• Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif., reported preliminary results from a study evaluating the use of Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) administered once per month to maintain target hemoglobin levels (10-12g/dL) in chronic kidney disease patients with anemia. The preliminary results showed that all patients enrolled maintained hemoglobin levels in the target range while receiving Aranesp once a month through the 11-week period used in the analysis.

• Bioxel Pharma Inc., of Quebec, said it will build a new large-scale manufacturing plant in La Pocatiere, Quebec. The facility, to be located in the town's industrial park, will process Bioxel's Canada yew biomass into a primary taxane extract. The new facility is expected to be operational in the fourth quarter.

• Charles River Laboratories International Inc., of Wilmington, Mass., and Proteome Systems Ltd., of Woburn, Mass., reported the opening of a new contract laboratory dedicated to proteomic research services. The joint venture, reported in October, operates from Charles River's Discovery and Development Services facility in Worcester, Mass., near Proteome Systems.

• Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., reported details of the Gilead Access Program, which will provide access to Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), the company's once-a-day antiretroviral medication for HIV, at no profit in every country in Africa and in 15 additional countries in other parts of the world classified as "least developed" by the United Nations. Gilead said it will make Viread available to any private or public program treating people with HIV/AIDS in the 68 nations for $39 for a 30-day supply.

• Inex Pharmaceuticals Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, selected Vinorelbine TCS as the third anticancer drug to be developed in its targeted chemotherapy product pipeline. Inex's first product from that platform is Onco TCS, for which an application for marketing approval is expected during the third quarter. Vinorelbine TCS is composed of the off-patent anticancer drug vinorelbine, encapsulated in Inex's liposomal drug delivery technology.

• Insmed Inc., of Richmond, Va., reported that data from recent studies of its anticancer compound, recombinant human insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (rhIGFP-3), demonstrated significant decreases in cancerous growth in several models of human cancer. For example, the protein inhibited lung tumor growth by 70 percent as a single agent in mice. It increased the effect of paclitaxel from 33 percent to 61 percent in mice bearing human breast tumors. The results were accepted for poster presentations at the 94th annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research in Toronto.

• IntraBiotics Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., approved three proposals at the company's special meeting of stockholders: a reverse stock split, to amend the equity incentive plan and to increase the authorized number of shares of common stock. As planned, the company adjourned the meeting with respect to the proposal to approve a private placement involving the sale of preferred stock and related warrants until April 23.

• Marshall Edwards Inc., of North Ryde, Australia, said that laboratory-based data confirming that phenoxodiol causes chemo-resistant ovarian cancer cells to die were published in the proceedings of the 94th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine conducted the study, which also found two signaling pathways that regulate ovarian cancer cells, indicating that phenoxodiol works by altering the signals made by those pathways. The data were presented at the 50th annual scientific meeting of the Society for Gynecologic Investigation in Washington.

• Nexia Biotechnologies Inc., of Montreal, was awarded a C$3.94 million (US$2.67 million) research contract from the U.S. Army Medical Research Materiel Command to develop Protexia (formerly NEX-91), Nexia's recombinant form of butyrylcholinesterase (BChE). The contract is sponsored by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense. BChE is a natural bioscavenger that may be used to prevent the toxic effects of nerve agents and other organophosphate compounds.

• NimbleGen Systems Inc., of Madison, Wis., appointed GeneFrontier Corp., of Tokyo, as its exclusive distributor in Japan. The agreement aids NimbleGen in providing customized, ultra-high-density microarray products and services for functional genomics research in Japan and other Asia-Pacific markets, the company said. GeneFrontier is a joint venture between ITX Corp., BML Inc. and InfoCom Corp.

• Transkaryotic Therapies Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., reported that Daniel Geffken resigned as senior vice president, finance and chief financial officer of TKT, effective April 18. He joined TKT in February 1997.