* PRP Inc., of Watertown, Mass., said preliminary resultsfrom Phase II trials of its infusible platelet membranes(IPM) demonstrated the product controlled bleeding inthrombocytopenic patients and no adverse reactions werereported. The 36-patient study is testing a single IPMinfusion against conventional platelet transfusions. Thecompany said advantages of the IPM, which are derivedfrom platelets and freeze-dried in a powder, includeminimal contamination, decreased immunogenicity and ashelf-life of up to three years.

* Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc., of Collegeville, Pa., saidstudies of its drug, lenograstim, sold in Europe undername Granocyte for neutropenia, showed it mobilized 25percent more stem cells (CD34+) in healthy stem celltransplant donors than filgrastim, which is ThousandOaks, Calif.-based Amgen Inc.'s Neupogen. Rorer, asubsidiary of Rhone-Poulenc Group in Paris, isconducting the trials to add stem cell transplants to thedrug's label in Europe. Granocyte is marketed under ajoint venture between Rorer and Chugai PharmaceuticalCo. Ltd., of Tokyo. Chugai-RPR is located in Antony,France. Lenograstim and filgrastim are granulocytecolony-stimulating factors.

* Sheffield Medical Technologies Inc., of New York, saidresearchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houstonsequenced the gene for ps20, which is a protein believedto be involved in urogenital growth inhibitor factor(UGIF), a mediator for proliferation and differentiation ofprostate cancer cells. Sheffield said it has an option on anexclusive license to Baylor's technology concerning ps20and UGIF and has filed a U.S. patent application for useof UGIF for prostate cancer.

* The Liposome Co., of Princeton, N.J., said it signed anagreement with Laboratorios Esteve S.A., of Barcelona,Spain, to market Abelcet, an amphotericin B lipidcomplex, in Spain and Portugal. Abelcet is approved inSpain as a second-line treatment for serious fungalinfections. Financial terms were not disclosed.

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.