• Angstrom Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, named Virgil Thompson its president and CEO. His more than 25 years of industry experience include leading early stage biopharmaceutical companies such as Cytel Corp., also of San Diego. Angstrom is developing inhibitors designed to interfere with the urokinase plasminogen activator system in patients suffering from conditions that are mediated through cell migration and invasion, angiogenesis and neovascularization.

• Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, presented at the Chinese Society of Hematology conference in Shanghai data from clinical trials indicating that Trisenox (arsenic trioxide) may be effective in inducing high rates of remission in hematologic malignancies like myelodysplasia (MDS) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). In 21 patients with MDS-refractory anemia, six patients (29 percent) achieved complete remission and eight (38 percent) achieved a partial remission for an overall objective response rate of 67 percent. Complete remission was maintained for three years. In 18 patients with MDS-refractory anemia with excess blasts, three achieved stable disease or better (one partial remission and two stable disease). In a study of 29 patients with newly diagnosed CML, 19 (66 percent) achieved complete remission, with four achieving a partial remission for an overall response rate of 79 percent.

• Cypress Bioscience Inc., of San Diego, presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting in Orlando, Fla., data showing that while both milnacipran and duloxetine (Cymbalta, from Eli Lilly & Co.) block the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine when tested against cloned human transport proteins, only milnacipran preferentially blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine. Cypress said the profile allows milnacipran to be classified as the first of a new class of agents called norepinephrine serotonin reuptake inhibitors (NSRIs). Data also demonstrated that milnacipran is a low-affinity NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) antagonist. Duloxetine did not display that activity.

• Gen-Probe Inc., of San Diego, received FDA approval for its Versant qualitative hepatitis C virus assay, which will be marketed by the diagnostics division of Bayer Corp., of Tarrytown, N.Y. The amplified assay, developed by Gen-Probe with its Transcription-Mediated Amplification technology, is to be used by clinical laboratories to detect the presence of HCV in human plasma or serum in patients suspected to be actively infected with HCV or with evidence of the HCV infection. Bayer already distributes Versant in Japan, Canada and a number of European countries.

• Helix BioMedix Inc., of Bothell, Wash., entered a development agreement with Nu Skin International Inc., a division of Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., of Provo, Utah, to explore the use of a Helix peptide in a new acne treatment product. Helix will receive a technology access fee and royalties based on the performance of the peptide, though specific financial details were not provided. The companies also agreed to explore opportunities for a broader licensing agreement.

• Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Richmond, British Columbia, reported positive results from its Phase Ia and Ib trials of IPL512,602, its oral asthma therapy candidate being developed with Aventis Pharma AG, of Frankfurt, Germany. Data indicated that IPL512,602 was safe and well tolerated at the doses studied, supporting Inflazyme's decision to open an IND with plans to begin a Phase II asthma study next year. Inflazyme is responsible for development through Phase IIa trials, after which Aventis would have the option to acquire exclusive worldwide rights (nonexclusive in Canada) to an oral dosage form of the product, subject to a milestone payment to Inflazyme.

• Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reported in the Nov. 8, 2002, issue of Science that its researchers and collaborators at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena discovered a biochemical clock that appears to play a crucial role in the way information is sent from the surface of a cell to its nucleus. Such messages can cause a cell to thrive or commit suicide, leading researchers to believe that manipulating them could lead to new treatments for cancer and other diseases.

• Meridian Bioscience Inc., of Cincinnati, said it terminated negotiations with Biotrin Holdings plc, of Dublin, Ireland, and ceased further discussions regarding Meridian's earlier interest in acquiring the diagnostics company. Meridian develops a range of diagnostic test kits, purified reagents and related products.

• Molecular Staging Inc., of New Haven, Conn., received a pair of Small Business Innovation Research grants. The first award, from the Department of Energy, will fund development of methods for microbial DNA amplification using the firm's multiple displacement amplification technology. The other grant, from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, is designed to fund development of a biomarker chip for enhanced diagnosis of osteoarthritis using Molecular Staging's chip-based proteomics discovery program.

• Munich Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, began a multicenter Phase Ib trial in that country to study the use of LipoPac in treating gastrointestinal cancer. Primarily designed to assess the safety and tolerability of LipoPac for the treatment of solid tumors in patients who have failed to respond to conventional treatment, the dose-escalating trial will enroll 36 patients.

• Omeris, of Columbus, Ohio, is the new name of the Edison BioTechnology Center, one of the original Edison Centers created in the mid-1980s by the state's government in an effort to ensure competitiveness and growth in Ohio's economy. Its mission to accelerate bioscience discovery and commercialization to drive economic growth is designed to boost the profile of the state's bioscience industry sector.

• Serono SA, of Geneva, said that following its offering period, it holds 91.8 percent of the capital and voting rights of Genset SA, of Paris, concluding the tender offer for Genset by Serono. Specifically, Serono gains about 7.6 million of Genset's 8.2 million shares outstanding; 515,931 Genset bonds convertible or exchangeable into new or existing shares (OCEANEs), representing 98.8 percent of the 522,223 OCEANEs outstanding; and all warrants outstanding. The offer was made six months ago and valued at €107.4 million at the time. (See BioWorld Today, June 27, 2002.)

• Oxford BioMedica plc, of Oxford, UK, said its TroVax would continue to be developed for colorectal cancer alongside current chemotherapy, 5FU plus Irinotecan and 5FU plus Oxaliplatin. Oxford expects to complete Phase II studies by the end of next year, during which time the drug candidate will enter three extra Phase II trials in colorectal cancer without chemotherapy, metastatic renal cancer and breast cancer. Another product, MetXia, is expected to complete its second high-dose Phase I/II study by the end of the first half of next year and then will be ready to enter Phase II studies in a number of disseminated but accessible cancers. The product also is planned to enter trials for pancreatic cancer by the end of next year. Oxford said all such expenditures could be met from existing cash resources at least into late 2004.

• Washington University in St. Louis reported in the Nov. 9, 2002, issue of The Lancet that enhancing the body's innate immunity could improve Crohn's disease symptoms in 80 percent of patients with moderate to severe cases of the inflammatory gastrointestinal disorder. As the disease has been thought to be the result of an overactive immune system, most therapies to date are immunosuppressive. Leukine (sargramostim, from Amgen Inc.), a granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor, has been shown to enhance an immune response by increasing the number and function of white blood cells to help eliminate Crohn's disease symptoms.

• YM BioSciences Inc., of Mississauga, Ontario, enrolled the first patient in its safety and immunogenicity trial of Norelin, a therapeutic cancer vaccine targeting the gonadotropin-releasing hormone to treat hormone-dependant prostate cancer. The 12-patient Canadian study also will evaluate the effects on prostate-specific antigen and testosterone levels, as well as tumor response.