Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, of Piscataway, N.J., said it launched two new products for screening for potential new drugs. The products, Gold Toolbox for Generic labeling and Gold Toolbox for Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer labeling, are reagent packages that allow customers to run high-throughput screening assays using fluorescent detection. The toolboxes can be used in conjunction with Amersham's LEADseeker platform as well as with conventional plate readers.
Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Transkaryotic Therapies Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., presented final arguments in their patent-infringement trial over erythropoietin Friday. Amgen markets erythropoietin as Epogen. A ruling in the case is expected within several weeks.
Ceres Inc., of Los Angeles, and Genset SA, of Paris, said they have completed a gene sequencing project that characterizes several tens of thousands of corn genes. The project emphasized full-length cDNA sequencing, as opposed to partial gene sequencing, to capture complete information on gene sequences and encoded proteins. Ceres utilizes multiple technologies in an industrial, assembly-line fashion to discover plant genes and their functions. Genset is a genomics company that integrates genomic and molecular biology information relevant for the discovery, development, and marketing of therapeutics.
Curis Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said recent research published in Nature showed the plant-derived compound cyclopamine blocks abnormal cell growth associated with genetic lesions that cause a number of cancers. Curis has licensed from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine the rights to use cyclopamine. Philip Beachy, from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, led the research.
Espersion Therapeutics Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., said it sold 900,000 shares of common stock at $9 per share as part of the underwriters' overallotment option from Espersion's Aug. 9 IPO of 6 million shares. The overallotment brings the total proceeds to $57.8 million. The underwriting group included Robertson Stephens Inc., Chase H&Q and U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. Espersion discovers and develops pharmaceutical products for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. (See BioWorld Today, Aug. 11, 2000, p. 1.)
Luminex Corp., of Austin, Texas, introduced its high-throughput screening (HTS) system at the Society for BioMolecular Screening Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Luminex HTS is based on Luminex's LabMAP technology and is designed to be more economical than comparable bioassays on the market. Luminex develops, manufactures and markets biological testing technologies in the life sciences industry.
Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said its board approved a 2-for-1 stock split to be effected in the form of a stock dividend for stockholders at the close of business on Sept. 27. The dividend distribution date is Oct. 18. On Sept. 5, Millennium had 99 million common shares outstanding. Millennium applies its science and technology platform for the discovery and development of breakthrough therapeutic and predictive medicine products.
Oxford GlycoSciences plc, of Oxford, England, said progress on the Vevesca (OGT 918) development program was reported at the Fourth European Working Group on Gaucher Disease (EWGGD) meeting in Jerusalem. Conference organizer Ari Zimran reviewed the initial 12-month study and also gave data on the extended 18-month study, which showed statistically significant reductions in liver and spleen volume coupled with improvements in hemoglobin and platelets. Sonja van Weely, from the Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam, in a separate presentation reported plasma chitotriosidase, a marker of Gaucher disease activity, continued to decline on treatment with Vevesca.
PPL Therapeutics Inc., of Blacksburg, Va., said it signed an agreement with an undisclosed U.S.-based biotechnology company to study the feasibility of the transgenic production of a peptide that inhibits excess tissue formation. The peptide will initially be produced in the milk of rabbits. This is the fourth peptide agreement PPL has signed since demonstrating proof of principle of its peptide technology in its calcitonin program.
Scios Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., said results of the Vasodilation in the Management of Acute Congestive heart failure (VMAC) Phase III clinical trial of Natrecor will be presented at the clinical trial results plenary session Nov. 15 at the 73rd Scientific Session of the American Heart Association in New Orleans. Enrollment in the VMAC trial was completed at the end of July and patient follow-up, data collection and analysis are now under way.
Therion Biologics Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., and the National Cancer Institute initiated two additional Phase II trials of Prostvac VF, a vaccine designed to stimulate and strengthen the body's immune response against prostate tumor cells. More than 100 patients are expected to receive the treatment in the new trials.
Viragen Inc., of Plantation, Fla., said its wholly owned subsidiary in Scotland was granted a worldwide exclusive license to develop, use and sell technology based on a patent owned by the UK's Cancer Research Campaign Technology. The technology relates to a tumor-associated antigen, 791Tgp72, and a novel method for its isolation and use in medical treatments, in particular cancer vaccines.
Zonagen Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, said the FDA notified the company that a shorter mechanistic study of brown fat proliferation may be submitted in lieu of the two-year rodent study formerly requested. The FDA will lift the partial clinic hold on Vasomax and Vasofem and perhaps consider the drug's ability to be approved if the results of the mechanistic study show effects predictive of brown fat proliferation in the rats that are not expected in humans (see BioWorld Today, May 18, 2000, p. 1.). Zonagen also said the results from its study on Vasofem, a product for the treatment of female sexual dysfunction, were presented at the FIGO World Congress of Gynecologists in Washington. Women taking Vasofem showed a statistically significant (p<0.02) difference in blood flow levels than those taking an oral placebo. Vasofem also showed statistically significant (p<0.03) differences in arousal and other subjective measures.