¿ Carrington Laboratories Inc., of Irving, Texas, said data from an open-label study of Manapol powder in patients with moderate hypercholesterolemia showed that at 160 mg per day LDL cholesterol levels were lowered by 9.8 percent (p=0.001) after three weeks of treatment. Carrington plans to market Manpol powder in 80 mg chewable tablets with varieties that contain vitamin C and bran.

¿ Celsion Corp., of Columbia, Md., said it signed a memorandum of understanding with Inabata America Corp., a subsidiary of Inabata & Co. Ltd., of Japan, to explore the potential of partnering for sales and marketing of Celsion products in Japan and Asia. The memorandum calls for a six-month exploratory period, and upon its completion it is anticipated the companies will enter a partnership for sales and marketing. In other news, Celsion said it will accelerate the pivotal Phase II trial of its focused heat therapy for benign prostatic hyperplasia if the plan is approved by the FDA.

¿ IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp., of San Diego, will present information on the expanded use of Rituxan in the treatment of low-grade non-Hodgkin¿s lymphoma at the Engineered Antibodies Accelerating Drug Discovery & Development Conference & Exposition in Philadelphia in September.

¿ Immunex Corp., of Seattle, said a study of Novantrone (mitoxantrone for injection concentrate) in hormone-naive prostate cancer patients who have failed radiation therapy or surgery demonstrated the drug improved prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test results. The study of 22 patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy and failed treatment according to a PSA test found a 42.5 percent decrease in PSA score after six months of Novantrone therapy. Four of the 22 patients expressed a decrease in PSA score of more than 50 percent.

¿ MediChem Life Sciences Inc., of Chicago, disclosed at its annual shareholders meeting that it has been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Illinois Technology Challenge Grant Program. The grant is to fund the development of a manufacturing process for betulinic acid, a melanoma-specific cytotoxic agent.

¿ Neose Technologies Inc., of Horsham, Pa., said its research and development agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, has been amended and assigned to Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., in connection with Progenics¿ reacquisition of development and marketing rights from BMS of two cancer vaccine programs. Progenics has the right to negotiate with Neose for the supply of the two gangliosides for use as the active pharmaceutical ingredients in the cancer vaccines.