Neoprobe Corp. announced Wednesday that it has completed itsacquisition of the Swedish antibody-manufacturing companyMonoCarb AB.

Neoprobe acquired 62.4 percent of MonoCarb's outstandingcapital stock, or 942 shares, by issuing 128,096 shares ofNeoprobe common stock (NASDAQ:NEOP). Neoprobe ofColumbus, Ohio, has the option to acquire the remaining 560shares of MonoCarb for an additional 76,967 Neoprobe shares.Neoprobe's stock closed Wednesday at $5.38 a share, down 6cents.

MonoCarb, which manufactures antibodies and blood groupingreagents, has held an establishment license from the U.S. FDAsince 1991. Neoprobe intends to use the production facility tomanufacture the antibodies used as cancer-targeting agents inthe company's radioimmunoguided surgery (RIGS) systems.

"We expect MonoCarb will also produce antibodies for use inour RIGS adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) studies by the secondhalf of 1994," said David Bupp, Neoprobe's president. Until now,his company has had to rely on contract manufacturers to meetits antibody needs.

Neoprobe's RIGS technology uses radiolabeled cancer-antigentargeting agents and a hand-held gamma detector to guidesurgeons in identifying and removing cancerous tissue. Besidestwo Phase III trials for colorectal cancer, Neoprobe isconducting two Phase II RIGS studies for the surgical detectionof ovarian and breast cancer.

In its ACT studies, Neoprobe employs the RIGS technology withcancer patients to locate lymph nodes that contain anabundance of tumor-reactive helper cells, which are thenremoved, activated, expanded in culture and returned to thepatient in hopes of eliciting an immune response to the cancer.Neoprobe is currently conducting trials in patients withmetastatic colorectal cancer.

-- Jennifer Van Brunt Senior Editor

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