* Perseptive Biosystems Inc., of Framingham, Mass., agreed to pay$12 million to settle a class action shareholder suit filed in federalcourt in December against the company. The settlement still must beapproved by the court.

* Alfacell Corp., of Bloomfield, N.J., said Scientific ProteinLaboratories, a subsidiary of Madison, N.J.-based American HomeProducts Corp., will supply Phase III and commercial quantities ofOconase. Financial terms were not disclosed. The drug is beingdeveloped for advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The Phase IIIstudy is slated to begin this fall. Oconase is an enzyme designed todegrade RNA within cancer cells.

* Aprogenex Inc., of Houston, raised $4 million through the sale ofconvertible preferred stock. The company said it has funds to keepoperating through early 1996.

* Athena Neurosciences Inc., of South San Francisco, and Eli Lillyand Co., of Indianapolis, amended their agreement on developmentof treatments for Alzheimer's disease to include joint ownershiprights to their transgenic mouse model, which is used in studying thedisorder. Financial details were not disclosed.

* Biomatrix Inc., of Ridgefield, N.J., said Synvisc, a treatment forosteoarthritis of the knee, has been launched on the market in Swedenby Roche AB, a subsidiary of Roche Holdings Ltd. Synvisc also isapproved in Canada. The product is an elastoviscous hylan that isinjected into joints to supplement the knee's synovial fluid.

* Biomune Systems Inc., of Salt Lake City, said preliminary datafrom its Phase II trial of Immuno-C showed the drug was "safe, well-tolerated and effective" for treatment of cryptosporidiosis in AIDSpatients. Complete results are expected in several months. Immuno-Cis a powdered bovine whey globulin concentrate.

* Emisphere Technologies Inc., of Hawthorne, N.Y., entered into acollaboration with Pasteur Merieux Serums & Vaccines, of Lyon,France, to study Emisphere's proteinoid oral drug delivery system foruse with a flu vaccine. No financial terms were released. PasteurMerieux is a subsidiary of the France-based Rhone-Poulenc Group.

* ICN Pharmaceuticals, of Costa Mesa, Calif., increased itsownership in Oktybar, a Russian pharmaceutical firm, from 41percent to 75 percent. ICN did not disclose the amount it paid for theadditional shares.

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