y A co-founder of Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco, HerberBoyer, has donated $24 million to the University of California, SanFrancisco, for biomedical research _ the largest personal donationever made to the university. The gift consists of his patent rights to theprocess for splicing genes. Previously, he deeded the patent rights tothe university for a 17-year period which ran through 1997. Boyer andStanley Cohen, of Stanford University, worked collaboratively but inseparate labs, to discover ways to transplant genes between living cellsin 1973. They went on to develop the underlying techniques for geneticengineering.y Oncor, Inc., of Gaithersburg, Md., has acquired an exclusiveworldwide license to new technology that helps identify changes ingenes responsible for cancer and genetic disease. The company intendsto develop functional assays for predisposing cancer gene mutationsand offer related testing through a subsidiary. The new technology wasdeveloped by Stephan Friend, of the Massachusetts General HospitalCancer Center.y Scientists at HYGEIA Pharmaceuticals reported a step in developinga vaccine for adenocarcinomas, including colorectal and pancreaticcancer. HYGEIA has produced and cloned a mimotype of the AgSK1antigen that is found only in adenocarcinomas, the company announcedThursday at the annual meeting of the Federation of AmericanSocieties for Experimental Biology `94 in Anaheim, Calif.y Seragen Inc., of Hopkinton, Mass., said that its Interleukin-2 receptor-targeted Fusion Toxin helps some patients with moderate to severepsoriasis. The initial assessment of Phase I/II study results showed thatpatients tolerated the drug well. Additional studies are planned for thepotential treatment.y Synergen, of Boulder, Colo., has initiated a Phase I study to evaluatethe safety and pharmacokinetic behavior of recombinant human tumornecrosis factor binding protein to treat inflammatory diseases.

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