* Pharmos Corp., of Alachua, Fla., received a notice of allowance for a new patent covering permanently ionic derivatives of steroid hormones and their antagonists.

* Progenitor Inc., of Columbus, Ohio, received patent No. 5,591,601 covering its T7T7 nonviral gene delivery system and methods for using the T7T7 system to introduce genes of interest into host cells.

* Sepracor Inc., of Marlborough, Mass., received patent No. 5,595,997 covering the use of decarboethoxyloratadine for the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

* Sibia Neurosciences Inc., of La Jolla, Calif., received patent No. 5,594,011 on a series of compounds, including its lead compound SIB-1508Y, that modulates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The patent provides coverage for the composition of the compounds as well as their use for treating Parkinson's disease.

* Texas Biotechnology Corp., of Houston, has received two patents, No. 5,591,761 and No. 5,594,021, which relate to the company's new class of small molecule endothelin-A receptor antagonists, including its lead compound, TBC 11251.

* Tropix, of Bedford, Mass., received a patent granting exclusive rights to new reagent technology that provides the high-sensitivity detection required for new methods of screening pharmaceutical compounds and for early detection of certain cancers and other human diseases. The patent covers a Tropix compound called CDP-Star and related reagents that enable a 10-fold improvement in signal intensity with rapid signal generation properties.

* Tularik Inc., of South San Francisco, has received two patents: No. 5,585,239, covering novel screening assays to identify specific inhibitors of herpes simplex virus and No. 5,591,825 covering signal transducer and activator of transcription 6, a protein which plays a key role in activating the immune response and related drug discovery screening methodology.

* Vical Inc., of San Diego, has received patent No. 5,580,859 covering the company's technology for direct intramuscular injection of "naked" DNA sequences to cause production of specific proteins intended to prevent or treat diseases and patent No. 5,589,466 covering its method of immunization through direct injection of DNA sequences into muscle or skin.

* Visible Genetics Inc., of Toronto, has received notices of allowance for three patents covering the company's MicroCel disposable DNA sequencing cassette. The MicroCel is a key component of Visible Genetics' Open Gene DNA sequencing system.

* Vyrex Corp., of La Jolla, Calif., received a notice of allowance on its key CD-Tagging technology, a system for the discovering of genes, their proteins and corresponding functions.*