• Accelrys Inc., of San Diego, a wholly owned subsidiary of Pharmacopeia Inc., of Princeton, N.J., said Digital Gene Technologies Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., purchased its DS SeqStore for its bioinformatics infrastructure. DS SeqStore is designed to allow Digital Gene Technologies to deploy data and information more effectively to pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms.

• Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., entered into an EasyAccess Silver agreement with New Jersey-based Schering-Plough Research Institute under which SPRI will gain access to Affymetrix's standard and custom GeneChip arrays, instrumentation and software to monitor gene expression for use in biopharmaceutical research and development activities.

• Antigenics Inc., of New York, filed an opposition in the European Patent Office to European Patent No. EP 700445 B1, licensed to Stressgen Biotechnologies Corp., of San Diego, on grounds that its claimed invention is obvious, lacks novelty, is insufficiently described and encompasses nonpatentable subject matter. Antigenics also filed requests in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for re-examination of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,335,183 B1 and 6,338,952 B1, also licensed to Stressgen, on the grounds that the claimed invention in each of those U.S. patents is not novel and is obvious over earlier publications. The European and U.S. patents claim heat-shock proteins fused to antigens and their use in immune therapy.

• Asklia Holding AG, of Belp, Switzerland, and Cytos Biotechnology AG, of Schlieren, Switzerland, said Asklia shareholders agreed by more than 70 percent to merge with Cytos. Monday, Cytos shareholders approved the merger. Cytos focuses on Immunodrugs, its products intended for use in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. Asklia has stopped all operating activities.

• Bio-Technology General Corp., of Iselin, N.J., launched its 10-mg Oxandrin tablet for the treatment of involuntary weight loss. The new tablet strength, which allows patients taking 20 mg a day, the most common dosage, to convert from eight 2.5-mg tablets to one 10-mg tablet twice daily, is expected to improve patient compliance. Since introducing the product in December 1995, the company had grown Oxandrin sales to more than $47 million in 2001.

• CeMines Inc., of Evergreen, Colo., reported results of a multicenter trial showing its molecular fingerprinting-based blood test correctly identified cancer in all 177 patients (100 percent sensitivity) who were known to have one of four different tumor types - lung, breast, gastrointestinal or prostate. CeMines said its blood test also correctly ruled out cancer in all 72 control patients (100 percent specificity).

• Discovery Partners International Inc., of San Diego, extended its medicinal chemistry program with Theracos Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif. Specific financial terms of the milestone-based collaboration were not disclosed.

• ExonHit Therapeutics SA, of Paris, initiated its first clinical trial evaluating EHT 0201 (pentoxifylline) in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The Phase II trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of EHT 0201 as a potential treatment in addition to Paris-based Aventis SA's Rilutek (riluzole) therapy for patients suffering from ALS. The study, which is being conducted at 12 centers in Europe, is expected to enroll up to 400 patients.

• Genesoft Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, acquired from LG Life Sciences Ltd., of Seoul, Korea, the North American and European rights to the quinolone antibiotic Factive. The product has shown in vitro activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive organisms. Factive was discovered by LG and licensed to SmithKline Beecham, now Glaxo SmithKline plc, of London.

• ILEX Oncology Inc., of San Antonio, began the first combination therapy clinical trial involving the investigational anticancer agent clofarabine, a second-generation nucleoside analogue. The Phase I/II trial is designed to study clofarabine in combination with the chemotherapy drug ara-C (cytarabine) in adults with a spectrum of hematologic malignancies. The trial is part of a clofarabine co-development program being conducted by ILEX and partner Bioenvision Inc., of New York.

• Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., said results of an open-label Phase II trial of alicaforsen in patients with Crohn's disease showed that the antisense drug may produce clinical disease remission when patients receive appropriate doses of the drug. Thirteen of 22 patients, or 59 percent, achieved a response as defined by a 70-point reduction in the Crohn's Disease Activity Index score. Nine of the 13 responders, or 41 percent of the total patients in the trial, achieved a clinical remission, which was defined as a CDAI score of less than or equal to 150, with no increase in the use of corticosteroids or immunosuppressives, or need for surgery for Crohn's disease. The company is conducting two 150-patient trials of alicaforsen in patients with the disease.

• Isolagen Inc., of Houston, said that the faculty at the University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston is recruiting patients for a clinical study that will use the patient's own autologous cells and implant them in oral areas where there are cosmetic or esthetic problems. The objective is to validate a technique that will facilitate the growth of bone and gum tissue in areas destroyed by periodontal disease.

• La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co., of San Diego, said by Nov. 11 it would complete enrollment in its Phase III trial of LJP 394 to treat lupus renal disease. The trial began Sept. 21, 2000. While La Jolla said it plans to report initial results early next year, it added that serum samples from about 90 percent of patients enrolled to date have been analyzed. About 94 percent of the tested patient samples have high-affinity antibodies to LJP 394.

• Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, of Boca Raton, Fla., signed a "named-patient" international distribution agreement for Nabi-HB (hepatitis B immune globulin [human]) with UK-based IDIS World Medicines. The agreement calls for providing named-patient distribution coverage for Nabi-HB in 43 countries. Named-patient distribution refers to the sale of a product to a specific health care professional for the treatment of an individual patient.

• Pfizer Inc., of New York, said the Securities and Exchange Commission declared effective its registration statement in connection with its proposed acquisition of Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J. The registration statement includes a joint proxy statement/prospectus that will be sent to the shareholders of both companies. The acquisition was first reported three months ago. (See BioWorld Today, July 16, 2002.)

• Senetek plc, of Napa, Calif., and Vivier Pharma Inc., of Montreal, signed a license agreement granting Vivier the right to manufacture and sell to dermatologists, pharmacies and other ethical channels in Canada and the U.S. dermatological products containing Senetek's patented Kinetin skin care ingredient in combination with Vivier's formulation of vitamin C. Vivier expects to launch in early 2003. Additionally, Vivier granted Senetek the right to sell, and license others to sell, the combination products as well as Vivier's line of vitamin C serums in most markets worldwide. The agreement calls for the parties to collaborate on future development projects and clinical evaluations.

• Teva Neuroscience Inc., of Kansas City, Mo., said people living with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who delay Copaxone (glatiramer acetate for injection) treatment for as little as nine months can accumulate additional lesions in their brain, as reported in the October 2002 issue of Neurology. The delay of starting therapy resulted in six enhancing lesions per patient during the first nine study months, which could have been prevented, according to a study.

• The Fogarty Internal Center, a unit of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and seven partners have developed six research and training grants to support international collaborations in human genetics. All parties have committed about $2.3 million for the first year of the five-year awards, with total support of about $11.5 million over the entire period.

• Transgene SA, of Strasbourg, France, appointed Christophe Merieux as board chairman. He succeeds his father, Alain Merieux, who stepped down due to the new French law restricting the number of concurrent chairmanships that may be held by an individual; however, Alain Merieux will continue as a director. Christophe Merieux will continue to serve as corporate vice president for research and medical affairs of BioMerieux Pierre Fabre, of Paris.