¿ Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cheshire, Conn., said results from a collaborative project with the Yale University School of Medicine were published in the American Heart Journal. The study results indicated that elevations in harmful complement activation in patients with congestive heart failure are associated with worsened clinical symptoms and a reduced rate of event-free survival over a six-month period. Alexion said its humanized monoclonal antibody 5G1.1, a C5 complement inhibitor, specifically blocks the harmful complement components, and as such could be a treatment for that patient population.

¿ Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics B.V., of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, entered a licensing agreement with the German Cancer Research Center, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), of Heidelberg, Germany, to use the DKFZ's adeno-associated viral vector technology for undisclosed therapeutic targets. AMT gets rights to DKFZ's AAV system for preclinical and clinical research and development activities and marketing rights for resulting gene therapy-based products. The agreement also covers AMT's use of AAV-based gene therapeutics for development against interference with lipoprotein metabolism.

¿ Andrx Corp., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., completed its acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Armstrong Pharmaceuticals, a division of Celltech Manufacturing Inc., of West Roxbury, Mass. The acquisition was valued at $18 million, paid in cash, subject to certain post-closing adjustments.

¿ Biomax Informatics AG, of Martinsried, Germany, and Softberry Inc., of White Plains, N.Y., formed a strategic agreement granting Biomax an exclusive worldwide license to Softberry's complete human genome database. Biomax will develop and annotate the database using the Biomax Pedant-Pro Sequence Analysis Suite to create the Pedant Human Genome Database. Financial terms were not disclosed.

¿ Biomira Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, said it closed enrollment in its Phase III trial of Theratope, its vaccine for metastatic breast cancer. The company said enrollment had surpassed 1,000 patients. Survival is the primary endpoint of the trail, and final analysis of the data is expected in mid-2003. An interim analysis is scheduled for the third quarter.

¿ BioSource International Inc., of Camarillo, Calif., was granted a nonexclusive, worldwide license to The Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York Inc.'s Molecular Beacons Technology, covering patented rights to PHRI's fluorescently labeled nucleic acid detection probes, and kits and assays employing such probes. BioSource paid an up-front license fee and will pay royalties on product sales.

¿ CuraGen Corp., of New Haven, Conn., said it discovered a new protein of the fibroblast growth factor family. CuraGen said it is developing fully human antibodies that may serve as therapeutics to inhibit the function of the protein, which is expressed in human cancer cells from the lungs, stomach and colon.

¿ Cypress Bioscience Inc., of San Diego, entered a research agreement with the Georgetown University Medical School to identify and develop therapies for fibromyalgia syndrome. The Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at Georgetown is the largest recipient of U.S. government funding for research into fibromyalgia.

¿ CytRx Corp., of Atlanta, said scientists from Merck & Co. Inc., of Whitehouse Station, N.J., presented data from the companies' joint preclinical studies in the development of an HIV-1 vaccine to the Keystone Symposium in Keystone, Colo. Merck licensed CytRx's TranzFect technology in DNA-based vaccines targeted to four infectious diseases, HIV-1 among them, in November. The studies showed it's possible to markedly reduce the severity of SHIV infection through a regimen of different vaccines. The vaccines, the company said, induced a strong and specific cellular immune response that appeared to control the degree of SHIV infection.

¿ Enchira Biotechnology Corp., of The Woodlands, Texas, said a peer-reviewed report on its RACHITT (Random Chimeragenesis on Transient Templates) gene shuffling method was published in the April issue of Nature Biotechnology. The study's authors report three advantages of RACHITT over other technologies, including sexual PCR and staggered extension, resulting in libraries of chimeric genes that are more diverse.

¿ Epimmune Inc., of San Diego, said preclinical data from its HIV vaccine program indicated the vaccine, which Epimmune designed to directly address problems associated with viral mutation, stimulated multiple anti-HIV cytotoxic T-cell immune responses in animal models. The company has started manufacturing the vaccine for use in clinical testing, and said it plans to initiate trials of the vaccine late this year or in early 2002. Epimmune announced the positive preclinical results at the Keystone Symposium: "AIDS Vaccines in the New Millennium," in Keystone, Colo.

¿ ExGenix Ltd., of Victoria, Australia, changed its name to Cerylid Biosciences Ltd. Also, the company said it named Jackie Fairley CEO in January. It focuses on integrating genomics and natural products screening in the discovery of drugs.

¿ Exten Industries Inc., of San Diego, signed a letter of intent to acquire its research and development partner, MultiCell Associates Inc., of Warwick, R.I., through a cash and stock transaction. Financial details were undisclosed. MultiCell develops functional cells and cell lines with a focus on liver-derived cells.

¿ Gene Logic Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., said Sankyo Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, subscribed to the BioExpress Module and the ToxExpress Module of Gene Logic's GeneExpress Suite of databases, for use in Sankyo's drug discovery and development programs. Financial terms were not disclosed.

¿ Genzyme General, a division of Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., acquired Lisfarma Importagco, Exportagco e Comircio Ltda., of Sao Paolo, Brazil, for approximately $1.1 million. Through the acquisition, Genzyme obtained all the government licenses granted to Lisfarma that are necessary to register, import, warehouse and distribute medical products in Brazil. This should shorten the time for Genzyme to seek registration of Renagel by two years, the company said, and allow it to maintain control over Renagel and other products it introduces in Brazil.

¿ Imagenetix Inc., of San Diego, said findings from a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial in India indicated fatty acid ester complex capsules, called CMC by Imagenetix, may provide therapeutic benefit to osteoarthritis sufferers. Data from the 68-day, 100-patient study indicated that the CMC therapy statistically significantly reduced pain associated with osteoarthritis, improved flexibility and enhanced treated patients' quality of life. The study results were presented at the Experimental Biology Conference 2001 in Orlando, Fla.

¿ Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Carlsbad, Calif., said ISIS 113715, an antisense inhibitor of the PTB-1B gene, produced significant benefit in multiple animal models of diabetes. The compound, the company said, normalized blood glucose and insulin levels in the animal models. The data were presented at the 221st American Chemical Society National Meeting in San Diego. The company plans to initiate Phase I trials of the Type II diabetes therapeutic this year.

¿ Luminex Corp., of Austin, Texas, said it licensed two key microarray technology components from Tm Bioscience Corp., of Toronto. Luminex obtained rights to Tm's universal tags and hairpin capture probes for applications involving bead-based microarrays. Luminex will combine the technology, it said, with its LabMAP system for genomic analysis. The company also entered a separate agreement granting Tm rights to develop and market diagnostic products using LabMAP technology.

¿ MedImmune Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., initiated a Phase II trial of MEDI-507 in psoriasis patients. The compound is a humanized monoclonal antibody that the company said has the potential to selectively suppress the immune system. MedImmune is recruiting patients in a Phase II study in Europe and said two additional Phase II trials are scheduled to begin later this year.

¿ Novazyme Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Oklahoma City, and researchers from the University of Florida demonstrated that NZ-1001, Novazyme's modified acid alpha-glucosidase, restores normal muscle function in laboratory animals with Pompe disease. NZ-1001 successfully treated experimental mice engineered to have Pompe disease, clearing accumulated glycogen from the muscles of the mice and restoring normal skeletal muscle function. The data were presented in Orlando, Fla., at the Experimental Biology 2001 conference.

¿ Pharmacyclics Inc.'s Xcytrin Injection was used in a multicenter Phase Ib/II trial conducted by the University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center in Madison. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company's drug was administered in combination with standard whole-brain radiation therapy. The study showed the therapy increased local tumor control, as evidenced by a high tumor response rate and low rate of death due to tumor progression in the brain. The study was published in this week's Journal of Clinical Oncology.

¿ Pharmagenesis Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., assembled two teams to develop anticancer agent PG490-88 and hematopoiesis enhancer PG2-2000 for the U.S. market. The teams are comprised of consultants with experience in submitting drugs for FDA approval and will guide preclinical studies. Following the completion of the studies, Pharmagenesis will submit investigational new drug applications.

¿ Protein Polymer Technologies Inc., of San Diego, received about $1.9 million from the exercise of warrants and the issuance of convertible notes. The warrants were issued in conjunction with a Series G preferred equity financing and were convertible into common stock at a conversion price of 50 cents per share. The convertible notes, payable in either cash or stock at the company's discretion, bear a 7 percent per anum interest rate and become payable on Aug. 31. Protein Polymer, founded in 1988, focuses on protein design and synthesis.

¿ Receptron Inc., of Mountain View, Calif., said it initiated clinical trials of its first drug candidate, RCN-01303. The compound is based on the company's proprietary hormone receptor technology, and its mechanism of action is believed to be the modulation of the endogenous thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor. TPO is a human hormone that stimulates platelet production. The Phase I study is aimed at evaluating the compound's ability to prevent cancer chemotherapy-induced platelet deficiency.

¿ Titan Pharmaceuticals Inc., of South San Francisco, initiated randomized, controlled, multicenter Phase II testing of gallium maltolate in patients with metastatic prostate cancer and refractory multiple myeloma. The study will enroll 58 patients and is being conducted at several clinical centers in the United States. Gallium maltolate is an orally active formulation of gallium, a semi-metallic element that inhibits ribonucleotide reductase, an enzyme that promotes tumor growth.

¿ Vysis Inc., of Downers Grove, Ill., said it filed, with Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, a premarket approval supplement for use of the Path Vysion HER-2 test for determination of which breast cancer patients are candidates for Genentech's Herceptin therapy. The assay already is approved for prognosis and as an aid in the assessment of a patient for anthracycline therapy. The companies entered a collaboration concerning FDA approval for the Path Vysion HER-2 assay for selection of patients for Herceptin therapy in May 2000.