Altachem Pharma Ltd., of Edmonton, Alberta, received an allowance for its U.S. patent application titled "Perylenequinones for use as photosensitizers and sonosensitizers" for its cancer treatment drug. Altachem's technology platform is based on a non-toxic family of compounds whose active ingredient is a derivative of a small molecular weight compound called HB, isolated from perylenequinone pigments from a fungal parasite of bamboo.

Demegen Inc., of Pittsburgh, received U.S. Patent No. 6,514,692 for a method of treating immunodeficiency virus infection. It claims a method of reducing cell-to-cell transmission of an immunodeficiency virus (including HIV and FIV) comprising administering to an infected animal an amount of a lytic peptide that is lethal neither to the virus nor to virus-infected cells, but renders viral particles produced by the infected animal non-infectious.

Egea Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,521,427 titled "Method for complete chemical synthesis of genes and genomes." Egea called the patent the first to include broad claims for the chemical synthesis of entire genes and networks of genes comprising a genome.

Genaissance Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,521,747 B2 for haplotypes of the gene-encoding angiotensin receptor 1, a target for hypertension drugs. The company also received an allowance for its patent application on clinical associations that predict an individual's bronchodilating response to the drug albuterol, used for asthma.

MethylGene Inc., of Montreal, received U.S. Patent 6,506,735 titled "Optimized Antisense Oligonucleotides Complementary to DNA Methyltransferase Sequences" covering optimized antisense oligonucleotides complementary to the DNA methyltransferase gene or its RNA transcript, including second-generation oligonucleotides, and methods for using such antisense oligonucleotides as therapeutic anticancer agents.

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tustin, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,524,583 titled "Antibody Methods for Selectively Inhibiting VEGF." The patent covers antibody-based methods for treating a variety of diseasesincluding cancer, arthritis and eye diseases, based on a group of antibodies that bind to and selectively neutralize the actions vascular endothelial growth factor.

Provectus Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., received U.S. patent No. 6,525,862 covering signal encoding and processing equipment used for high-sensitivity biomedical imaging. The patent also augments coverage of related methods afforded by a separate patent recently issued to Provectus.