Biomira Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, said it received U.S. Patent No. 6,207,170 titled "Patient-specific White Blood Cell Malignancy Vaccine From Membrane-proteoliposomes." It covers a new composition of matter and a cost-effective method for treating patients with an autologous vaccine.

Celsion Corp., of Columbia, Md., said it received U.S. Patent No. 6,200,598 titled "Temperature-sensitive Liposomal Formulation." It covers a formulation for microscopic liposome drug carriers.

diaDexus Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., said it received a patent covering a method for the diagnosis of a patient's susceptibility to atherosclerosis using antibodies against Lp-PLA2. diaDexus exclusively licensed the patent from GlaxoSmithKline plc, of Brentford, UK.

Heska Corp., of Fort Collins, Colo., said it received U.S. Patent No. 6,177,082. It covers the company's equine influenza vaccine, Flu Avert.

Hybrigenics SA, of Paris, said it received U.S. Patent No. 6,187,535 titled "Fast and Exhaustive Method For Selecting a Prey Polypeptide Interacting With a Bait Peptide of Interest," through an exclusive license from the Institut Pasteur, of Paris. It covers a part of the company's protein interaction mapping technology.

Immtech International Inc., of Vernon Hills, Ill., said it received U.S. Patent No. 6,172,104 titled "Dicationic Dibenzofuran and Dibenzothiophene Compounds and Methods of Use Thereof." It covers the company's drug delivery technology and uses of aryl amidine molecules and their prodrug derivatives.

Maxim Pharmaceuticals Inc., of San Diego, said it received U.S. Patent Nos. 6,153,591 and 6,184,210 titled "Dipeptide Caspase Inhibitors and the Use Thereof" and "Dipeptide Apoptosis Inhibitors and the Use Thereof," respectively. They cover pharmaceutical compositions for various families of caspase inhibitors.

Ostex International Inc., of Seattle, said it received U.S. Patent Nos. 6,190,412 and 6,204,367 titled "TRAP-Coated Prostheses" and "ELISA Kit for Quantification of C-terminal Telopeptides of Type I Collagen in Human Serum," respectively. They cover artificial joints having hydroxyapatite-coated bone attachment surfaces and bone resorption assays used in management of osteoporosis, respectively.

Oxford Biomedica plc, of Oxford, UK, said it received a notice of allowance from the U.S. Patent Office for a patent covering aspects of lentiviral vectors and their use.