BioDiscovery Inc., of El Segundo, Calif., was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,731,781 for segmentation of spots in microarrays.

Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, received U.S. Patent No. 6,723,351, which is directed to Trisenox (arsenic trioxide) injection and extends the company's marketing exclusivity from 2007 to 2018. The drug is used for relapsed/refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma and other blood-related and solid-tumor malignancies.

Chimerix Inc., of San Diego, and the University of California at San Diego received U.S. Patent No. 6,716,825 titled "Phosphonate Compounds," claiming new phosphonate and phosphonate-containing compounds, methods for their production and methods for treating a variety of medical disorders.

Coley Pharmaceutical Group, of Wellesley, Mass., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,727,230 titled "Immune Stimulation by Phosphorothioate Oligonucleotide Analogs," protecting the use of oligonucleotides containing at least one phosphorothioate link to stimulate cellular immune responses.

Curis Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,723,698 titled "Methods and compositions for the treatment of motor neuron injury and neuropathy," claiming methods of treating motor neuron disorders by activation of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway through the administration of a BMP-7-related protein.

Introgen Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, said U.S. Patent No. 6,720,408 was issued to Columbia University in New York, covering the mda-7/IL-24 tumor-suppressor gene, which forms the genetic basis of Introgen's INGN 241 cancer product. The patent is exclusively licensed to Introgen for gene therapy applications through an agreement with Corixa Corp., of Seattle.

MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,706,484, which covers the method of obtaining an antigen-specific antibody or an antibody fragment from the HuCAL (Human Combinatorial Antibody Library).

mtm laboratories AG, of Heidelburg, Germany, was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,709,832 titled "Methods of early diagnosis of carcinomas," covering its core technology CINtec.

NexMed Inc., of Robbinsville, N.J., received a notice of allowance for its patent application titled "Compositions and Methods for Amelioration of Human Female Sexual Dysfunction," protecting Femprox for treating female sexual arousal disorder and providing exclusivity until 2018.

Paradigm Genetics Inc., of Research Triangle Park, N.C., was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,723,529 titled "Methods for the Identification of Inhibitors of Alpha-Aminoadipate Reductase as Antibiotics," covering its discovery of the new gene target in the biochemical pathway by which fungi produce lysine, as well as methods enabling the discovery of chemicals that inhibit gene protein activity within the lysine pathway.

Peplin Biotech Ltd., of Brisbane, Australia, received a patent allowance to include the use of angeloyl-substituted ingenanes in broadly treating cancer, extending the scope of protection afforded by a prior patent that protects the use of angeloyl-substituted ingenanes in treating skin cancer.

Xanthus Life Sciences Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., received U.S. Patent No. 6,693,198, covering its lead cancer product, Xanafide amonafide, which is being developed in conjunction with its metabolic predictors to enhance therapeutic outcome using individualized dosing regimens.

Vical Inc., of San Diego, was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,710,035, covering administration of plasmid DNA-encoding pathogen-specific antigens to generate immune responses, with or without adjuvants, and U.S. Patent No. 6,706,694, covering delivery to the heart of DNA-encoding biologically active proteins.