¿Affymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., licensed to Takara Shuzo Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, rights to intellectual property for commercializing low- and medium-density DNA arrays. Takara is launching IntelliGene DNA chips, covered under the agreement, worldwide this month.
¿Aventis Pharmaceuticals, of Parsippany, N.J., said results of more than 60 clinical studies on the chemotherapy agent Taxotere to treat patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer will be presented this week at the Ninth World Conference on Lung Cancer in Tokyo. The conference began Monday and runs through Sept. 15. Taxotere was approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic NSCLS after failure of prior platinum-based chemotherapy.
¿Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., reported data from a pilot study showing Avonex (interferon beta-1a) has potential to treat primary progressive multiple sclerosis. Patients receiving a weekly intramuscular injection of 30 mcg of Avonex showed a significant reduction in the size of brain lesions seen on MRI, a measure of the extent of damage the disease has caused to the brain. Results of the study were presented at the 16th annual ECTRIMS (European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis) congress in Toulouse, France.
¿BioWisdom Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, completed a first-round of financing with MB Venture Capital Fund I N.V., a healthcare and technology investor, for #2 million (US$2.8 million). BioWisdom plans to be a source of drug discovery data, information and knowledge on the Internet.
¿Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., said it has called for redemption of all $243.8 million worth of 1.9 percent convertible bonds due Nov. 17. The redemption date for these bonds is Oct. 11. The redemption price for each $1,000 amount of the bonds will equal $1,004.98, which includes accrued interest up to the redemption date. Chiron applies an integrated scientific approach to the development of products for preventing and treating cancer, infection and cardiovascular disease.
¿Clingenix Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., and MJ Life Co., of Taipei, entered a collaboration under which MJ will provide laboratory services and expertise, along with samples and database information from study subjects for Clingenix's clinical trials throughout Asia. In return, MJ Life will have the first right of refusal to market in Asia all new methods and technologies that Clingenix may develop in connection with such samples and database information.
¿Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG, of Martinsried, Germany, completed a private placement worth EU50 million (USD$ 42.9 million), led by Schroder Ventures and Sofinnova Partners. Other new investors included Polaris Venture Partners and Lehman Brothers. Ingenium is a privately held company focusing on degenerative diseases of the nervous system, and cardiovascular, metabolic, immunological and neoplastic disorders. The company plans to use the money to further research in functional genomics.
¿Large Scale Biology, of Vacaville, Calif., sold 750,000 shares of common stock to the underwriters of its Aug. 9 initial public offering, when 5 million shares were sold. J.P. Morgan & Co., Chase H&Q and William Blair were the underwriters. Large Scale plans to use the proceeds to fund research and development activities, product development initiatives and capital expenditures, and for working capital. The company focuses on proteomics and functional genomics.
¿Medarex Inc., of Princeton, N.J., and Oxford GlycoSciences plc, of Oxford, England, entered an agreement under which Medarex will generate fully human antibodies of up to 30 OGS protein targets for cancer or other life-threatening diseases. The initial antigens are breast cancer proteins. Terms call for the companies to share preclinical and clinical responsibilities, and for Medarex to invest $5 million in OGS equity.
¿Quest Diagnostics Inc., of San Diego, signed a two-year supply agreement with Abbott Laboratories, of Abbott Park, Ill., worth $60 million beginning immediately. Abbott will provide immunoassay tests and systems for hepatitis, cancer, cardiac conditions and therapeutic drug monitoring. Quest will also use Abbott's leading prostate-specific antigen and homocysteine assays.
¿Trega Biosciences, Inc., of San Diego, has teamed with GemStone Systems Inc., of Beaverton, Ore. Trega licensed GemStone's e-business software for use in its web-based version of the iDEA predictive model for absorption. The model is designed to predict the human absorption characteristics of active drug candidates. Trega plans to deliver the model to its pharmaceutical customers pre-configured for use on a server supported by GemStone. Financial terms were not disclosed.