence, Italy, that Trisenox (arsenic trioxide) injection induced complete remission in 75 percent of patients with relapsed or refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia who received the drug in a compassionate-use program in France. At the same meeting, Cell Therapeutics reported results of a multicenter Phase II trial in myelodysplastic syndromes showing that Trisenox treatment resulted in significant improvements in blood cell counts for 33 percent of high-risk patients, becoming either red blood cell- or platelet transfusion-independent. Preliminary results from an ongoing Phase II trial in multiple myeloma showed significant improvement (25 percent to 50 percent reduction) in M protein levels for 33 percent of patients.

Celsion Corp., of Columbia, Md., said it is re-evaluating its plan to market its benign prostatic hyperplasia system independently. Celsion is considering co-marketing or selling the entire benign prostatic hyperplasia business. Such an arrangement could accelerate the system's adoption and allow Celsion to concentrate on developing its cancer treatment businesses, the company said.

Charles River Laboratories International Inc., of Wilmington, Mass., acquired privately held Biological Laboratories Europe Ltd., of Ballina, Co. Mayo, Ireland. Charles River paid in cash €25 million (US$23.6 million) for all of the shares of BioLabs. Charles River said BioLabs is positioned to serve Irish-based multinationals, as well as companies located elsewhere in Europe and the U.S., that develop products for human and animal health markets.

Chromos Molecular Systems Inc., of Burnaby, British Columbia, entered into an evaluation agreement with Lonza Biologics plc, of Slough, UK, whereby Lonza will evaluate Chromos' gene delivery and expression technology with its mammalian cell lines for improved expression of proteins. Chromos said its chromosome-based technology enables the rapid engineering of cell lines to carry specific genes in target cells to express proteins in a controlled and predictable manner. The one-year agreement includes an option to license Chromos' ACE System for use with Lonza's GS System in cellular protein production. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Curacyte AG, of Munich and Jena, Germany, reported its merger with VitaResc Biotech AG, of Munich. The company will operate under the Curacyte name, led by Curacyte's current management team, CEO Helmut Giersiefen and Chief Financial Officer Andreas Zaby. The merged company will operate from three locations: Munich, Jena and Durham, N.C., and will employ about 30 people. As part of the merger, investors from both companies committed US$5 million. An additional US$1.4 million was committed from a silent partnership.

Essential Therapeutics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., reported that it plans to focus resources on advancing antibiotic and antifungal compounds from its pipeline. As a result, the company said it is eliminating several early discovery programs, impacting about 80 people. The company also said it plans to initiate three new Phase II trials in the areas of hematology/oncology and infectious diseases. The studies are expected to define the optimal dose and schedule of ETRX-101, the company's lead compound, and to determine its potential clinical benefits for cancer patients with anemia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, infection, mucositis and chemotherapy-induced alopecia.

Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., said a study published in this month's Fertility and Sterility shows that Bravelle (urofollitropin), a highly purified human-derived follicle-stimulating hormone (hFSH), administered subcutaneously and intramuscularly, is comparable in activity and tolerability to recombinant follitropin beta (follistim) for in vitro fertilization. In the randomized, open-label, parallel group, multicenter trial in 177 patients, the Bravelle subcutaneous and intramuscular groups had significantly less injection site pain than those using follistim (p<.001).

Gene Expression Technologies Ltd., of London, named Cameron Macdonald CEO following the completion of a private equity placement arranged by Gordon House Asset Management and involving investors from a range of institutions. Most recently, he was the CEO of anti-infectives company PanTherix Ltd., of Glasgow, UK. Gene Expression Technologies specializes in gene expression regulation for drug discovery and development.

Gene Logic Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., reported that it launched the latest in its GeneExpress product introduction, the GeneExpress Women's Health DataSuite. The product is designed for use by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies interested in development products specific for women and based on differences between women and men.

Genetronics Biomedical Corp., of San Diego, presented data at the American Society for Gene Therapy meeting in Boston on its electroporation gene delivery technology. In a study with two models, gene expression was significantly higher after DNA injection with electroporation vs. the injection of naked DNA alone. In small rodents, the increase in gene expression was about 100-fold, while in the porcine study it ranged from 40- to 60-fold. In another study, electroporated areas showed high levels of transgene expression in all three arterial layers without any major adverse events, while the non-electroporated tissue displayed much scarcer gene expression.

Genstruct Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., entered a three-year collaboration with Beyond Genomics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., to develop an advanced software environment for interpreting systems biology data. The partnership also combines Beyond Genomics' systems biology informatics technology with Genstruct's Knowledge Assembly software. Genstruct President and CEO Mike Masterson said due to the explosion in genomics-driven research, automated assay systems and web-based publishing of life sciences content, the challenge now is to establish and manage meaningful connections between the disparate data and content sources.

Hydro Med Sciences Inc., of Cranbury, N.J., entered an agreement with the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic to provide Hydro Med the option to acquire worldwide development and commercialization rights to a polymer system that is said to represent a potential breakthrough in biodegradable depot and implant drug delivery therapy. Hydro Med said the technology's value is its capability to deliver a wide range of therapeutic peptides and proteins in a well-controlled fashion. The institute will complete certain preclinical studies for Hydro. Financial terms were not disclosed.

ICN Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Costa Mesa, Calif., said its senior management remains in place, and pledged its cooperation with the board of directors once that board is seated. ICN added that it remains committed to achieving its 2002 market guidance, saying it would reach over $800 million in sales for its specialty pharmaceutical business, with consolidated revenues of over $1 billion. Earnings per share for the specialty pharmaceutical business are expected to be over 80 cents. ICN said shareholders should not be concerned over a recent proxy contest.

Introgen Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, reported at the American Society for Gene Therapy meeting in Boston study results support ongoing study of INGN 241, a modified adenoviral vector that carries the cancer-cell-killing mda-7 gene (Ad-mda7), in various solid tumors. A Phase I study showed that up to 70 percent of tumor cells died via apoptosis after tumors were injected with a single dose of INGN 241. The study also showed that INGN 241 had a broad distribution in tumors, with up to 80 percent of tumor cells showing the MDA-7 protein.

Large Scale Biology Corp., of Vacaville, Calif., entered a bioprocessing alliance to develop and manufacture in hyacinth seeds FRIL, the name given to the lead therapeutic protein of Phylogix Inc., of Scarborough, Maine. The protein is said to represent a novel chemoprotective agent that, in animals, has demonstrated a unique ability to protect normal tissues from the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. Large Scale's Kentucky biomanufacturing facility will grow the hyacinth plants in the field and greenhouse, then harvest and purify the active ingredient for projected clinical trials. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Lexicon Genetics Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, said it identified and validated in vivo a new target for the development of potential drugs to treat obesity. Knockout mice lacking a receptor called LG747 had more than twice the body fat of normal animals, even at a young age. The increased accumulation of fat accounted for a 35 percent weight increase while lean body mass remained normal. The company said it plans to develop drugs that activate the receptor target, which could potentially reduce body fat and weight.

Molecular Mining Corp., of Kingston, Ontario, and IBM Corp., of Armonk, N.Y., entered a technology collaboration to develop offerings that can help researchers analyze gene and protein expressions, discover relationships among the data to diseases and predict drug responses. Molecular Mining's products will be augmented by IBM's DiscoveryLink data integration software, including GeneLinker Gold and GeneLinker Platinum. In addition to joint sales and marketing efforts, IBM and Molecular Mining will explore research collaborations in areas such as visualization, pattern discovery and gene expression analysis.

Novavax Inc., of Columbia, Md., entered a multiyear manufacturing agreement with Immuno-Designed Molecules SA, of Paris. The agreement calls for Novavax to manufacture prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for use in IDM's development programs for prostate cancer vaccines. IDM agreed to purchase specific quantities of PSA antigen from Novavax, pending the successful outcomes of clinical testing of its prostate cancer vaccine.

Oxford BioMedica plc, of Oxford, UK, and researchers at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London said at the American Society for Gene Therapy meeting in Boston that they achieved efficient gene transfer to mouse embryos in utero. The technology, if reproducible in man, creates the potential to cure diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis. Researchers showed gene transfer to a range of tissues, including liver, brain and muscle, following administration of Oxford BioMedica's LentiVector to the fetal blood supply.

Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boulder, Colo., released preliminary results for the first 40 patients enrolled in an 83-patient, multicenter, open-label trial testing Angiozyme in colorectal cancer. Eligible patients received Angiozyme in combination with the standard chemotherapy regimen of CPT-11, 5-FU and leucovorin in the Phase II combination therapy trial. Data analysis demonstrates that only 12.5 percent of patients experienced disease progression by the 12th week. In a published, comparing study of patients treated with chemotherapy, 25 percent had progressed by the 12th week.

Ricerca LLC, of Concord, Ohio, said at the BIO 2002 International Biotechnology Convention & Exhibition in Toronto that it changed its name to Ricerca Biosciences. The firm said the new name reflects its expansion into areas including and beyond contract development services. Ricerca is a drug development partner for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Targeted Genetics Corp., of Seattle, reported at the American Society for Gene Therapy meeting in Boston additional data from its arthritis program. Data show that localized gene expression can be achieved in animals using adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors delivered to joints. Also, AAV-based delivery of DNA encoding an inhibitor of TNF-alpha via this route of administration was well tolerated by the animals and had a good safety profile.

Tranzyme Inc., of Birmingham, Ala., released TranzEmbryo, its technology to clone genes of interest into animal embryos. It permits the creation of genetically altered animals without the need to insert a needle into the embryo, which can be lethal to the developing fetus. Tranzyme issued an exclusive license for TranzEmbryo to Ozgene Pty. Ltd., of Canning Vale, Australia, which produces genetically altered mice and rats for commercial and academic institutions.

Vasogen Inc., of Toronto, said it plans a multicenter pivotal trial of its immune modulation therapy in chronic congestive heart failure. The trial will be used to seek FDA and Health Canada approval. The company expects to enroll about 1,500 patients and the trial will be conducted at sites throughout the U.S. and Canada. Vasogen President and CEO David Elsley said the trial would begin later this year, about two years ahead of schedule, based on positive results from earlier trials.

ZymoGenetics Inc., of Seattle, said Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., became the second company to license ZymoGenetics' Ig-fusion protein technology. Regeneron gains nonexclusive rights to nine ZymoGenetics U.S. patents covering immunoglobulin-fusion proteins, including the six that are the subject of the patent infringement lawsuit filed by ZymoGenetics in March against Immunex Corp., also of Seattle. ZymoGenetics will receive royalties on sales of products that employ Ig-fusion. Regeneron is responsible for the development of its candidates. Further financial details were not disclosed.