• Viragen Inc., of Plantation, Fla., was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,743,624 for a process relating to the manufacture of Multiferon, a natural human alpha interferon drug derived from human white blood cells.

• Xanthus Life Sciences Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., received U.S. Patent No. 6,740,305 covering methods for measuring an individual's gastric emptying rate, which directly relates to how quickly or slowly they are able to absorb an oral therapeutic into the bloodstream.

• Zyomyx Inc., of Hayward, Calif., was awarded five patents related to its protein biochip technology. U.S. Patent No. 6,730,516 is titled "Microfluidic Devices and Methods," U.S. Patent No. 6,720,165 is titled "Methods for Making Antibody Fragments and Compositions Resulting Therefrom," U.S. Patent No. 6,720,157 is titled "Chips Having Elevated Sample Surfaces," U.S. No. Patent 6,186,154 is titled "Screening of Phage Displayed Peptides without Clearing of Cell Culture," and U.S. Patent No. 6,682,942 is titled "Microdevices for Screening Biomolecules."