* Biovail Corp. International, of Toronto, received patent No.5,529,791 for its Diltiazem drug delivery system. The company saidthe patent applies to beads containing Diltiazem and a wetting agentcoated with a microporous membrane comprising a water-solublepolymer.

* Calgene Inc., of Davis, Calif., received two patents. No. 5,530,185is for a gene construct for expression of melanin in cotton fiber.Modifying fiber with melanin, a dark brown or black pigment inplants, would offset use of dyes. No. 5,530,194, is for the seedspecific promoter gene, Bce4, and is the latest in a series of patentsrelated to genetically modified plant oils.

* Dyad Pharmaceutical Corp., of Columbia, Md., received patent No.5,532,130 for methods and compositions for sequence specifichybridization of RNA by 2'-5' oligonucleotides. The company saidthe oligonucleotides bind to RNA, not DNA, and may haveapplications as diagnostics and antisense drugs.

* Imclone Systems Inc., of New York, received patent No.5,529,922, related to its cancer vaccine, BEC-2, which is an anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibody designed to mimic a glycolipidantigen found on the surface of tumor cells.

* Novopharm Biotech Inc., of Toronto, received notice of allowancefor a patent covering a human monoclonal antibody called Gliomab-h, which the company said is active against glioma, melanoma andneuroblastoma.

* OraVax Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., received patent No. 5,538,729for oral vaccines aimed at controlling Helicobacter pylori infections,which cause duodenal and stomach ulcers.

* Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., received noticeof allowance for a patent covering its HIV protease inhibitor, VX-478, and related compounds.

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