Geron Corp., of Menlo Park, Calif., was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,576,464, with claims directed to pluripotent stem cells that are engineered to permit the elimination of any undifferentiated cells that might remain after production of a batch of differentiated cells. The technology would be used, if needed, to provide an additional level of safety for cell therapies made from human embryonic stem cells.

Meyer Pharmaceuticals LLC, of Irvine, Calif., said the University of California at Irvine was issued U.S. Patent Nos. 6,569,664 and 6,573,062 with coverage directed to tumor necrosis factor receptor-releasing enzyme. The technology, licensed exclusively to Meyer from the school, is being developed as a new biological agent for treating arthritis.

Nature Technology Corp., of Lincoln, Neb., was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,573,091 for its gene therapy vector that it said overcomes genetic recombination. The company said it substitutes a packaging signal from a mouse VL30 genetic element to prevent the recombination events leading to virus production.

Oncolytics Biotech Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,576,234 titled "Reovirus for the Treatment of Neoplasia." The claims allowed cover the use of combinations of reovirus strains for the treatment of Ras-mediated tumors.

Ortec International Inc., of New York, said the U.S. Patent Office approved its claims covering the cryopreservation process for its tissue-engineered product, Orcel. The company said a patent incorporating the approved claims would be issued by the end of this year.

Pharmos Corp., of Iselin, N.J., received a notice of allowance related to its non-psychotropic cannabinoid platform technology, broadening its uses in developing drugs for neurological, cardiovascular and immunological clinical indications that involve inflammatory and degenerative pathological processes.

SinusPharma Inc., of Santa Barbara, Calif., was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,576,224, which relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprised of anti-infective, anti-inflammatory and mucolytic agents formulated for the treatment of sinusitis, particularly by aerosol administration. SinusPharma calls the formulations underlying the patent its AdhesENT technology.

Vasogen Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, received U.S. Patent No. 6,572,895 covering the use of its immune-modulation therapy in the treatment of chronic heart failure.

Vyrex Corp., of La Jolla, Calif., was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,541,613, which covers several derivatives of isoflavone, a group of naturally occurring plant compounds.

Zyomyx Inc., of Hayward, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,576,478 titled "Microdevices for High Throughput Screening of Biomolecules," broadly covering the general architecture of bioanalytical devices that include micro-channel assays used in protein analysis for research, drug discovery and development purposes.