• Bio-Technology General Corp., of Iselin, N.J., began a safety and efficacy study of BioHy, its high-molecular-weight sodium hyaluronate product, for treating pain associated with arthritis of the knee. The study in Germany will compare BioHy with the leading product in Europe in a 250-patient randomized, double-blind study.

• Cangene Corp., of Winnipeg, Manitoba, said it began construction of a 30,000-square-foot facility in Winnipeg that will house the fermentation and downstream processing stages of manufacturing. Construction is expected to take about one year.

• Centocor Inc., of Malvern, Pa., said new results from an international trial that combined ReoPro with Retevase showed the combination restored optimal coronary blood flow in more heart attack patients than Retevase alone. In the Gustov IV pilot study (or SPEED study), 61 percent of patients who received ReoPro, half the standard dose of Retevase and heparin achieved optimal coronary artery blood flow within 60 to 90 minutes. By comparison, 47 percent of Retevase patients achieved that level of blood flow.

• CytRx Corp., of Atlanta, began enrollment in a Phase I/II trial assessing safety and hemodynamics of Flocor (purified poloxamer 188) in patients with acute lung injury. Flocor also is in a Phase III trial for treating acute painful crisis in sickle cell patients and a Phase I trial in sickle cell patients with acute chest syndrome.

• Diatide Inc., of Londonderry, N.H., and collaborators at the University of Alabama said rhenium-188 p2045, which combines a small-molecule synthetic peptide with a molecule of rhenium-188, can arrest the growth, and even induce regression of an aggressive pancreatic tumor in laboratory mice, without harming normal tissue. The peptide is designed to adhere to somatostatin receptors while the isotope emits a tumor-destroying beta ray.

• Pharmacyclics Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., began enrolling patients in a multicenter, randomized, controlled Phase II trial of Antrin photoangioplasty for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease. The company also said results from a Phase I trial showed the treatment was safe, well tolerated and clinically active in that patient group.

• Valentis Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., and PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals plc, of London, completed their merger. At the time the deal was disclosed in May Valentis agreed to pay PolyMASC about $19.8 million in stock. (See BioWorld Today, May 26, 1999, p. 1.)