Escagenetics Corp. announced Tuesday that it has received a$50,000 Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to producenovel taxoids.

Phytopharmaceuticals Inc., a subsidiary of Escagenetics of SanCarlos, Calif., will use the funds to develop taxoids with higherefficacy and fewer side effects than the cancer-fighting drugtaxol.

Phytopharmaceuticals has used its proprietary chemicalgenetics technology to generate plant cell lines that synthesizea diversity of taxol-related compounds that potentially offertherapeutic or pharmacodynamic advantages over the naturaltaxol molecule.

In 1991, Escagenetics (ASE:ESN) received $800,000 from NCI todevelop a method for producing taxol via plant cell culture. Thecompany received a $109,000 supplement to that originalthree-year grant in May. -- Jennifer Van Brunt

APPOINTMENTS AND ADVANCEMENTS

Mitotix Inc., a start-up company developing small moleculepharmaceuticals which selectively inhibit cell cycle targets, hasappointed Alison Taunton-Rigby and Alan Dalby to its board ofdirectors. Taunton-Rigby is the Cambridge, Mass., company'spresident and chief executive officer. Dalby is the chairman ofCambridge NeuroScience Inc.

Thomas McKearn, president of Cytogen Corp., will also becomethe Princeton, N.J., company's chief executive officer, effectiveJan. 1, 1994.

HemaCare Corp. has hired Raphael Stricker as associate medicaldirector and Anne Lauritzen as manager of quality assurance.Stricker joins the Los Angeles-based company from theCalifornia Pacific Madical Center and Childrens Hospital in SanFrancisco, where he was associate director of the division ofimmunotherapy and plasmapheresis. Lauritzen had been theGood Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliance administratorat Baxter Healthcare Corp.'s Hyland division.

Affinity Biotech Inc. of Boothwyn, Pa., has added RichardSherman to its board of directors. Sherman is founder of QEDTechnologies, a technology and business developmentconsulting firm. He is also a principal in CIP Capital L.P. andserves as special counsel to the Philadelphia-based law firm ofPepper, Hamilton & Schneetz.

Joining the board of directors of San Diego-based CorvasInternational Inc. is James Woody, senior vice president ofresearch and development and chief scientific officer atCentocor Inc. Leaving Corvas' board are Hubert Schoemakerand Michael Wall.

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