Kosan Biosciences, of Hayward, Calif., said the U.S. patent office issued Patent No. 6,033,883 to Kosan and Patent No. 6,022,731 to The Leland Stanford Jr. University. The second patent is licensed exclusively to Kosan. The patents claim technology for producing polyketides in E. coli, yeast and other recombinant host cells, including technology for producing libraries of polyketides using multiple plasmid vectors.

La Jolla Diagnostics Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., said the U.S. patent office has allowed the company's 40 claims for Feverfew. The patent covers the method of delivery, formulation of product and the use of Feverfew.

Lexicon Genetics Inc., of The Woodlands, Texas, was issued a U.S. patent covering the use of a protein known as Rad 51 as a target for cancer therapeutics. The patent covers biochemical methods for screening for compounds that disrupt Rad 51 activity. Rad 51 has been implicated in DNA repair in breast and ovarian cancer.

Myriad Genetics Inc., of Salt Lake City, was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,030,832, covering the CtlP gene, which is essential for the suppression of breast and ovarian tumor growth through its interaction with the BRCA1 breast cancer gene. The company also was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,033,857, covering mutations in the BRCA2 gene and their use in the diagnosis and prognosis of breast and ovarian cancers.

Nanogen Inc., of San Diego, was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,048,690 titled "Methods for Electronic Fluorescent Perturbation for Analysis and Electronic Perturbation Catalysis for Synthesis," and U.S. Patent No. 6,051,380 titled "Methods and Procedures for Molecular Biological Analysis and Diagnostics." The first covers inventions directed toward improving the speed and versatility of hybridization analysis and catalytic reactions. The second claims advanced methods for active electronic transport and enhanced hybridization of DNA on electronic matrix devices.

NexMed Inc., of Robbinsville, N.J., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,046,244 for its application on the topical compositions of prostaglandin E1, a drug to treat sexual dysfunction. It covers two of the company's new topical treatment products, Alprox-TD and Femprox.

PharmaSeq Inc., of Monmouth Junction, N.J., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,046,003 titled "Method of Determining the Sequence of Nucleic Acids Employing Solid-Phase Particles Carrying Transponders." It protects the company's hardware used in DNA assays, including the novel electronic microchip.

Photogen Technologies Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., said the U.S. patent office issued patent No. 6,042,603 covering Photogen's apparatus for treatment using Two-Photon Excitation for activation of photoactive agents.

Questcor Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Hayward, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,030,785, covering certain aspects of the company's novel hepatitis C virus (HCV) drug discovery technology. The patent is directed at novel drug screening methods and assays for identifying antiviral agents that selectively inhibit HCV viral replication.

SuperGen Inc., of San Ramon, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,048,845, protecting the company's proprietary Extra technology platform, which is designed to shield the drug from the injection site, thus providing patient protection from tissue ulceration.

Transkaryotic Therapies Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,048,524 titled "In Vivo Production and Delivery of Erythropoietin for Gene Therapy," U.S. Patent No. 6,048,729 titled "In Vivo Protein Production and Delivery System for Gene Therapy," and U.S. Patent No. 6,048,724 titled "Method of Producing Clonal Cell Strains, which Express Exogenous DNA Encoding Glucagon-Like Peptide 1." The '524 patent relates to gene therapy for the long-term delivery of erythropoietin for the treatment of anemia, the '729 patent relates to non-viral gene therapy technology for the production and delivery of a range of therapeutic proteins, and the '724 patent relates to the delivery of glucagon-like peptide 1 for the treatment of diabetes.

Vion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., and Yale University were issued U.S. Patent No. 6,040,338 titled "N,N-Bis (Sulfonyl) Hydrazines Useful as Antineoplastic Agents," which covers a series of compounds based upon the alkylating agent prodrug technology for the potential treatment of cancer. The patent covers the use of the pharmaceutical composition and the method of treating tumor cells with these formulations.