* Advanced Viral Research Corp., of New York, raised $1 million in a private placement of a 7 percent, 10-year convertible debenture with RBB Bank, of Austria. Conversion of the loan to common stock will depend on the average price of the shares five days before the transaction. RBB Bank also received warrants to purchase another 535,134 shares at prices ranging from $0.29 to $0.84. The funds will be used to support development of Advanced Viral Research's AIDS drug, Reticulose, which is described as a peptide nucleic acid preparation.

* Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., signed an agreement with Genesis Pharma SA, of Athens, Greece, to market Biogen's multiple sclerosis drug, Avonex, interferon beta-1a, in the country. Avonex was cleared for marketing in the U.S. in May 1996. Approval is expected in Europe during the first half of 1997.

* Caliper Technologies Corp., will collaborate with The Dow Chemical Co., with the purpose of applying Dow polymer technology to the development and manufacturing of disposable LabChips. Under the agreement, Dow has made a financial investment in Caliper and will conduct requisite research at Dow's Material Engineering Center.

* Cell Genesys Inc., of Foster City, Calif., signed a definitive agreement licensing its gene activation technology to Hoechst Marion Roussel Inc., of Frankfurt, Germany. The deal, announced in December 1996, could be worth up to $26 million to Cell Genesys. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 20, 1996, p. 1.)

* CoCensys Inc., of Irvine, Calif., has initiated a 250-patient, Phase II clinical trial of its lead neuroactive steroid (epalon) compound, ganaxolone or CCD 1042, in patients with migraine.

* Enzon Inc., of Piscataway, N.J., reports the sole holder of the company's 20,000 shares of series C convertible preferred stock has exchanged the shares for 20,000 shares of newly issued series D convertible preferred stock. The 20,000 series C preferred shares were used as part of a $3,000,000 private placement in March 1996.

* Genetics Institute Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said Kirin Brewery Inc., of Tokyo, is the fourth company to subscribe to Genetics Institute's DiscoverEase program, which provides drug makers access to a library of 5,000 as yet uncharacterized secreted human proteins. Financial terms were not disclosed. The proteins, which carry or receive signals among cells, may be drugs themselves or could be used as the basis for therapeutic small molecule compounds. Kirin joins Ontogeny Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., and Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, as subscribers to DiscoverEase. (See BioWorld Today, Sept. 25, 1996, p. 1.)

* Gensia Sicor Inc., of San Diego, has completed the acquisition of Rakepoll Holding B.V. from Rakepoll Finance N.V. The new company will be headquartered in San Diego. Gensia Sicor's common stock will continue to trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol GNSA. Gensia Sicor has issued 29.5 million shares of Gensia Sicor common stock and paid $100,000 to Rakepoll Finance.

* Genzyme Tissue Repair, a division of Cambridge, Mass.-based Genzyme Corp., raised $13 million in a private placement of a 5 percent convertible note due in three years. The loan is convertible to Genzyme Tissue Repair stock at a discount to the trading price upon conversion.

* Hyseq Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in San Jose accusing Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., of infringing Hyseq's patents related to sequencing by hybridization. Affymetrix disputed the allegations saying the technology for its patented GeneChip analysis of gene expression patterns is different from that described in Hyseq's patents.

* Matrix Pharmaceutical Inc., of Fremont, Calif., signed a distribution agreement with Dompe Framaceutici, of Milan, Italy, for marketing in the country Matrix's AccuSite Injectable Gel for genital warts. The drug has been approved in the U.K. and is under review elsewhere in Europe and the U.S. Dompe Framaceutici is a unit of the Dompe Group in Milan. AccuSite uses a biodegradable protein matrix for sustained-release of a chemotherapeutic agent.