Accelrys Inc., of San Diego, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pharmacopeia Inc., opened its European headquarters in Cambridge, UK. The facility will provide a base for services, support and training to the computational science firm's UK and European customers.

Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc., of Wellesley, Mass., reported publication of a fast-track research letter in the July 20, 2002, issue of The Lancet reporting the prevention of scrapie development by treating infected mice with repeated injections of a CpG molecule. Data showed that all saline-treated mice succumbed to the neurodegenerative disease by 183 days after being infected. However, mice given a CpG molecule immediately after infection, or seven hours post-infection followed by four treatment injections, experienced a delay in the onset of disease by 38 percent. Infected mice that received a CpG molecule at seven hours after infection, and then daily for 20 days, never developed disease during the 330-day experiment.

Discovery Laboratories Inc., of Doylestown, Pa., completed the dose-ranging part of its Surfaxin Phase II trial for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome in adults. It is enrolling patients for the final part of the open-label, controlled, randomized, dose-ranging, multicenter trial comparing the safety and effectiveness of Surfaxin to standard of care. Surfaxin is an engineered version of natural human lung surfactant that is designed to re-establish the lung's capacity to absorb oxygen.

LION bioscience AG, of Heidelberg, Germany, said its supervisory board appointed Juergen Dormann chairman. Dormann joined Hoechst AG, of Frankfurt, Germany, in 1963. Following the combination of Hoechst AG and Rhone-Poulenc SA to establish Aventis SA in December 1999, Dormann became chairman of the board. LION provides integrated information solutions for the life sciences industry.

Sonus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Bothell, Wash., reported Phase II progress for Tocosol Paclitaxel, its lead cancer therapy product. Sonus determined the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) for the colorectal study to be 120 mg/m2, a weekly dose that corresponds to 360 mg/m2 over a three-week period, more than twice as high as the standard dose of Taxol at 175 mg/m2 once every three weeks. Sonus also said it completed patient enrollment in the dose-escalation stage of its non-small-cell lung, ovarian and bladder studies, and it expects to determine the MTD for each study by the end of the third quarter.

Stem Genetics Inc., of Salt Lake City, filed for its initial public offering, seeking to offer 1.5 million shares at $7 per share, which would raise $10.5 million. Stem Genetics is developing new storage and research techniques, as well as therapies and products, based on its genetic discoveries with adipose stem cells.

V.I. Technologies Inc., of Watertown, Mass., said it will present data at the October American Association of Blood Banks meeting in Orlando showing its Inactine red blood cell process was successful in inactivating the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease. Additional data showed that the Inactine process also was effective in inactivating the virus that causes West Nile encephalitis.