¿ 4SC AG, of Munich, Germany, and PACT, also of Munich, completed a pilot project to combine 4SC¿s virtual high-throughput technology and PACT¿s XPU microprocessor technology. The combination increased the speed of computer-aided drug screening by a factor of 50, 4SC said.

¿ Nanogen Inc., of San Diego, appointed Randy White CEO. White most recently was executive vice president of technical operations at American Medical Laboratories Inc., of Chantilly, Va.

¿ ConjuChem Inc., of Montreal, said it completed enrollment in its Phase I study of DAC:TI (CJC-1004) in mid-April. The trial was conducted in kidney dialysis patients with arteriovenous shunts at risk of developing blood clots. DAC:TI is designed to prevent localized blood clotting in patients at high risk for developing them. It plans to initiate a complementary Phase I trial to increase the dosage, and a Phase II trial should begin in the second half of this year.

¿ Curis Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said Stryker Corp., of Kalamazoo, Mich., said the European Commission granted marketing authorization for OP-1 Implant in the European Union. OP-1 is approved for the treatment of nonunion of the tibia of at least nine months duration, secondary to trauma, in skeletally mature patients, in cases where previous autograft failed or use of autograft is not feasible. Stryker said it anticipates commercial launch of OP-1 in the European Union to begin in the third quarter.

¿ IGEN International Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases entered a cooperative research and development agreement to develop tests for food, water and environmentally borne toxins. The tests will be based on IGEN¿s Origen technology. Assays will be developed for toxins including ciguatoxin, brevetoxins and staphylococcal enterotoxins. Financial terms were not disclosed. Separately, IGEN said Norpath Laboratories Ltd., of Durham, UK, will use IGEN¿s Pathigen tests for Salmonella and E. coli 0157 detection. Norpath is the first customer in Europe to accept the Pathigen tests and the first worldwide to accept the Salmonella test.

¿ Insmed Inc., of Richmond, Va., adopted a stockholders rights plan. Stockholders of record as of June 1 will receive rights to purchase new shares of a new series of preferred stock. The plan is designed to enable stockholders to realize the full value of their investment in the event of another company acquiring Insmed.

¿ LION bioscience AG, of Heidelberg, Germany, said it licensed its SRS data integration system to Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., to build a web portal for Affymetrix¿s customers and for internal use. The portal will supply detailed information on Affymetrix¿s GeneChip probe arrays and related products. Financial details were unavailable.

¿ Medarex Inc., of Princeton, N.J., and NovImmune SA, of Geneva, Switzerland, said they are collaborating on the development of fully human therapeutic antibodies. Medarex expects to use its UltiMAb Human Antibody Development System to generate antibodies to disease targets discovered by NovImmune. NovImmune will develop and commercialize any resulting products. Medarex expects to receive license fees and milestone payments as well as royalties on any sales. Also, if both parties agree, products can be jointly developed and commercialized. Further financial details were not disclosed.

¿ MGI Pharma Inc., of Minneapolis, said the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), of Philadelphia, presented data on MGI¿s Salagen Tablets at the 37th Annual Meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology in San Francisco. The data from a Phase III trial with 290 patients showed use of Salagen resulted in a statistically significant improvement of salivary flow vs. placebo in head and neck cancer patients. RTOG said the trial provides support for the use of Salagen Tablets during radiation treatment.

¿ Milkhaus Laboratory Inc., of Providence, R.I., said Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, made an undisclosed second equity investment in Milkhaus, related to a January 1999 licensing to Elan of a patent estate concerning the use of beta amyloid in the treatment of central nervous system disorders, with a focus on Alzheimer¿s disease.

¿ Nabi, of Boca Raton, Fla., initiated a clinical trial to evaluate a booster dose of Nabi StaphVAX, its product to protect at-risk patients from Staphylococcus aureus blood infections. In the placebo-controlled trial, about 100 hemodialysis patients who received their first StaphVAX injection two to three years ago will receive a second dose.

¿ Oxis International Inc., of Portland, Ore., said its appeal of the Nasdaq staff¿s decision to delist Oxis¿ common stock from the National Market System has been denied by the Nasdaq Listing Qualification Panel. Oxis¿ stock began trading Thursday on the NASD Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board.

¿ TheraMed Inc., of Rockville, Md., said it would commence a Phase I trial of ErythroMax, its cell-based oxygen therapeutic. The trial will be conducted at the University of Cincinnati and the Hoxworth Blood Center.

¿ Third Wave Technologies Inc., of Madison, Wis., said Kaiser Permanente Regional Laboratory Services, Los Angeles, is using Third Wave¿s Invader operating system for routine clinical applications. Third Wave markets four sets of Invader technology-based analyte-specific reagents and assay controls for use in clinical settings.

¿ ValiGen N.V., of San Diego, said it will develop and market specialty canola products in partnership with Agricore, a farmer-owned cooperative. ValiGen and Agricore will develop products using ValiGen¿s Genoplasty system to change specific DNA sequences. Financial terms were undisclosed.

¿ Viventia Biotech Inc., of Toronto, said its board approved a transaction with Dan Family Holdings Ltd., of Toronto, for funding of up to C$6 million (US$3.9 million). The transaction allows for two investment options for Dan Family: units consisting of one common share and common share purchase warrant or a convertible debenture investment. The transaction is expected to close within 20 days of the exercise of the ¿put¿ right, and is subject to regulatory approval.

¿ YM BioSciences Inc., of Mississauga, Canada, said results released by the National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) showed patients receiving a tesmilifene/doxorubicin combination therapy lived approximately 50 percent longer than those receiving doxorubicin alone, 23.6 months vs. 15.6 months. The data were presented at ASCO this week and were from a Phase III trial in metastatic breast cancer conducted by the NCIC prior to YM BioSciences¿ acquisition of the product¿s commercial rights.

¿ Zonagen Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, said results from research funded by a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grant were selected for the Clinical Ligand Assay Society Best Abstract Award. The CLAS said the abstract titled ¿Effect of a SPRM on Cynomolgus Endometrium and Serum Hormones¿ best described and supported original research in the most clear and sound manner.