Houghten Pharmaceuticals Inc. raised $6 million in a privatefinancing, bringing to $35 million the San Diego company has raisedsince its founding in 1990.

Existing investors that contributed in this round were DomainPartners III, of Princeton, N.J.; Biotechnology Investment Ltd., ofLondon; InnoCal, of Costa Mesa, Calif.; and Forrest Binkley &Brown, of Newport Beach, Calif.

The money will go toward continued development of HP 228 andfollow-on compounds, which are cytokine-regulating agents thataffect both pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, said RobertWhitehead, Houghten's president and CEO.

HP 228 is in Phase II trials in cancer patients to reduce pain andchemotherapeutic toxicities. The compound and those behind it havepotential in a variety of inflammatory diseases, Whitehead said.

Since the beginning of the year, Houghten has entered into screeningcollaborations with Cadus Pharmaceutical Corp., of Tarrytown, N.J.;Immunex Corp., of Seattle; RiboGene Inc., of Hayward, Calif.; andOsiris Therapeutics, of Baltimore. The agreements, generally, involveno money up front, with the partner screening Houghten's libraries.Also this year Houghten "significantly expanded" its relationshipwith Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble Co., which was started in1992, Whitehead said. _Jim Shrine

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