Cel-Sci Corp., of Vienna, Va., was issued three new U.S. patents related to its HIV-1-based therapeutic and preventive vaccines. The patents are U.S. Patent No. 6,258,945, which is an improved version of the company¿s already-patented HGP-30 peptide that contains within its sequences several epitopes against which the immune system reacts; No. 6,268,472, which describes the combination of this new peptide with the company¿s L.E.A.P.S. technology for better delivery and presentation to the immune system; and No. 6,287,565, which extends these technologies to other strains of HIV, in particular the C strain.

Diversa Corp., of San Diego, was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,280,926 covering the discovery of enzymes from gene libraries derived from mixed populations of eukaryotic organisms, such as fungi, plants and insects, and prokaryotic organisms, such as bacteria and archaea.

Esperion Therapeutics Inc., of Ann Arbor, Mich., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,287,590 titled ¿Peptide/Lipid Complex Formation by Co-Lyophilization,¿ which claims the method to produce pharmaceutical compositions including ETC-642 by co-lyophilization of peptide and phospholipids.

GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, and Waltham, Mass., was issued two U.S. patents covering geranylgeranyl transferase type 1 as an antifungal drug target. U.S. Patent No. 6,271,197 covers drug screening assays for identifying inhibitors of fungal GGTase activity, and No. 6,277,564 covers the nucleic acid sequence of an essential subunit of Candida albicans, GGTase and an expression construct of the nucleic acid.

Large Scale Biology Corp., of Vacaville, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,284,875, which covers the company¿s method of extracting commercial-scale quantities of active proteins from the intercellular material of plants.

Molecular Staging Inc., of New Haven, Conn., was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,280,949 covering multiple displacement amplification technology and its use in life science research and diagnostic products.

Nature Technology Corp., of Lincoln, Neb., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,287,863 for its VL30 gene delivery and expression system. Also covered in the patent are claims for the production of pharmaceutical proteins in animal milk and chicken eggs.

ValiGen NV, of Newtown, Pa., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,271,360 covering site-specific DNA sequence changes with single-stranded nucleotides.