Somatogen Inc. announced Tuesday that it has receivedapproval from the Institutional Review Board at the Universityof Utah to begin studies with rHb1.1, its lead recombinanthuman hemoglobin molecule, in anesthetized surgical patients.

Theodore Stanley, professor of anesthesiology at the Universityof Utah, will be the principal investigator for the study.

Somatogen (NASDAQ:SMTG) of Boulder, Colo., is developingrHb1.1 as a key component in the evolving total bloodconservation strategy for surgical patients, with the ultimateobjective of reducing or eliminating a surgical patient'sexposure to donor blood.

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