Genomica Corp., of Boulder, Colo., licensed its software, Discovery Manager, to the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, of Oxford, UK. The software will be used for genetic analysis in support of bioinformatics within the center. Discovery Manager offers visualization and scientific analysis tools, project management and a genetic information database.
Ciphergen Biosystems Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., received a multi-agency contract with the National Institutes of Health, of Bethesda, Md., to provide up to 35 ProteinChip Systems to academic and government researchers nationwide. The ProteinChip System is based on surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (SELDI-TOF-MS) technology, which uses small arrays with chemically or biologically treated surfaces to interact with proteins.
HIV-VAC Inc., of Toronto, received a funding commitment of C$5 million (US$3.35 million) from an Australian investment group to complete initial trials of its AIDS vaccine with the Russian Aids Center. The company said preclinical testing is almost completed.
Incara Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., said its subsidiary, Renaissance Cell Technologies Inc., has licensed exclusive worldwide rights to patent applications and related technologies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for isolating and purifying human liver progenitor cells.
Matritech Inc., of Newton, Mass., said that the People's Republic of China approved its NMP22 test kit for the detection and management of bladder cancer. It has been approved in the U.S. for monitoring patients, and is pending approval for testing symptomatic bladder cancer patients.
Ortec International Inc., of New York, applied to the FDA to start a multicenter pilot trial using Composite Cultured Skin for the treatment of diabetic ulcers. Some 32 evaluable patents will be followed for up to six months. Composite Cultured Skin is a tissue-engineered dressing consisting of two layers of human-derived skin cells supported within a porous collagen matrix, which is placed over the area needing skin regeneration.
QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, and Ciba Vision Corp., of Atlanta, said the FDA assigned priority review status for its new drug application for Visudyne (verteporfin for injection therapy) for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 17, 1999, p. 1.)
Shaman Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco raised $10.7 million in a rights offering. The company sold 715,417 shares of its Series R convertible preferred stock at $15 per share. The Series R convertible preferred stock will trade under the symbol, SHMNO, on the OTC Bulletin Board starting Sept. 8. The company initially sought $15 million. (See BioWorld Today, July 20, 1999, p. 1.)
Texas Biotechnology Corp., of Houston, corrected the amendment to its Novastan new drug application, replacing the March 19 submission. The company corrected the coding of patient endpoint data and on the dates on which they occurred. Overall, the corrected analyses do not change the positive clinical interpretation of the efficacy endpoints and had no effect on the safety analysis, the company said. Novastan, which is being developed with SmithKline Beecham plc, of London, is an anticoagulant for use in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia syndrome. (See BioWorld Today, March 23, 1999, p. 1.)
The Liposome Co. Inc., of Princeton, N.J., received regulatory approval from the Ministry of Health in Belgium for Abelcet (amphotericin B lipid complex injection). The indication is for the treatment of invasive fungal infections in patients who are refractory to or intolerant of conventional amphotericin B therapy.