¿ Amersham Pharmacia Biotech Inc., of Piscataway, N.J., introduced MegaBACE 500, the next generation of the company¿s DNA analysis system. The new model offers flexible throughput options and easy upgrades.

¿ Aradigm Corp., of Hayward, Calif., sold 114,795 shares to Acqua Wellington North American Equities Fund Ltd., for the aggregate price of $2.17 million, or $18.9225 per share. Aradigm said it will use the proceeds from the stock sale for process development and capital expenditures to increase manufacturing capacity, in addition to research and development activities.

¿ Corixa Corp., of Seattle, said the Hart-Scott Rodino waiting period required before the completion of its merger with Coulter Pharmaceutical Inc., of South San Francisco, has expired. Stockholder meetings for both companies considering the merger are scheduled for Dec. 21, and Corixa anticipates closing the merger the following day.

¿ Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., completed enrollment in one its pivotal Phase III safety and efficacy trials of Cidecin for treatment of complicated skin and soft tissue infection. Cubist expects results from the trial in the second quarter of 2001.

¿ Entelos Inc., of Menlo Park, Calif., entered a collaboration with the metabolic and cardiovascular drug discovery division of Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, to evaluate human body mass and adipose tissue mass regulation approaches. Entelos will use its PhysioLab technology to provide insight into pathophysiologies that lead to obesity. Financial terms were undisclosed.

¿ EntreMed Inc., of Rockville, Md., began its 10th trial of an angiogenesis inhibitor this year, a Phase I trial of Angiostatin, its subcutaneous anti-angiogenic. The study has already enlisted four cancer patients who¿ve received the compound through twice-daily self-administered injections.

¿ Genta Inc., of Berkeley Heights, N.J., said data show its Androgenics portfolio of small molecules for treatment of early stage prostate cancer not only inhibit androgen production but also antagonize androgen receptors and decrease the growth of hormone-dependent prostate cancers in experimental models. The results were published in the Dec. 1, 2000, issue of Cancer Research.

¿ Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Baltimore, said it submitted documentation to European authorities to begin clinical development of GPI-15715, a prodrug anesthetic propofol, and GPI-5693, a neuroprotectant for treatment of neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Guilford plans to begin clinical evaluation of the compounds in Europe in the first quarter of 2001.

¿ Incyte Genomics Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., and The Cardiovascular Research Institute Maastricht at the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands, entered a genomics research partnership focused on cardiovascular disease. Resultant intellectual property will be jointly owned. Further terms were undisclosed. In separate news, Incyte entered a partnership with the University of California San Francisco for genomic study of prostate cancer. That resultant intellectual property also will be jointly owned.

¿ Inkine Pharmaceutical Co. Inc., of Blue Bell, Pa., said its multicenter Phase II trial of Colirest in treatment of patients with mild or moderate active ulcerative colitis produced positive results. Of 11 evaluable patients, 64 percent responded to the treatment. Inkine plans to move the treatment into late-stage pivotal testing.

¿ InSite Vision Inc., of Alameda, Calif., will license exclusive rights to two ophthalmic fluoroquinolone compounds, SS732 and SS734, from SSP Co. Ltd., of Tokyo. InSite will develop the compounds into an ophthalmic dosage formulation using its DuraSite technology.

¿ Medarex Inc., of Princeton, N.J., subsidiary Genmab A/S initiated a Phase II trial of HuMax-CD4 in rheumatoid arthritis. The dose-ranging trial is designed to evaluate the compound¿s safety and efficacy.

¿ MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, installed its automated antibody generation system AutoCAL at the Wilmington, Del., DuPont Pharmaceuticals research facility. AutoCAL uses MorphoSys¿ robotic high throughput HuCAL antibody library screening system.

¿ Myriad Genetics Inc., of Salt Lake City, extended its proteomics collaboration with Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, through the end of 2002. The program already has produced six dementia candidates.

¿ Orphan Medical Inc., of Minneapolis, and Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, entered an agreement granting Kirin exclusive marketing and distribution rights to Busulfex injection in Asia. Busulfex, a conditioning regimen for bone marrow and stem cell transplants, was approved in the U.S. in February.

¿ Oxxon Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Oxford, UK, entered an agreement with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research to license tumor-associated antigens for use in Oxxon¿s therapeutic vaccines program for treatment of certain cancers. Peptides derived from the licensed antigens stimulate an anti-melanoma CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response in vitro and induce tumor regression in vivo.

¿ Select Therapeutics Inc., and Cytomatrix LLC, both of Woburn, Mass., formed Cell Science Therapeutics, a joint venture aimed at developing and commercializing pharmaceuticals based on each company¿s proprietary technologies in cell culture, tissue engineering and immunotherapy. Steve Peltzman, former Cytomatrix CEO, was selected as the joint venture¿s CEO.

¿ Sepracor Inc., of Marlborough, Mass., said partner Schering-Plough Corp., of Madison, N.J., submitted new drug applications for two formulations of its nonsedating antihistamine desloratadine. Schering-Plough and Sepracor entered their licensing agreement for desloratadine in December 1997.

¿ Signase Inc., of Houston, completed its initial round of funding for drug discovery and development. The newly formed company centers on development-stage cancer therapeutics with a focus on solid tumors. A.M. Pappas & Associates, of Research Triangle Park, N.C.; BioCaptial Investment LP, of Montreal; and company management participated in the round.

¿ Third Wave Technologies Inc., of Madison, Wis., entered a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing cross-licensing agreement with Dade Behring Inc., of Deerfield, Ill. The agreement allows Dade Behring to develop in vitro diagnostics products to diagnose genetic blood clotting disorders based on Third Wave¿s Invader technology. Third Wave gets unnamed patents from Dade Behring.

¿ Trega Biosciences Inc., of San Diego, licensed its iDEA Predictive ADME Simulation System for absorption to Tibotec Group N.V., of Mechelen, Belgium. Tibotec gets a multiyear site license to the technology and an option to license the iDEA metabolism module scheduled for release at the end of this year.

¿ Valentis Inc., of Burlingame, Calif., entered an agreement with Oxford BioMedica plc, of Oxford, UK, through the Valentis subsidiary PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals plc to develop a new version of MetXia, Oxford¿s lead anticancer drug. Valentis will pegylate the compound with its viraMASC PEGylation technology. Financial terms were undisclosed.