• 4SC AG, of Martinsried, Germany, a cheminformatics-based drug discovery company, reported that the European Union supported a research consortium established to identify and develop new drugs to combat Staphylococcus aureus infections with a grant of 2.2 million. The project proposes to identify low-molecular-weight selective inhibitors of targets of S. aureus and test transdermal and oral bioavailability of resulting therapeutic candidates in several models of infection in order to develop new drugs to combat the bacterium.

• Adherex Technologies Inc., of Ottawa, Ontario, reported at the American Society for Cell Biology meeting in San Francisco preclinical findings showing its lead product, Exherin, is capable of rapidly attacking and damaging the tumor vasculature. A single injection of Exherin was shown to cause tumor blood vessel rupture within one hour of administration to tumor-bearing animals. Repeated administration of Exherin was shown to cause severe damage to the endothelium of the tumor blood vessels, as well as the disassociation of pericytes from the blood vessels.

• Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., of San Diego, and Mixture Sciences Inc., also of San Diego, entered an exclusive license agreement for Mixture Sciences to acquire all rights to an immunotherapy platform technology developed by Astral Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Alliance. Mixture Sciences will provide an undisclosed license fee and future royalties to Alliance. The parties plan to explore the possibility of combining their technologies into a single entity over the next several months. Astral's technology platform, Epitope-based T-cell Immunotherapy, is being developed for use in the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as Type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis, and for anti-infection and anticancer vaccines.

• Antex Biologics Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said an analysis of a Phase I trial of its vaccine to prevent Shigella sonnei infection demonstrated the vaccine was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported. The trial, carried out at the Johns Hopkins University Vaccine Testing Unit in Baltimore, was designed to test the safety of the vaccine and to generate initial immunogenicity data. The vaccine was developed using Antex's nutriment signal transduction technology. The trial was funded under a contract from the U.S. Army, which could use the vaccine to protect troops deployed in endemic overseas regions.

• BioCurex Inc., of Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., completed a licensing agreement with BioKinetix Research Inc., which is being acquired by RJV Network Inc., of Bellevue, Wash., to use BioCurex's Recaf technology. The license will allow BioKinetix to use the InNexus Super Antibody platform technology to create therapeutic antibodies. Combining Recaf antibodies with Super Antibody technology could give BioKinetix the potential to create both highly potent therapeutic antibodies and vaccines to immunize against the Recaf receptor, the company said. Recaf is found on malignant cells from a variety of cancer types but is absent in most normal or benign cells, BioCurex said.

• The Biotechnology Industry Organization in Washington said the first Industrial Biotechnology Analyst and Investor Briefing will be held Jan. 23 in New York. The inaugural event for the financial community will highlight industrial biotechnology and demonstrate the wide applications of biotechnology beyond health care.

• Cell Genesys Inc., of Foster City, Calif., reported encouraging follow-up data from its initial Phase I/II multicenter trial of GVAX lung cancer vaccine, a patient-specific vaccine made directly from patient tumor biopsies. The trial, which was last updated in June, enrolled non-small-cell lung cancer patients with advanced, heavily pretreated disease, 73 percent of whom had failed more than two prior chemotherapy regimens. Of the 33 patients who received vaccine, three patients achieved a complete response with a median duration of 17.8 months. One of the complete responses is still ongoing at 21.7 months. The data were presented Saturday at the International Conference on Gene Therapy of Cancer in San Diego.

• ConjuChem Inc., of Montreal, reported results from the DAC:Opioid (CJC-1008) Phase II proof-of-concept trial for the prevention of pain following hysterectomy surgery. The results, while not statistically significant, showed efficacy trends at all time points during the patients' hospitalization period, the company said. The study was a multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial of CJC-1008, a long-acting, parenteral, opioid analgesic.

• Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Baltimore, said the National Institutes of Health plans to test the company's neuroimmunophilin ligand, GPI 1485, in a clinical investigation of neuroprotective therapies for Parkinson's disease. The clinical program, which will study up to six promising compounds, including GPI 1485, will be funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, an NIH division. The NIH will carry out the studies in cooperation with coordinating centers at the University of Rochester and the Medical University of South Carolina, and up to 42 participating sites in the U.S. and Canada.

• Introgen Therapeutics Inc., of Austin, Texas, reported at the International Conference on Gene Therapy of Cancer in San Diego Phase I data showing that intravenous administration of Advexin was safe and well tolerated in patients with advanced cancer. The dose found to be safe and well tolerated, and appropriate for expanded efficacy testing, is similar to a dose being used in Phase III testing by the intratumoral route. Also, Phase II results demonstrated that Advexin treatment provided a survival advantage to patients with recurrent head and neck cancer, who were ineligible for surgery. Analysis of the data suggested an early survival advantage with high-dose treatment (75-day improvement in median survival), compared to the low dose, which also appeared to increase rates of tumor-growth control (stable disease or better) and stabilized performance status. Separately, Introgen said the MDA-7 protein, encoded by the tumor suppressor gene employed in INGN 241, its second clinical product, has potent anti-angiogenic activity. The discovery resulted in the reclassification of mda-7 as interleukin-24. Introgen said INGN 241 shows antitumor activity through two independent mechanisms - by activating the immune system to kill cancer cells and by directly inducing apoptosis in those cells.

• Kinexus Bioinformatics Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia, in collaboration with Science Magazine's Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment, released the findings of a study that evaluated the expression of 78 different protein kinases in tissues and cell lines from humans, monkeys and rats. The perspective, titled "Plasticity of the Kinomes in Monkey and Rat Tissues," was in the Dec. 6, 2002, issue of Science Magazine. Kinexus said the study revealed extensive differences in the level of protein kinases in equivalent tissues from rat and monkey, which may account for the high failure rate of drug candidates that initially tested well in rodents but are unsuccessful in human trials.

• Large Scale Biology Corp., of Vacaville, Calif., said scientists demonstrated that bone marrow stem cells can be expanded quantitatively in a laboratory. The research was published in the Dec. 15, 2002, issue of Blood. The article reports a culture method using human brain endothelial cells for which data in mice studies demonstrated a hematopoietic activity that increased the repopulating capacity of adult human bone marrow.

• Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., initiated a Phase I trial of MLN1202, a humanized monoclonal antibody that blocks the CCR2 chemokine receptor. It is being developed as a potential treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and possibly other inflammatory diseases. The primary objectives of the double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-escalation study are to evaluate the tolerability, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of MLN1202. The study will be conducted in Europe and will include about 48 healthy volunteers.

• NeoRx Corp., of Seattle, requested a hearing before a Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel to review a determination that its stock be delisted. NeoRx's common stock will continue to trade on Nasdaq pending the outcome of the hearing. NeoRx said it plans to request additional time to bring its common stock into compliance with the $1 minimum bid price requirement, and in the meantime may take actions to achieve compliance.

• NexMed Inc., of Robbinsville, N.J., completed testing of about 1,400 patients in two pivotal Phase III studies of Alprox-TD, its cream under development for treating erectile dysfunction. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies were designed to confirm the efficacy and safety of Alprox-TD in patients with mild to severe ED. Alprox-TD incorporates alprostadil (PGE-1) with the company's NexACT transdermal delivery technology. The company said it expects to report preliminary results in March and that it remains in active discussions with potential licensing partners in the U.S. and Europe.

• North American Scientific Inc., of Chatsworth, Calif., said its subsidiary, Theseus Imaging, submitted an investigational new drug application to the FDA to initiate clinical studies of Tc-99m Hynic-Annexin V technology for the early determination of response to cancer treatment. The product is intended to provide objective evidence of tumor cell death in patients who respond to treatment within hours of therapy initiation.

• OncoGenex Technologies Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., initiated a Phase I trial of OGX-011 in patients with prostate cancer. OGX-011 is an antisense drug being developed to sensitize tumors resistant to existing treatments such as chemotherapy, hormone ablation therapy and radiation therapy, and is the first anticancer antisense drug with Isis' second-generation chemistry to enter clinical development. Isis and OncoGenex established a co-development and commercialization collaboration for OGX-011 in November 2001. (See BioWorld Today, Nov. 27, 2001.)

• Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Richmond, Calif., presented preclinical data showing the ability of ONYX-411, a second-generation therapeutic virus, to specifically deliver anticancer gene products to tumors following systemic administration. The presentation was given at the 11th International Conference on Gene Therapy of Cancer in San Diego.

• Procyon Biopharma Inc., of Montreal, said Investissement Quebec, through the Biolevier program of its subsidiary, La Financiere du Quebec, loaned Procyon C$10 million (US$6.4 million). Procyon will be able to defer principal repayment and capitalize interest on the loan for a maximum of three years from first disbursement. The principal will be repaid annually, on the basis of 25 percent of funds generated by operations. Should Procyon not generate funds internally, it may defer repayment of the principal up to 10 years following the first disbursement. The interest rate will be based on the prime rate plus 3 percent, a rate that may be converted to a fixed rate. Procyon has two technology platforms for cancer diagnosis and treatment: antinuclear autoantibodies for various cancers, and prostate secretory protein for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

• Synthetic Blood International Inc., of Costa Mesa, Calif., said it has received all results from animal studies involving Oxycyte, a perfluorocarbon-based blood substitute and therapeutic oxygen carrier. The results were in line with expectations, the company said, and will be used to support filing an investigational new drug application for clinical testing of the product in the first quarter of 2003. The company also said the FDA asked it to conduct a neurotoxicity study in rats using Oxycyte.

• VaxGen Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., said the FDA designated the HIV/AIDS vaccine candidates, AIDSVAX B/B and AIDSVAX B/E, fast-track products for the prevention of HIV infection. The vaccines are the only preventive AIDS vaccine candidates to advance to Phase III trials, the company said. AIDSVAX B/B is being tested in a study of 5,400 people in the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands and Puerto Rico, with primary results expected in the first quarter 2003. VaxGen also is nearing completion of its Phase III trial of AIDSVAX B/E in Thailand, which is designed to protect against HIV subtypes B and E, the company said.

• Vion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., said initial clinical data showed increased bioavailability from a higher dose of oral Triapine, studied in six patients at two different dose levels. At 100 mg, Triapine's oral bioavailability exceeded 50 percent in three patients. Vion said it plans to obtain limited additional single-dose pharmacokinetic data in humans, and said if additional data confirm initial results, it would file an investigational new drug application for the oral Triapine formulation to begin multidose Phase I trials in cancer patients. Vion continues to evaluate an intravenous formulation of Triapine in Phase I and II trials.

• Zengen Inc., of Woodland Hills, Calif., said its scientists discovered an approach to reduce organ rejection based on their research with alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone. The research showed that treatment with the alpha-MSH peptide caused a significant increase in allograft survival and a marked decrease in leukocyte infiltration, one of the main causes of infection leading to organ rejection. The study appears in the Dec. 15, 2002, issue of Transplantation.