Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,372,494 for the method of making media conditioned by human fibroblasts grown in three dimensions and using it as a cosmetic ingredient.

Applied Gene Technologies Inc., of San Diego, was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,380,377 titled "Nucleic Acid Hairpin Probes," which the company said gives it an advantage in enhanced nucleic acid hybridization analysis. Applied Gene Technologies also was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,379,930 for its Tessera Array Technology titled "Stabilization of Nucleic Acid Amplification Cocktails."

Artecel Sciences Inc., of Durham, N.C., was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,391,297 covering stem cells isolated from fat tissue that have been modified to exhibit at least one characteristic of an osteoblastic cell lineage.

Avigen Inc., of Alameda, Calif., was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,391,858 titled "Methods of Delivering DNA to the Bloodstream Using Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus Vectors." Avigen also was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,376,237 titled "High-Efficiency Wild-Type-Free AAV Helper Functions."

BioErgonomics Inc., of St. Paul, Minn., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,383,740, which protects its method for the simultaneous detection of molecular interactions that form a binding-pair complex in any biological sample.

Bioxel Pharma Inc., of Quebec City, Quebec, was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,391,913, making 12 claims covering a method for preparing 60 derivatives of paclitaxel, a process for conjugating the derivatives to monoclonal antibody proteins, a process for purifying the immunoconjugate, and a pharmaceutical composition and method for treating cancer with the derivatives and the immunoconjugates.

Boston Life Sciences Inc., of Boston, said it received written notice of allowance of claims contained in its licensed Inosine patent application, which covers the use of Inosine to treat stroke and spinal cord injury in a human subject, as well as the method of administration.

Cellegy Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,319,869 titled "Compositions and Methods for the Treatment of Anorectal Disorders," which delineates methods of treating those disorders with topical phosphodiesterase inhibitors.

Cellular Genomics Inc., of Branford, Conn., was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,383,790 covering general methods for discovering enzyme inhibitors, as well as methods and compositions of a class of specific inhibitors of protein kinases. The company also was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,390,821, which covers engineered protein kinases that utilize modified substrates.

Cepheid Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,391,541 covering cartridge-based automated preparation of biological samples in the its GeneXpert DNA detection system.

Hybridon Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,383,752 claiming a class of oligonucleotides with improved functional properties for target validation and therapeutic and diagnostic applications.

Idun Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, was awarded U.S. Patent No. 6,376,226 covering rev-caspases used for screening and identifying caspase inhibitors and enhancers.

Immunomedics Inc., of Morris Plains, N.J., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,387,350 covering a new method of detecting and treating cancers, infectious and inflammatory lesions, clots, hyperplasia and artherosclerotic plaques.

Invitrogen Corp., of San Diego, was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,383,810 for advanced granulation technology, a dry form of cell culture medium.

Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., said that a group of inventors working in Copenhagen, Denmark, was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,396,474. The patent covers the basic composition of matter for peptide nucleic acid, including its basic structure, as well as pharmaceuticals that contain PNA. Isis is the exclusive licensee of therapeutics rights to the patent.

Lorus Therapeutics Inc., of Toronto, said its wholly owned subsidiary, GeneSense Technologies Inc., received notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for intellectual property involving a gene with tumor suppressor activity. The patent is titled "Suppression of Malignancy Utilizing Ribonucleotide Reductase R1."

MetaMorphix Inc., of Savage, Md., was issued three patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office directed to its Myostatin technology, a regulator of skeletal muscle tissue. U.S. Patent No. 6,368,597 relates to methods of increasing glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity in cells by administration of antibodies, fragments of antibodies or inhibitors of Myostatin. The claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,369,201 include the use of two or more Myostatin immunogens, either alone or fused to a leukotoxin sequence, to elicit an immune response. A notice of allowance was issued for an application relating to claims including methods for increasing muscle mass using antibodies or fragments of antibodies capable of inhibiting Myostatin.

MicroIslet Inc., of San Diego, reported that to Duke University in Durham, N.C., was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,365,385 for "Methods of Culturing and Encapsulating Pancreatic Islet Cells." MicroIslet holds the exclusive license to the patent from Duke.

Nanogen Inc., of San Diego, was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,355,425 titled "Mutations Associated with Iron Disorders" relating to methods for the detection of certain mutations linked to hereditary hemochromatosis.