* Aradigm Corp., of Hayward, Calif., filed an investigational newdrug application with the FDA to begin clinical testing with itspulmonary drug delivery system for morphine. The hand-held deviceis designed to allow patients to self-administer pain medication.

* Hybridon Inc., of Worcester, Mass., and its partner, PharmaciaBiotech AB, of Uppsala, Sweden, said they have synthesizedcommercial quantities of their antisense AIDS drug, GEM 91, at afraction of what it used to cost to produce oligonucleotidecompounds. GEM 91 is being evaluated in Phase Ib/II trials in theU.S. and France. Hybridon said its OligoProcess can produce 350grams of GEM 91 per day. Manufacturing of syntheticoligonucleotides has decreased dramatically from millions of dollarsper gram in the late 1970s to more than $5,000 per gram in 1990 toHybridon's cost of $300 per gram. Pharmacia Biotech is a subsidiaryof Pharmacia & Upjohn Co., of Kalamazoo, Mich.

* Immune Response Corp., of Carlsbad, Calif., said the FDA hasapproved its manufacturing process for the company's HIV-1immunogen, called Remune, clearing the way for continued clinicaltrials of the AIDS vaccine.

* NeXstar Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Boulder, Colo., said 10 additionalcountries of the European Union have approved DaunoXome, aliposomal form of daunorubicin, for AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma.The drug already was approved in Sweden and the U.K. DaunoXomehas received an approvable letter from the FDA and is awaitingmarket clearance.

* Perkin-Elmer Corp., of Norwalk, Conn., has introduced a fasterDNA sequencer, called the ABI Prism 7700 Sequence DetectionSystem. The company said the fully automated machine represents a100-fold increase in speed for DNA sequence analysis.

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