¿ Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc., of New Haven, Conn., and Harvard Medical School¿s McLean Hospital reported the transplantation of genetically altered pig nerve cells into an animal model of Alzheimer¿s disease. Test rodents with selective depletion of cholinergic neurons were shown to regain the ability to perform a cognitive task involving spatial memory after implantation of the porcine cells.

¿ Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., said a German court ruled it was entitled to an injunction prohibiting F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, from selling Roche hepatitis C virus immunoassays in Germany.

¿ La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co., of San Diego, said animal results of its xenotransplantation candidate, LJP 920, showed inhibition of the increase of B cells and the antibodies they produce, which are associated with antibody-mediated rejection of transplanted animal organs.

¿ LJL Biosystems Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., and CRS Robotics Corp., of Burlington, Ontario, installed a lab automation system at Monsanto Co., of St. Louis, that combines LJL¿s Analyst HT assay detection system with CRS¿ robotics technology and Polara automation software. The system will be used in the drug screening process. Separately, LJL introduced its new detection system, the Analyst AD.