Immunomedics Inc., of Morris Plains, N.J., received notification of a patent allowance by the U.S. Patent Office for a new method of vaccination for cancers and infectious diseases. The company also said the U.S. patent office allowed a patent covering positron emission tomography with gallium-68 chelates. The company also was issued U.S. Patent No. 5,976,492 covering new methods of linking phosphorus-32 and phosphorus-33 to diverse disease-targeting proteins, such that they retain the ability to bind to abnormal cells, and No. 6,010,680, which describes a general method of labeling proteins with a radioisotope, providing a one-vial kit.

Isis Pharmaceuticals, of Carlsbad, Calif., received U.S. Patent No. 6,001,653 covering human Rnase H1, a cellular enzyme that degrades RNA when antisense drugs bind to RNA.

Matritech Inc., of Newton, Mass., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,027,905 containing claims for the use of its NMP179 test for the identification and management of women with, or at risk for, cervical cancer.

NeoTherapeutics Inc., of Irvine, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,027,936 covering a method for controlling the expression of genes to produce neurotrophic growth factors to stimulate nerve cell growth within the human body.

Orchid Biocomputer Inc., of Princeton, N.J., received a key genotyping technology patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,013,431, titled ¿Method for Determining Specific Nucleotide Variations by Primer Extension in the Presence of Mixture of Labeled Nucleotides and Terminators.¿

Protein Polymer Technologies Inc., of San Diego, was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,018,030 with broad composition of matter claims based on the company¿s core protein engineering technology. The patent extends the scope of a 1998 patent, which covered recombinant proteins consisting of short sequences of amino acids found to be repeated in natural proteins.

Repligen Corp., of Needham, Mass., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,020,310 titled ¿Method for assisting in differential diagnosis and treatment of autistic syndromes.¿ It covers the use of secretin in the treatment of autism spectrum disorder and its symptoms.

SuperGen Inc., of San Ramon, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,017,948 covering the company¿s novel water-miscible formulation of Taxol.

The Immune Response Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif., was issued U.S. Patent No. 6,017,543 and U.S. Patent No. 5,895,650, both titled ¿Prevention and Treatment of Retroviral Disease.¿ They cover the company¿s methods of stimulating the immune system with whole, inactivated HIV in individuals who are either infected or not infected, and include claims to whole, inactivated retroviral particles known to cause human diseases in a physiologically acceptable solution.

Zila Inc., of Phoenix, was issued a formal notice of allowance from the U.S. patent office indicating the company will be issued an additional patent that extends protection of its OraTest oral cancer detection products.