Pharma Marketletter articles from April 2005

Pharma Marketletter archives from April 2005

Alliance UniChem to re-brand as Alliance Pharmacy.
April 4, 2005... Alliance UniChem, a leading European health-care products distributor, says that it will develop its retail pharmacy business under the single brand of Alliance Pharmacy, with a new visual identity across mass market and use of the local term...

Ranbaxy files further ARVs with WHO.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... USA-based Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited, a division of the Indian Ranbaxy group, has made two additional filings of its antiretroviral agents with the World Health Organization for its approval, taking the total number submitted to the WHO to...

Sequenom discovers gene linked to bone mineral density.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... US firm Sequenom has announced the discovery of a genetic variation in the gene encoding phosphodiesterase 4D (PDE4D) that is believed to affect osteoporosis risk. Fragility fractures caused by osteoporosis are a major cause of morbidity and...

IVAX launches gabapentin in USA.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... IVAX Corp says it has launched its gabapentin capsules in 100mg, 300mg and 400mg dosage strengths in the USA. Gabapentin is the generic equivalent of Neurontin, a drug which is used to treat epileptic seizures which is marketed by...

US FDA reviews initiatives launched and goals achieved in 2004.
April 4, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has published a review of its activities in 2004, noting that the year saw the launch of many comprehensive new initiatives to better protect US citizens. Some of the year's highlights include: Drug...

US FDA pharmacogenomic data submissions guide "brings personalized medicine closer".
April 4, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has now published a Final Guidance on Pharmacogenomic Data Submissions, in a move which will, said Janet Woodcock, the agency's Acting Deputy Commissioner for Operations, "bring us one step closer to...

XenoPort starts Ph I GERD drug.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... XenoPort of the USA has initiated Phase I clinical trials of XP19986, a New Chemical Entity that is a transported prodrug of R-baclofen, which aim to assess the safety and pharmacokinetic properties of the agent in three different formulations....

Crucell and DSM sign deal with Mitsubishi.(DSM Biologics)(Mitsubishi Pharma Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Netherlands-based groups Crucell NV and allied contract manufacturer DSM Biologics say that the latter firm has sealed a research license agreement with Japanese drugmaker Mitsubishi Pharma. This which allows Mitsubishi to use the PER.C6 cell...

Bespak reports two new agreements.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... UK-based Bespak has signed a collaboration agreement with US speciality respiratory group airPharma to develop and manufacture a new inhalation device for the dry powder formulation of the latter's new asthma treatment, Zofac (pumactant). The...

Dong-A PharmTech files IND in USA.(Dong-A Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Korean drugmaker Dong-A PharmTech says it has filed an Investigational New Drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration for its novel phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, udenafil, and will thereby initiate clinical trials of the...

Armbruster and AbD get German grant.(Armbruster Biotechnology GmbH)(Antibodies by Design)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... German groups Armbruster Biotechnology GmbH, which specializes in the research of bone metabolism-related diseases, and Antibodies by Design, a division of MorphoSys AG, have received a grant of around 1.0 million euros ($1.32 million) from the...

Peplin moves drug to PhII.(Peplin Biotech)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Australian biotechnology group Peplin is intending to spend A$5.5 million ($4.32 million) on Phase II evaluation of its skin cancer gel ointment, PEP005, after unexpectedly-encouraging results from US trials which demonstrated its efficacy and...

Bharat Biotech wins Korean FDA approval.(Bharat Biotech International Ltd.)(Food and Drug Administration)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Hyderabad, India-based Bharat Biotech has been granted approval from the Korean Food and Drug Administration for its manufacturing facility and products and can now sell its human vaccines on the Korean market, reports the Associated Press. ...

Strides Arcolab looks for partner in USA.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Strides Arcolab, an emerging pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bangalore, India, has told the Associated Press that it is in talks with three global pharmaceutical firms over marketing deals that will allow it to penetrate regulated...

Savient to sell production to Ferring.(Ferring B. and Ferring International Centre SA)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... USA-based Savient Pharmaceuticals has agreed the sale of its global manufacturing business for $80.0 million in cash to Ferring B. and Ferring International Centre SA, subsidiaries of Ferring Holding SA, a privately-owned specialty...

Wyeth reaffirms 1st qtr EPS guidance.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... US pharmaceutical major Wyeth has reaffirmed its guidance for the first quarter of 2005, noting a significant discrepancy with the Thomson First Call mean analysts estimate of $0.67 diluted earnings per share. Wyeth predicts that, given the...

Santarus EPS drop of $3.30 in 2004.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... San-Diego, USA-based Santarus has reported a net loss for 2004 of $82.6 million, or $3.30 per share, versus a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $25.5 million, or $13.71 for 2003. Revenues were $1.3 million, while license fees and...

FDA's COX-2 recommendations "will benefit Bextra and Celebex".(United States Food and Drug Administration)
April 4, 2005... The recent US Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommendations for the COX-2 inhibitor drugs are likely to lead to prescribing gains for Pfizer's Bextra (valdecoxib) and Celebrex (celecoxib), though both physicians and patients...

Alzheimer's treatment improves with new diagnostic method.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... It would appear that earlier detection and treatment for Alzheimer's disease is now more practical for larger segments of the population through a more refined use of existing, well-validated neuropsychological tests. A study published in...

Family and social life a low priority for migraine sufferers.
April 4, 2005... Only one in five migraine sufferers would take acute migraine treatment for a social engagement, according to data presented at Migraine Innovators V; the fifth annual international congress aimed at improving the understanding of migraine and...

Snake venom ingredient being tested in heart failure.
April 4, 2005... An unnamed molecule in the venom of one of the world's deadliest snakes is being tested as a treatment for heart failure. Trials in Australia of the taipan molecule in healthy rabbits have been successful and scientists are to begin tests on a...

Belgium's Solvay in 1.3B-euros deal to acquire France's Fournier Pharma.
April 4, 2005... Belgian drugs and chemicals group Solvay has entered into an agreement with independent French drugmaker Fournier Pharma, with the intention of acquiring 100% of the latter in a transaction valued at around 1.3 billion euros ($1.71 billion),...

CORRECTION to Yamanouchi Vesicare story.(Correction Notice)
April 4, 2005... Yamanouchi has corrected an error in the published figures for the primary endpoint of micturition frequency in the STAR trial (Marketletter March 21) It should read: 2.45 for Vesicare versus 2.24 for tolterodine ER.

UK govt challenges NICE over plans to curb use of Alzheimer's drugs.
April 4, 2005... The UK government has now published its response to the National Institute for Clinical Excellence's controversial plan to curb the use of Eisai/Pfizer's Aricept (donepezil), Novartis' Excelon (rivastigmine), Johnson & Johnson/Shire's Reminyl...

German reforms "cut pharma sales, profits".(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Following the German government health reforms, medium-sized and smaller drugmakers' sales have fallen up to 20% and profits have contracted, says the drug industry association, the BPI. Firms could counter the trend with cost-cutting but...

UK Code of Practice complaints drop in 2004.(United Kingdom)(The UK Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority )(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The UK Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority has reported that it received 119 complaints last year, compared to 131 in 2003, 127 in 2002 and 138 in 2001. There were 119 cases to be considered last year, from 122 in 2003....

Czech drugmakers file complaint with EU.(European Union)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Manufacturers of original pharmaceutical products operating in the Czech Republic and which are members of the national industry association, the MAFS, have filed a complaint against the Czech authorities with the European Commission. The...

Spanish generics sales up 19% in 2004.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Spain's generic drug market increased 19% by value last year, to reach 410.0 million euros ($359.4 million), aided by government efforts to promote and develop the drugs. The Aeseg, the national association representing the largest...

UK parliamentary view on pharma influence.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The UK Commons Health Select Committee report on the influence of the pharmaceutical industry will be published April 4, after a long series of hearings (Marketletters passim). Marketletter's April 11 issue will contain full coverage.

Pharma welcomes Indian patent law changes, but NGOs fear for generics.
April 4, 2005... Both houses of India's parliament have approved the Patents Third Amendment Bill 2005, which brings the country's 1970 Patent Act into compliance with the World Trade Organization's Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights...

Australian pharma OKs 12.5% generic price cut.
April 4, 2005... Australia's federal government and the country's drug industry have agreed an automatic mandatory 12.5% price cut for new generic drugs. The news of the reduction came March 29, just before it took effect on April 1, and the government said the...

World retail Rx sales up 6% in 12 mnths to Jan.
April 4, 2005... Drug product sales made through retail pharmacies in 13 leading national markets showed an overall global growth rate of 6%, at constant exchange rates, during the 12 months to January 2005, closing at $348.91 billion, IMS Health has reported....

$1B sales milestone for OTC Claritin.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The antihistamine drug Claritin (loratadine), which its maker Schering-Plough says is the most successful prescription-to-over-the-counter medicine switch ever, marked a new milestone last month as cumulative sales surpassed the $1.0 billion...

Dr Reddy's/ICICI in $56M deal on ANDAs.(Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.)(Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... In a novel initiative, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, a leading Indian drugmaker, has partnered with the country's largest venture capital group, ICICI Venture Funds Management, to leverage global scale and infrastructure for the expansion of its...

Break-up of Ireland's Elan being mooted?(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The directors of Ireland's largest pharmaceutical group, Elan Holdings, are considering splitting-off the company's San Francisco, USA-based biotechnology unit from its drug-delivery business, the UK's Sunday Times has reported, without saying...

Spain's Zeltia to lose money from new IFRS accounting rules, say analysts.(International Financial Reporting Standards)
April 4, 2005... Struggling Spanish drugmaker Zeltia will lose money until 2008 as it begins to expense rather than capitalize its hefty research costs to adapt to the new International Financial Reporting Standards, observers note. Madrid-based Zeltia...

Novartis' Aclasta tipped to become standard for metabolic bone disorder.
April 4, 2005... Novartis' third-generation bisphosphonate Aclasta (zoledronic acid) 5mg for intravenous infusion could revolutionize the future management of metabolic bone diseases such as Paget's and postmenopausal osteoporosis, experts said last month at...

Dainippon and Kowa conclude OTC deal.(Dainippon Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.)(Kowa Company Ltd.)
April 4, 2005... On March 25, Japan's Dainippon Pharmaceutical and Kowa concluded an agreement on the upcoming transfer of the former's over-the-counter drug business to the latter. Under the terms of the basic agreement reached by the two companies on...

Burrill & Co launches China access forums.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... To help North American life sciences companies capture opportunities in China, Burrill & Co, a USA-based life sciences merchant bank, and co-sponsors the BayHelix Group and China Access 2008, have launched nine half-day events, called China...

Spring allergies impact attention span, memory.(effectiveness of Schering-Plough Corp.'s Claritin drug)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... In the first definitive clinical study to compare the cognitive function of symptomatic allergy sufferers to that of people who do not have allergies, researchers have found that Schering-Plough's Claritin (loratadine) can help allergy...

Bioaccelerate takes stake in Supratek.(Bioaccelerate Holdings)(Supratek Pharma Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... US firm Bioaccelerate Holdings has taken a $5.0 million equity stake in Supratek Pharma, a privately-held company based in Montreal, Canada. Supratek is focused on the development and commercialization of chemotherapeutic and cytostatic agents...

Japan stock market week to March 28.
April 4, 2005... Tokyo saw a pullback in the week to March 28. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% to close below the 11,800 mark, while the Topix index dropped 0.8%. Trading volume declined because some foreign investors were away for the Easter holiday. A dearth of...

Millennium's Velcade gets 2nd approval.(Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Millennium Pharmaceuticals' supplemental New Drug Application for Velcade (bortezomib), thereby expanding the label to include the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma who have received at...

AEterna Zentaris: new indication for Impavido.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Canadian oncology and endocrine-focused firm AEterna Zentaris has received the first regulatory approval for its Impavido (miltefosine) for the treatment of the cutaneous form of leishmaniasis from the Colombian Food and Drug Agency. Clearance...

ISTA to debut Xibrom in 2nd-qtr 2005.(Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared ISTA Pharmaceuticals' New Drug Application for its non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug Xibrom (bromfenac ophthalmic solution) 0.09%, indicated for the treatment of ocular inflammation following...

Theravance's telavancin gets fast-track status.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... US biopharmaceutical group Theravance says that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted fast-track designation to its rapidly-bactericidal infectable antibiotic telavancin for the treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia, including...

Cephalon's sugar-free analgesic nears FDA OK.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... USA-based group Cephalon says it has received an approvable letter from the US Food and Drug Administration for its sugar-free formulation of its opioid painkiller Actiq (oral transmucosal fentanyl citrate). The company claims that the...

Orphan Drug status for Alfacell's Onconase.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... New Jersey, USA-based Alfacell Corp's Onconase (ranpirnase) has been granted Orphan Drug status by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in Australia for the treatment of malignant mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer. The agent also has OD...

Allergan and Sanwa Kagaku sign deal.(Sanwa Kagaku Kenkyusho Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The USA's Allergan has signed an exclusive licensing deal with Sanwa Kagaku of Japan to develop and commercialize the former's bioerodable extended-release implant Posurdex for the ophthalmic speciality sector in the latter firm's domestic...

CORRECTION:.(Correction Notice)
April 4, 2005... On March 21, the Marketletter published a story on-line in which Belgian drugmaker UCB's attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder drug Equasyn XL was incorrectly referred to as Equasm. We apologize for our mistake.

Biosignal creates synthetic furanones.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Australian biotechnology company Biosignal has created a synthetic substitute for furanones, compounds derived from a red seaweed found only in eastern Australia. The technology aims to prevent bacteria from growing on surfaces, and the company...

Chiron awards five grants to help prevent infectious disease.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... US firm Chiron Corp says it has awarded $400,000 to four organizations for five projects that address public health issues in the USA and abroad via the Chiron Foundation, a not-for-profit group set up to improve lives through better health...

First patient treated in trial of drug-eluting stent for PAD.(Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., peripheral arterial disease)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Canada's Angiotech Pharmaceuticals and its partner Cook say that the first patient has been treated at the Stanford University Medical Center in the USA in a landmark clinical trial evaluating the latter firm's drug-coated stent for peripheral...

EMEA views problems with Orphan Meds plan.(European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products, European Union Initiative on Orphan Medicinal Products)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The need to develop better models to assess the clinical effectiveness of orphan medicinal products has been emphasized at a meeting held by the European Medicines Agency to discuss progress since the European Union Initiative on Orphan...

UK guide for industry on Rx access in DCs.(framework document on prescription in developing countries)
April 4, 2005... Collaboration between leading pharmaceutical companies and the UK government has led to the publication by the UK Department for International Development of a new framework document for the industry on increasing access to essential medicines...

UK PPRS: govt's eighth Report to Parliament.(Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The UK government has published its eighth annual Report to Parliament on the workings of the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme. It covers negotiations for the 2005 scheme and the management and operation of the 1999 scheme. The...

US FDA issues Final Risk Minimization Guidances.
April 4, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has issued three Final Guidance documents to help develop and improve ways in which to assess and monitor the risks associated with drugs and biologics in clinical development and general use. The...

US FDA "must act against unapproved CADIs".(Consumer Health Alliance for Safe Medication asks for regulations on compounded aqueous-based drugs for inhalation)
April 4, 2005... The US Consumer Health Alliance for Safe Medication has submitted a Citizen Petition to the Food and Drug Administration, urging it to enforce public safeguards relating to the manufacture, promotion and dispensing of unapproved respiratory...

Metabolex' insulin sensitizer effective without side effects of peer drugs.
April 4, 2005... US drugmaker Metabolex, which focuses exclusively on the development of novel treatments for diabetes, reported encouraging Phase II clinical trial results for its lead candidate metaglidasen at the 3rd International Symposium on PPARs...

Roche/GSK's Boniva approved in USA.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Swiss drugmaker Roche and UK pharmaceutical major GlaxoSmithKline's once-monthly oral bisphosphonate Boniva (ibandronate sodium) 150mg tablets, marking the first once-a-month therapy for the...

NeuroSearch gets $10M from GSK.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... UK drug major GlaxoSmithKline will initiate Phase II clinical studies of Danish group NeuroSearch's NS2359 (GSK372475) to assess the agent's effectiveness for the treatment of depression. GSK's decision to progress the development of the...

AstraZeneca and GSK spar on asthma drugs.(Symbicort and GlaxoSmithKline PLC's Advair evaluation)
April 4, 2005... UK drug giants GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca are clashing over the interpretation of results from the CONCEPT (CONtrol CEntred Patient Treatment) trial, published in the March 24 edition of the journal Clinical Therapeutics which, the former...

Vion Initiates Ph III trial of cloretazine in AML.(VION Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(acute myelogenous leukemia)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... US oncology firm Vion Pharmaceuticals has initiated dosing of the first patient in its pivotal double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized Phase III clinical study of cloretazine for the treatment of relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia. ...

Pharmacopeia and CV Therapeutics form alliance.(Pharmacopeia Drug Discovery)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Pharmacopeia Drug Discovery has entered into a collaboration with fellow USA-based firm CV Therapeutics for the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. The move aims to couple Pharmacopeia's comprehensive, integrated drug...

Alnylam and Dowpharma sign RNAi deal.(Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... US firms Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Dowpharma, a division of Dow Chemical, have entered into an agreement for the manufacture and supply of candidate RNAi therapeutics for the former firm's lead development programs in age-related macular...

Upstate gains right to sell anti-Zap-70 MAb.(Upstate Group)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Atlanta, USA-based Serologicals Corp says that its wholly-owned affiliate, Upstate Group, has obtained the rights to sell the anti-ZAP-70 monoclonal antibody for use in the diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia from the University of...

FDA requests more data on Combidex.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The US Food and Drug Administration has issued an approvable letter requesting specific data on Advanced Magnetics' magnetic resonance imaging agent Combidex. This follows a recommendation by the FDA's advisory board earlier this year not...

Medtronics' Activa approved as alternative to surgery in OCD.(Medtronic Bio-Medicus Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Minneapolis, USA-headquartered medical device company Medtronics has been granted a Humanitarian Use Device designation from the US Food and Drug Administration for Activa, its proprietary implanted deep brain stimulation device for the...

Oxford Biomedica's US Lentivector patent accepted.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Oxford BioMedica, a UK-based gene therapy company, has received a Notice of Allowance from the US Patent Office for a patent covering modifications to lentiviral vectors that improve safety and efficacy. According to the company, its...

Health Discovery Corp's FGM patent application accepted.(Fractal Genomics Modeling)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Health Discovery Corp, a genome analysis-based drug target discovery firm, has received US patent application acceptance for the use of its Fractal Genomics Modeling technology, which can be used in genomics analysis to identify biomarkers...

Dr Lewenberg's hair loss therapy stimulates hair follicle stem cells.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The ingredients in Dr Lewenberg's Formulas for hair loss activated stem cells in hair follicles have been investigated in two independent studies. Dr Lewenberg's Formulas use a proprietary combination of stable and non-irritating tretinoin...

Barr confirms filing in USA for Yasmin.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Just a week after Schering AG of Germany said that it had been notified by the regulatory authority of the approval of a generic form of its second-best-selling product, Yasmin (drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol), by an unnamed company in the...

Good and bad news for Pfizer on patents.
April 4, 2005... Following an intellectual property challenge by Indian generics maker Ranbaxy, the Austrian Patent Office has ruled as invalid claims made in world pharmaceutical leader Pfizer's Austrian patent (number AT E 207 896) relating to the firm's...

Atrium Bio files for $75M IPO.(Aeterna Laboratories Inc., Initial public offerings)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Canada's AEterna Zentaris has announced that its 61.1%-owned subsidiary, Atrium Biotechnologies, has filed a final prospectus with the securities regulatory authorities in each Canadian province in connection with its proposed initial public...

UK regulator OKs Celesio buy of Healthcare Logistics.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... The UK competition authority, the Office of Fair Trading, has approved the acquisition of the logistics company Healthcare Logistics by Germany's Celesio, a pharmaceutical distributor. Celesio and the shareholders of Healthcare Logistics...

Barr and Kos in settlement talks over Niaspan.(BARR Laboratories Inc., Kos Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... US firms Barr Pharmaceutical and Kos Pharmaceuticals have said they are engaged in discussions to settle the outstanding patent litigation regarding the latter's cholesterol-lowering product Niaspan (niacin). The case is currently before the US...

Proximagen rises L14.5M as part of flotation.(Proximagen Neuroscience)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... UK-based Proximagen Neuroscience, a spin-out from King's College London, has raised L14.5 million ($27.0 million) as part of a flotation on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. The shares are due to start trading on...

Australia's EpiTan plans UK AIM listing.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Australian specialty dermatological group EpiTan is planning to join the Alternative Investment Market of the UK's Stock Exchange by way of a L15.0 million ($28.0 million) placing through broker Teather & Greenwood. It is expected that EpiTan's...

Actavis takes over Pharma Avalanche.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Iceland-based Actavis, a maker of generic drugs, has recently acquired, Pharma Avalanche, which sells generics in the Czech Republic, according to the CTK news agency. No financial details have been released. Prague-based Pharma Avalanche was...

Kodofa predicts $2.0 M income for 2005.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Kodofa, a pharmaceuticals producer based in Laos, expects to record an income worth $2.0 million this year, according to the Khaosan Pathet Lao news agency. The company, a joint venture between Laos and Vietnam, manufactures 100 different...

Aphton completes acquisition of Igeneon.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... Miami, USA-based Aphton, an immunotherapy and cancer drug specialist, has completed its $81.0 million acquisition of Igeneon AG, a biopharmaceutical firm based in Vienna, Austria, which was announced last year (Marketletter December 20, 2004)....

Cellegy full-year 2004 sales rise over 60%.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... California, USA-headquartered Cellegy Pharmaceuticals has reported year-ended December 31, 2004, revenues of $2.5 million, a 60% increase on the previous year. These consisted primarily of $1.0 million in grants from Cellegy's Biosyn subsidiary...

SPECTRUM.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
April 4, 2005... ---------------------------------------------- Stock Close %Change On Week LION Bioscience 1.36 euros +27.1 Affymetrix $44.65 +6.6 Kissei ...

Stock Commentary - Europe.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2005... EUROPEAN: bourses moved higher in the Easter holiday-shortened reporting week to March 28, with a flurry on March 24 stemming nearly three weeks' of losses (markets were closed on March 25 and 28). FRANKFURT saw biotechnology firm LION...