¿ Aquila Biopharmaceuticals Inc., of Framingham, Mass., said that preliminary results show no difference in the primary endpoint in the management of Staphylococcus aureus mastitis in dairy cows between a control group of animals and those immunized with Quilvax-M. The primary endpoint was a reduction in the average somatic cell counts over 120 days following challenge with S. aureus. The company said that a detailed analysis of the data will be available in a few weeks and it will further study the results.

¿ Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., raised $94.87 million in its recent public offering after the underwriters exercised their option to purchase 375,000 shares at $33 each. Robertson Stephens, of San Francisco, served as the lead managing underwriter. Co-managing underwriters were Pacific Growth Equities Inc., of San Francisco; and ING Barings, Chase H&Q, and Lazard Freres & Co. LLC, all of New York. (See BioWorld Today, April 7, 2000, p. 1.)

¿ CyDex Inc., of Overland Park, Kansas, said that Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of New York, will use CyDex's Captisol sulfobutylether beta-cyclodextrin drug delivery technology in the development of a second BMS compound. Captisol is a complexing agent that improves the solubility of specific compounds, thus allowing more efficient delivery of medications.

¿ Generex Biotechnology Corp., of Toronto, has been approved for listing on the NASDAQ stock market. Shares will start trading tomorrow under the symbol GNBT.

¿ Kosan Biosciences Inc., of Hayward, Calif., received a two-year Phase I Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop generic approaches for overproduction of polyketides.

¿ Genetronics Biomedical Ltd., of San Diego, showed that the use of electroporation increases the potency of DNA vaccines. A joint study conducted by Genetronics and Emeryville, Calif.-based Chiron Corp. demonstrated that, in animal models, electroporation overcomes the barrier of inefficient cellular uptake of DNA in situ. Electroporation involves the use of extremely brief, intense electric pulses that create transient, reversible openings in cell membranes, including the enveloping membrane of human cells. The findings were published in the May 1 issue of The Journal of Immunology.

¿ Lynx Therapeutics Inc., of Hayward, Calif., and Hybrigenics S.A., of Paris, entered into a collaboration to discover expressed genes and protein interactions and pathways in human obesity. The goal is to create new diagnostics and treatments. Lynx will use its DNA cloning and analysis technologies to discover expressed genes in the formation and differentiation of human adipocytes. Hybrigenics will then expand these discoveries to identify the protein interactions and pathways involved in this process using protein-protein interaction mapping technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

¿ QLT PhotoTherapeutics Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, and CIBA Vision of Atlanta, presented results from clinical trials of Visudyne (verteporfin) therapy for the treatment of various eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The results showed that, after two years, Visudyne was confirmed safe and effective, and that twice as many patients on Visudyne therapy with predominantly classic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) lost less than three lines of vision - or 15 letters - on a standard eye chart, compared to those patients on a placebo (59.1 percent vs. 31.3 percent, respectively) at 24 months. The FDA approved Visudyne last month for the treatment of AMD patients with predominately classic CNV. (See BioWorld Today, April 14, 2000, p. 1.)

¿ Pharmacyclics Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., said that preliminary results from a Phase II dose-ranging study of Optrin (motexafin lutetium) for the photodynamic therapy of patients with age-related macular degeneration were encouraging. The results were presented at the meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

¿ RxKinetix Inc., of Louisville, Colo., formed a three-year licensing and collaborative alliance with Elan Corp. plc, of Dublin, Ireland, to develop compound formulations for the treatment of oral mucositis, one of the most common side effects of cancer. The agreement also covers other disorders of the oral cavity. Both companies will contribute technology, which will be used to initially identify and develop several compounds. Elan will make a $2.5 million equity investment in RxKinetix, with the research and development program being jointly funded.

¿ SafeScience Inc., of Boston, received a notice of full approval from the Western Institutional Review Board for a Phase II study of GBC-590 in patients with refractory or relapsing carcinoma of the pancreas who have failed one prior regimen of chemotherapy. Patient screening has started.

¿ The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle said its researchers found that by blocking the anti-CD28 antibody, they could reduce or prevent graft-versus-host disease. CD28 is a T cell surface structure, the function of which is pivotal to determining whether a foreign antigen induces immunity or tolerance, the center said.

¿ Theratechnologies, of Montreal, raised C$21 million (US$14.06 million) by selling 2.446 million shares at C$8.60 (US$5.76) each. If the overallotment option is exercised, the company will raise C$24.2 million (US$16.21 million). The proceeds will enable Theratechnologies to accelerate the clinical development of its products. (See BioWorld Today, April 27, 2000, p. 6.)