* ArQule Inc., of Medford, Mass., entered an agreement with RocheBioscience, of Palo Alto, Calif., for use of the former's technology tocreate compound libraries based on the latter's lead candidates.Roche Bioscience is a research division of Roche Holding Ltd., ofBasel, Switzerland. Financial terms were not disclosed.

* CDR Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, said it has launcheddevelopment of small-molecule compounds that mimic monoclonalantibodies targeted for treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases,transplant rejection, eye injuries and skin disorders. The technologyused by CDR was invented by Mark Greene, vice chairman of theimmunology division of the department of pathology and laboratorymedicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine inPhiladelphia.

* Dyax Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., received a Phase I SmallBusiness Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes ofHealth to develop imaging agents for diagnosis of inflammation andinfection sites based on a protein discovered with the company'sphage display technology.

* Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, locked in a patent fightwith Novo Nordisk A/S, of Bagsvaerd, Denmark, over human growthhormone, amended its U.S. District Court complaint to include patentinfringement claims related to insulin. Novo sells insulin under thename Novolin in the U.S. Genentech's insulin is sold by Eli Lilly &Co., of Indianapolis. Novo's growth hormone, Norditropin, wasapproved by the FDA, but has been blocked from the U.S. market byGenentech's litigation.

* North American Vaccine Inc., of Beltsville, Md., said its combinedvaccine for prevention of diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio wasapproved in Denmark. The vaccine incorporates the company'sacellular pertussis component.

* OncorMed Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., entered an agreement withAffymetrix Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif., to develop tests using thelatter's GeneChip technology to detect genes associated with cancer.The collaboration initially will focus on the p53 tumor suppressorgene, which is mutated in more than 50 percent of all cancers.Diagnostics also will be developed to detect genes for breast, colonand ovarian cancers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

* Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Tarrytown, N.Y., began a PhaseI/II study of a melanoma cancer vaccine, which is the company'ssecond ganglioside conjugate vaccine to enter clinical trials.

* Seragen Inc., of Hopkinton, Mass., raised $5 million in a privateplacement of 5,000 preferred shares convertible to common stock.

Jim SeechukCommunity of Science, Inc1615 Thames St.Baltimore MD 21231410-563-5383jcs@bestpl.hcf.jhu.edu

(c) 1997 American Health Consultants. All rights reserved.