Biotech Business Week articles from April 2003

Biotech Business Week archives from April 2003

New data confirms therapeutic efficacy and safety of Intercept platelet system.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Recently published data demonstrates that physicians in Europe can safely provide their patients with the added security of pathogen-inactivated platelets while delivering the therapeutic benefits...

AIDS drug fails NIH trials.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc's (GSK) AIDS drug therapy, Trizivir, the first pill to combine three HIV drugs (Ziagen, AZT and 3TC) into one twice-a-day pill, doesn't protect patients...

Companies announce agreement to market Novantrone.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Serono, SA, (SRA) and OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (OSIP) announced that they have entered into an agreement by which OSI will market and promote the drug Novantrone (mitoxantrone concentrate for...

New technology launched for accelerated proteomics research.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biacore International, AB, (BCOR) announced what it calls a major innovation for accelerating research in functional proteomics. Biacore3000, according to the manufacturer, is the highest...

Manufacturing capacity doubled; alliance signed with microarray company.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cardinal Health, Inc., (CAH) has more than doubled its sterile manufacturing capacity on the West Coast to accommodate growing demand from the biotechnology industry for sterile product development and...

amfAR awards $1.2 million.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) announced more than $1.2 million dollars in research grants and fellowships to combat HIV/AIDS. "amfAR pursues a research strategy that can be...

Daniel Swisher named COO, Steven James named chief business officer.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced the appointments of Steven James to chief business officer and Daniel Swisher to chief operating officer. Swisher will assume executive responsibilities for...

Dermatology company names Miller as senior vice president sales, marketing.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Connetics Corporation (CNCT) has named Michael P. Miller to the newly created position of senior vice president and chief commercial officer, heading up the sales and marketing organization. "Mike...

New chief commercial officer named at biotech company.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Argenta Discovery Ltd. announced that it has appointed David Gee as chief commercial officer. Based at Argenta's Harlow headquarters, Gee will be responsible for continuing to drive the company's...

Scientific advisory board members named at protein-centric biotech.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Confirmant Ltd., a provider of protein-centric bioinformation, announced the newly elected members of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The recently formed SAB is comprised of well-established,...

Sciton introduces new management team.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Sciton, Inc., announced the appointment of a new team to manage the growth of its aesthetic business due primarily to increased sales of its Profile multi-application aesthetic system. Dale Koop,...

Valent Biosciences acquires public health business.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Valent BioSciences announced it has acquired the worldwide public health business of Certis USA, including the Teknar brands of insecticide products that control mosquito and black fly larvae. In...

Plasma protein maker revises expectations for first quarter, full year 2003.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Baxter International, Inc., (BAX) announced it has revised its sales growth and earnings per share expectations for the first quarter and full year 2003. Based on increased competition and pricing...

ER physicians declare "emergency" for millions of uninsured patients.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Uninsured patients are more likely to live with serious medical conditions, lack access to critical medications, and forgo recommended health screenings than are people who have health insurance,...

Survey reveals which pharmas are tops with physicians.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Six out of 12 physician specialty segments surveyed rated Pfizer as the top company who best supports the overall needs of their practices, according to recent information collected by Health Products...

Grant provided in recognition of World Federation of Hemophilia 40th anniversary.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bayer Biological Products (BP) announced today a $40,000 donation to the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) in recognition of its 40 years of exemplary service to the global bleeding disorders...

Antihypertensive therapies shelved after disappointing phase III trial results.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Decision Resources, Inc., finds that a number of novel therapies for the antihypertensive market are now unlikely to drive the value of the market because of disappointing phase III clinical trial...

Noosh selected by the American Heart Association.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Noosh, Inc., provider of collaborative e-business software solutions, announced that the American Heart Association (AHA) has chosen Noosh to provide a web-based solution for managing production...

Rx Communications Group launches RxIR USA, a new IR service.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Rx Communications Group, LLC, announced the launch of a new service to address the needs of internationally domiciled life-science companies seeking a presence in the U.S. capital markets. RxIR USA...

Class action lawsuit filed on behalf of investors.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Law Firm of Cauley Geller Bowman Coates & Rudman, LLP announced that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, Northeastern...

Lawsuit filed against Bayer in New York.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bayer, AG, has been notified of the filing of a shareholder lawsuit in a federal district court of New York. The suit also names as defendants Manfred Schneider and Werner Wenning, the former and...

America's focus on wellness creates opportunity for pharmaceutical retailers.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Retailers and prescription drug and consumer healthcare products manufacturers must evolve their traditional approaches to marketing and begin seeking new ways of understanding the total wellness needs...

Fewer new drugs hit the market in 2002.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Industry experts estimate 47 new drugs hit the market in 2002 - a third fewer than in 1997. According to a new study, with each drug carrying more weight, starving potential blockbusters is one of...

Pharmaceutical research highlights new customer retention opportunities.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pharmaceutical companies can improve lifetime customer value by positioning themselves as disease experts and providing valuable disease management information. In fact, the best path toward...

DrugMatrix provided to FDA to investigate genomic data standards.
April 7, 2003... 2003 APR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), to provide CDER with research access to its...

Positive phase III clinical trial results with anidulafungin.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Versicor, Inc., (VER) announced positive results from a pivotal phase III clinical trial with the company's lead investigational product candidate, anidulafungin, an antifungal agent, and reiterated...

Nonadecapeptide's retention in pulmonary tissue may prove useful for therapies.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Experiments conducted in rodents showed prolonged retention of aerosolized, radiolabelled Moli1901 (duramycin, 2622U90), a 19 amino acid polycyclic peptide, in pulmonary tissues. This...

Clinical trial of new opioid product shows reduction in chronic low back pain.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Penwest Pharmaceuticals Co. (PPCO) announced that the results of five studies on the investigational drug EN3202, an extended-release (ER) oral form of the opioid oxymorphone, jointly developed by...

FDA proposes bar coding in pharmaceutical packaging.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Datamax Corporation is encouraged by the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal that mandates the use of bar coding at the unit of use pharmaceutical packaging level. The FDA...

Promising new results reported for Remicade.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- New data was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) in San Francisco from a phase II study investigating the use of Remicade (infliximab) in patients suffering...

UAB develops assay that could lead to HIV vaccine.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Tranzyme, Inc., a drug discovery and development company, announced that researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) have developed a novel assay that may lead to an AIDS vaccine...

DARPA provides funding for autonomous pathogen detection systems.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- MicroFluidic Systems, Inc., (MFSI), a privately held company, announced that it has received a contract for $1.5 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of a...

Everolimus eluting stent program to be sold.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biosensors International announced that the company has entered into a definitive agreement to sell certain assets of its everolimus eluting stent program to Guidant Corporation, based in Indianapolis,...

Distributor contract signed for predictive modeling product.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- ACS has signed a multiyear agreement to license DxCG RiskSmart from DxCG, Inc. ACS will integrate RiskSmart's predictive models into its healthcare analytics and reporting platform, as well as...

Dental laser featured in Forbes article.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biolase Technology, Inc., (BLTI) announced that its Waterlase technology was featured in the March 31 issue of Forbes Magazine, in an article titled "A Painless Root Canal?" Lasers that can cut...

Lumenis expands capabilities of ReLume Repigmentation System.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Lumenis, Ltd., (LUME) announced that its ReLume Repigmentation System now combines the capability of the ReLume technology with the high dose delivery and precise dosimetry of its BClear Targeted...

Company announces 2002 fourth-quarter and year-end results.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Novavax, Inc., (NVAX) announced financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2002. Total revenues for the fourth quarter of 2002 were $2.5 million compared to...

Company sees continued improvement in weight loss products business.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Angeion Corporation (ANGN) reported results for its first quarter ended January 31, 2003. Total revenue was $4.7 million compared to $4.4 million for the 3 months ended January 31, 2002. The net...

Ovation Nanosample RNA Amplification System launched.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NuGEN has introduced the Ovation Nanosample RNA Amplification System for gene expression profiling on commercial and self-spotted oligo and cDNA microarrays. The growing demand by researchers to...

Losses to be recovered for investors who purchased IT company securities.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Law Firm of Cauley Geller Bowman Coates & Rudman, LLP announced that a class action lawsuit has been filed in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut on behalf of...

Second favorable decision announced in Sands Brothers proceeding.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Generex Biotechnology Corporation (GNBT) announced that on March 18, 2003, the Appellate Division (First Department) of the New York Supreme Court denied a motion by Sands for re-argument of the...

Study on healthcare trends in America released.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- As Congress and President Bush wrestle with a return to deficit spending, and as millions of Americans prepare to pay their federal income taxes, a timely new independent study shows that much of the...

Neurostimulation device company honored with award.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Advanced Neuromodulation Systems, Inc., (ANSI) announced it has been presented with the Product Innovation Award by Frost & Sullivan, an international strategic market research firm. The award...

Market analysis: RNAi kits and reagents.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a recent survey of scientists, no single approach to the generation of small-interfering RNA (siRNA) duplexes currently dominates the market. However, each of four methods examined has...

Changes to corporate governance proposed to increase authority of shareholders.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aegon N.V. intends to revise its corporate governance and will propose to its shareholders to abolish the Dutch large company regime (currently applied on a voluntary basis) in order to increase the...

Company completes $60 million second round financing.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Targacept, Inc., a privately held company focused on central nervous system (CNS) diseases, announced that it has completed its second round financing following a second closing of $14 million,...

Pharmaceutical industry gearing up for flood of generics.
April 14, 2003... 2003 APR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With the recent surge of activity surrounding generic drugs, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry is bracing itself for a period of intense competition. Marketers of branded drugs and generic drug...

Experimental anticancer agent phenoxodiol induces death of chemoresistant cells.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Laboratory-based data confirm that phenoxodiol causes chemoresistant ovarian cancer cells to die. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine who conducted the study also found two signaling pathways that...

Consistent financing, markets, indemnity needed for biodefense vaccine developers.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Biotechnology companies are well suited to address the modest commercial opportunities offered by creating safer, more effective, and less costly vaccines for biodefense. However, the ultimate...

Drug slows progression of moderate-to-severe disease.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A drug that quashes the activity of a key brain chemical is the first effective treatment for patients in the later stages of Alzheimer disease, according to the results of a large multicenter clinical...

Next-generation biological and chemical sensors closer to meeting market need.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The use of biological, chemical, and gas sensors has been well established for several decades in numerous industries, yet, in terms of its potential, the market remains in its infancy. High-tech...

Consumer awareness spurs demand for convenient glucose self-monitoring devices.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An increasingly savvy consumer base coupled with the growing incidence of diabetes are spurring the growth of the glucose self-monitoring devices markets. With healthcare specialists and...

Consumerism theme resonates at healthcare symposium on Capitol Hill.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a day-long symposium on Capitol Hill, consumerism was the overriding solution to the top healthcare affordability challenges in America. Among the issues addressed at "Toward Affordable Health...

LLUMC researchers show nesiritide reduces length of stay.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study by researchers from Loma Linda University Medical Center (LLUMC) shows initial use of the intravenous drug nesiritide may lead to significantly reduced length of hospital stay for patients...

Agreement signed for production of monoclonal antibodies.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Avid Bioservices, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (PPHM), announced that it has signed an agreement with an undisclosed biotechnology company for the cGMP manufacture of up...

Device maker says MyGene granted distribution rights for cancer diagnostic kit.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- AMDL, Inc., (ADL) has granted distribution rights in South Korea for its DR-70 cancer diagnostic test kit to the South Korean company MyGene, Inc. MyGene is affiliated with approximately 100...

Joint marketing, service agreement will use eTag Assay system on MegaBACE.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Aclara BioSciences, Inc., (ACLA) and Amersham Biosciences, the life sciences business of Amersham plc (AHM), announced a joint marketing and service agreement for the purpose of marketing MegaBACE DNA...

Moore Medical expands diagnostic instrumentation and rapid testing portfolio.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Moore Medical Corp. (MMD) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Beckman Coulter, Inc., (BEC) to distribute hematology instrumentation, including reagents and controls and rapid test kits...

Company receives $950,000 in funding to support REPEL-CV trial.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Life Medical Sciences, Inc., (CHAI) announced that it has received approximately $950,000 in new financing through the completion of a $725,000 private placement with a consortium of European...

Medifast reports 238% increase in first quarter revenues.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Medifast, Inc., (MED) announced that it expects to report record first quarter revenues for the period ended March 31, 2003. The company had unaudited revenues of approximately $6 million, a 238%...

Revenue forecast lowered at biotech company.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Array BioPharma, Inc., (ARRY) announced that it is lowering its revenue forecast due to general market softness and the ending of two significant drug discovery collaborations. Overall, Array...

Transmyocardial revascularization company to be listed on OTC Bulletin Board.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- CardioGenesis Corporation (CGCPC), which provides angina-relieving Transmyocardial Revascularization (TMR) and Percutaneous Myocardial Revascularization (PMR), announced that with the opening of...

Total artificial heart implantation assessed.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The total artificial heart (TAH) could benefit several thousand people each year in the United States if it is eventually proven to be safe and effective, according to a new ECRI evidence report. ...

Trends: IT spending to shift to integration of enterprise-wide processes.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Pharmaceutical companies will increasingly shift their IT spending from systems that support a single function or department to systems that will help them integrate business processes and share data...

Suit alleges investors misled about application for generic Wellbutrin.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- On April 1, 2003, the law firm of Berger & Montague, P.C. filed a class action suit against Andrx Corporation and certain of its principal officers in the United States District Court for the Southern...

Biotech investors still sitting on the sidelines.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With the capital markets continuing their downward trend in the first quarter of 2003 (DJIA down 4% YTD, NASDAQ even YTD), the capital markets continued to be challenging for the biotech industry. ...

NDCHealth enters agreement to provide Dutch pharmaceutical market data.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NDCHealth Corp. (NDC) announced an agreement with Farminform, an independent provider of pharmaceutical market data in The Netherlands. Under the terms of the agreement, NDCHealth will provide its...

Diagnostics company purchases French bioprocess separation company.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., (BIO; BIO.B), a multinational manufacturer and distributor of life science research products and clinical diagnostics announced the acquisition of Verdot Industrie of Riom,...

Lab on tape company moves headquarters.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- BioTrove, Inc., announced that the company has relocated their corporate headquarters from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to a 20,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility on 12 Gill Street in Woburn,...

Alliance to identify novel uses for existing cancer drugs.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- cABC2, CaP CURE, and Ingenuity Systems announced a partnership that will test existing chemotherapeutic agents against recently discovered gene defects associated with prostate and brain cancer...

Williams named to board of directors of biochip company.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Arryx, Inc., announced the appointment of Nicole S. Williams to the company's board of directors and the promotion of Kenneth Bradley to chief operating officer. Williams currently serves as the...

Pain management market estimated to reach $29.8B by 2008.
April 28, 2003... 2003 APR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Front Line Strategic Consulting, Inc., announced the completion of its new Strategic Market Report series, "Pain Management Therapeutics." Front Line's report includes an in-depth analysis of...