Aclara BioSciences Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., said the court validated its noninfringement position regarding five patents Caliper Technologies Inc., also of Mountain View, alleges Aclara infringed upon. Caliper also claimed victory in the Markman hearing, saying the court accepted Caliper's interpretation of the majority of key terms in the patent claims.
AlphaRx Inc., of Richmond Hill, Ontario, began a clinical trial of CoQ10 extended-release ubiquinone for use in congestive heart failure treatment. The single-dose trial will assess safety and pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers.
AltaRex Corp., of Waltham, Mass., said final analysis of clinical data from its 17-patient trial of the monoclonal antibody BrevaRex in late-stage cancer patients indicated that five of 15 evaluable patients developed human antimouse antibodies and that the same number developed an immune response specific to the BrevaRex MAb. Seven of 15 patients developed an antibody response to the tumor-associated antigen MUC1, and five of 11 patients mounted a T-cell response to MUC1.
Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc., of Needham, Mass., completed the acquisition of Megan Health Inc. Avant will issue about 1.9 million shares to Megan shareholders in the transaction, valued at about $18 million. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 22, 2000.)
Biogen Corp.'s Avonex was the subject of a study in the Annals of Neurology showing multiple sclerosis patients treated with the drug had a 47 percent reduction in the risk of experiencing cognitive deterioration vs. placebo patients. The Cambridge, Mass., company already sells the drug for multiple sclerosis. Oregon Health Sciences University researchers performed the study.
BioPulse International Inc., of San Ysidro, Calif., applied for listing on the Third Market Segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The Geneva Group Inc. is facilitating the listing on the Frankfurt Exchange.
BioTransplant Inc., of Charlestown, Mass., and the Massachusetts General Hospital's Transplantation Biology Research Center renewed their collaboration aimed at new approaches to prevent the need for long-term immunosuppressive treatment for human organ transplant patients. The five-year agreement calls for BioTransplant to fund a portion of the research in exchange for worldwide royalty-bearing rights to resultant technology and inventions.
Charles River Laboratories Inc., of Wilmington, Mass., entered an agreement with the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine to further develop and commercialize novel cloning technology applied to immunodeficient mice. Charles River will sponsor research at Tufts to further refine the somatic cell-cloning technique in exchange for an exclusive license to the technology in the field of rat, mouse and other rodent research use.
Diversys Ltd. launched in Cambridge, UK, its formation backed by life sciences investor MVM Ltd., of London. Diversys will focus on platform technology for the in vitro evolution and engineering of recombinant proteins.
Epimmune Inc., of San Diego, licensed PINC gene delivery technology from Valentis Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., for an undisclosed up-front fee, milestone payments and royalties. Epimmune will use the technology for its preventive and therapeutic DNA vaccines in development against HIV and hepatitis C.
Gene Logic Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., entered a two-tiered agreement with LG Chemicals Ltd., of Seoul, South Korea, for access to a segment of Gene Logic's GeneExpress database for use in LG's drug discovery and development programs. The companies also agreed to develop a custom gene expression database focused on generating and evaluating gene expression information to aid in therapeutic compound development for gastrointestinal disease.
NeoPharm Inc., of Bannockburn, Ill., initiated Phase I/II trials of SS1(dsFv)PE38 for treatment of refractory mesothelian modulated cancers. The compound is a single-chain, tumor-targeting agent that uses an anti-mesothelian antibody attached to a pseudomonal exotoxin.
Orphan Medical Inc., of Minneapolis, received notification the FDA accepted for filing its new drug application for Xyrem (sodium oxybate) oral solution as a treatment for narcolepsy. As the FDA granted orphan priority review classification for the Xyrem NDA in October, the company expects a completion of regulatory review within six months of the Oct. 2, 2000, submission.
Paradigm Genetics Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., exceeded a third milestone in its collaboration with Monsanto Co., of St. Louis, Mo. The six-year agreement calls for Paradigm to use its GeneFunction Factory to determine the function of genes selected by Monsanto. The milestone payment was not disclosed.
Sequitur Inc., of Natick, Mass., said Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J., expanded the functional genomics license agreement that supplies Sequitur's proprietary antisense compounds collaborative research and pay undisclosed antisense material charges and licensing fees to Pharmacia for use in target validation studies. Pharmacia will fund collaborative research and will pay antisense material charges and licensing fees.
Symyx Technologies Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., and ABB Lummus Global Group, of Zurich, Switzerland, entered a research, development and licensing agreement centered on improved catalysts for automotive fuels. ABB will fund discovery efforts on Symyx's part, and the companies will share royalties.
Synaptic Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Paramus, N.J., discovered a peptide ligand that may play a role in controlling the spread of cancer cells. The ligand activates a G protein-coupled receptor found on multiple tumor cell types from highly metastatic cancers.
Vical Inc., of San Diego, named Vijay B. Samant president and chief executive officer. Samant is the former chief operating officer at Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Plains, N.J.