BioWorld International articles from April 2003

BioWorld International archives from April 2003

ReNeuron's backers taking it private in face of cash crunch.
April 2, 2003... LONDON -- ReNeuron Holdings plc, the UK's only quoted stem cell company, is being taken private by its venture capital backers, the Merlin Consortium, in a recommended cash offer of 10 pence per share, valuing ReNeuron at 3.6 million [pounds...

Novel sperm receptors could lead to new contraceptives.
April 2, 2003... LONDON -- A new generation of contraceptives, which act by blocking receptors on sperm that detect chemicals released by the egg, could be available one day, new research suggests. Scientists based in Germany and the U.S. found a molecule that...

MediGene suffers setback in cervical cancer vaccine program.
April 2, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- Despite positive data on tolerability and efficacy in a Phase 1/11 trial, MediGene AG discontinued its project to develop a CVLP tumor vaccine against cervical cancer. Before the beginning of the trial, the company had set a...

NicOx panel finds violations of protocol in AZD3582 trial.
April 2, 2003... PARIS -- An independent panel set up by NicOx SA to review the results of the Phase II endoscopic trial of AZD3582, its COX-inhibiting nitric oxide-donating drug carried out by AstraZeneca plc, concluded that "a number of failures and...

Celltech extends OGS offer as other suitors come calling.
April 2, 2003... LONDON -- Celltech Group plc said Tuesday it was extending its 101.4 million [pounds sterling] (US$173 million) hostile cash offer for Oxford GlycoSciences plc after getting acceptance in respect to only 2.2 million, or 3.9 percent, of OGS...

Atugen AG, of Berlin, granted its first license for nucleic acid transfection reagents to Altana AG, of Bad Homburg, Germany. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Atugen AG, of Berlin, granted its first license for nucleic acid transfection reagents to Altana AG, of Bad Homburg, Germany. The reagents are useful for delivering antisense and siRNA molecules into mammalian cells and will help Altana improve...

Biogen, Inc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Biogen, Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said construction of its large-scale manufacturing facility in Hillerod, Denmark, should be completed by late 2005. Last week, the company broke ground on the US$250 million, 340,000-square-foot-facility,...

Capsulation NanoScience AG, of Berlin, acquired a patent family from Aventis Research & Technologies, of Frankfurt, Germany, that covers several novel drug delivery formats. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Capsulation NanoScience AG, of Berlin, acquired a patent family from Aventis Research & Technologies, of Frankfurt, Germany, that covers several novel drug delivery formats. The patents protect applications of microparticles based on...

Zealand completes funding, seeks new ZP10 partnership.
April 2, 2003... When big pharma sneezes, biotech catches a cold. In this case, though, Danish biotechnology firm Zealand Pharmaceuticals A/S claims to have lined up a remedy, following a decision by the troubled pharmaceutical firm Elan Corp. plc to exit their...

Irish delegation visiting NIH to seek licensing opportunities.
April 2, 2003... About a dozen Irish biotechnology and medical device firms will travel to the National Institutes of Health next month on a matchmaking trip that could see some of them licensing intellectual property from U.S. researchers. The event, due...

EMEA setting up working group to aid pharmacogenetics field. (European Union Roundup).
April 2, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products is setting up a new working group on pharmacogenetics as a response to the pace of development in the field. The aim will be to foster dialogue both among...

UK Biobank plan comes under fire as political, lacking value.
April 2, 2003... LONDON -- The move to set up UK Biobank, a national genomics database with samples from 500,000 people, has been slammed as a "politically driven project" by the Science and Technology Committee of the House of Commons. The 45 million...

BioXell moves BXL-628 into Phase II clinical trial for BPH.
April 2, 2003... Italian biopharmaceutical firm BioXell SpA has commenced recruitment for a Phase II clinical trial of its vitamin D3 analogue BXL-628, which it is developing as a treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The double-blind, randomized,...

Neurotech enters ophthalmology research alliance with INSERM.
April 2, 2003... PARIS -- Neurotech SA concluded a partnership agreement with the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) under which it will collaborate with the institute's "cellular and molecular physiopathology of the retina"...

UK office fines Genzyme over practices related to Cerezyme.
April 2, 2003... LONDON -- Genzyme Corp.'s UK subsidiary has been fined 6.8 million [pounds sterling] (US$10.6 million) for abusing its dominant position in the market for the Caucher's disease treatment Cerezyme. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which...

CellFactors plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... CellFactors plc, of Newport, UK, said it received notice of allowance of a European patent covering its human hypertrophic chondrocyte cell lines that are used to produce its lead product Skeletex. This follows the grant of the equivalent U.S....

Domantis Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, entered a nonexclusive marketing agreement with ImClone Systems Inc., of New York, giving ImClone access to Domantis' domain antibody libraries. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Domantis Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, entered a nonexclusive marketing agreement with ImClone Systems Inc., of New York, giving ImClone access to Domantis' domain antibody libraries. Domantis will receive license fees and milestone and royalties on...

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory, in Heidelberg, Germany, was awarded a European patent for its Red/ET recombination technology, a method for DNA engineering useful in manipulating, cloning and modifying DNA, allowing precision changes to DNA molecules regardless of their size or composition, the company said. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... The European Molecular Biology Laboratory, in Heidelberg, Germany, was awarded a European patent for its Red/ET recombination technology, a method for DNA engineering useful in manipulating, cloning and modifying DNA, allowing precision changes...

Karo Bio AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, said it and partner Abbott Laboratories, of Abbott Park, Ill., identified a novel Type II diabetes drug candidate that targets the glucocorticoid receptor in the liver. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Karo Bio AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, said it and partner Abbott Laboratories, of Abbott Park, Ill., identified a novel Type II diabetes drug candidate that targets the glucocorticoid receptor in the liver. In animal studies, the compound,...

KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, said it began a Phase II trial of Patrin, an oral inhibitor of AGT (06-alkylguanine DNA-alkyltransferase) in the treatment of metastatic melanoma. AGT, an enzyme involved in the repair of DNA, is a...

MetaGen Pharmaceuticals GmbH, of Berlin, and RNAx GmbH, also of Berlin, entered a partnership in target validation. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... MetaGen Pharmaceuticals GmbH, of Berlin, and RNAx GmbH, also of Berlin, entered a partnership in target validation. MetaGen will use RNA interference (RNAi) technology from RNAx to evaluate target genes for cancer therapies. The technology from...

Morphochem AG, of Munich, Germany started a research partnership with Xenogen Corp., of Alameda, Calif., to discover targets and develop compounds that are effective against bacterial biofilms. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Morphochem AG, of Munich, Germany started a research partnership with Xenogen Corp., of Alameda, Calif., to discover targets and develop compounds that are effective against bacterial biofilms. Those films occur when bacteria attach themselves...

Serono SA. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Serono SA, of Geneva, appointed Fereydoun Firouz president of its U.S. subsidiary, Serono Inc., in succession to Jean-Pierre Vassel, who has become nonexecutive chairman. Firouz previously was executive vice president, reproductive health, at...

Switch Biotech AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Switch Biotech AG, of Neuried, Germany, appointed Erwin Boehm as chief development officer. He will be responsible for all phases of development of active compounds. Boehm joined Switch Biotech from MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, where...

Theraptosis. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... Theraptosis, of Paris, a drug discovery company seeking to exploit the therapeutic potential of molecules that either induce or prevent cell death, announced the finalization of its technology platform. The platform consists of screening...

TheRyte Ltd., of Liverpool, UK, entered a license deal with Randox Laboratories Ltd., of Northern Ireland, for the development of proteomics-based diagnostic marker tests for cancer. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 2, 2003... TheRyte Ltd., of Liverpool, UK, entered a license deal with Randox Laboratories Ltd., of Northern Ireland, for the development of proteomics-based diagnostic marker tests for cancer. The tests will be based on TheRyte's understanding of the...

Serono signs on Graffinity as partner for drug development.
April 9, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- Graffinity AG, a specialist in pre-clinical drug discovery, landed a commitment from Serono SA to help fill the development pipeline of Europe's largest biotechnology company. Serono, of Geneva, will provide Graffinity,...

Angiogenesis study encourages prospects in ischemia treatment.
April 9, 2003... LONDON -- Short exposure to a specific combination of two growth factors may be all it takes to stimulate the growth of new blood vessels that persist indefinitely, a new study suggests. Yihai Cao, professor of vascular biology at the...

Epigenomics raises 21m [euro] to fund work in DNA methylation.
April 9, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- Joining the short list of companies that have raised significant funds in a gloomy German venture market, Epigenomics AG found 21 million [euro] in investment for its third round of financing. The Berlin-based company...

GeneProt slashes staff, cites current economic environment.
April 9, 2003... GeneProt Inc., a Swiss firm attempting to make industrial-scale proteomics a new paradigm for target and drug discovery, is drastically scaling back its operations, slashing its payroll by nearly half. The Geneva-based company is cutting 45...

Ester Neuroscience gets good results in early antisense trial.
April 9, 2003... ZICHRON YA'AKOV, Israel -- Ester Neuroscience said EN101, an oral antisense oligonucleotide for myasthenia gravis, provided clear symptomatic improvement in a Phase Ib trial. "These significant positive results occurred without any adverse...

Chiasma gets first biotech investment from InnoMed.(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... ZICHRON YA'AKOV, Israel -- Israeli biotechnology startup Chiasma completed a $2 million seed round by its original backer, InnoMed, the Jerusalem Global Partners life sciences fund. Dalia Megiddo, Jerusalem Global Ventures general partner...

Galapagos enters collaboration in nutraceuticals with Degussa.
April 9, 2003... Belgian functional genomics specialist Galapagos Genomics NV is taking a step outside its usual domain of drug target discovery and validation. The Mechelen-based firm is applying its knowledge of bone and joint biology to a nutraceuticals...

European officials craft report on embryonic stem cell research.
April 9, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union on Monday released a new report on human embryonic stem cell research, aimed at putting more information into current European debates on the subject, and taking some of the heat out of them. It examines...

Anglo-Canadian. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * An Anglo-Canadian consortium plans to spend o40 million (US$62 million) over the next three years unraveling the 3-dimensional structure of more than 350 human proteins for release into the public domain. The UK research charity, the Wellcome...

Biovitrum AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said its obesity candidate, BVT.933, entered a Phase IIb trial involving 300 patients at six centers in Sweden. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * Biovitrum AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said its obesity candidate, BVT.933, entered a Phase lib trial involving 300 patients at six centers in Sweden. Participants will be administered the drug during a three-month treatment period. The...

CellFactors plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * CellFactors plc, of Newport, UK, said that despite the worst public funding environment for many years it has raised 2.13 million [pounds sterling] (US$3.3 million) in the first close of its current funding round. The company is aiming to...

SR Pharma taking stock after acquiring Rodaris, joint venture.
April 9, 2003... LONDON -- SR Pharma plc said it is conducting a fundamental review of its strategy after taking full control of a joint venture and acquiring other assets from Rodaris Pharmaceuticals plc. The acquisitions will allow SR Pharma to diversify its...

EBML targets young companies in Europe with new 25m [euro] fund.
April 9, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- One of Europe's most fertile fields for biotechnology spin-offs just planted extra seeds for its future yields. The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) has been associated with a venture capital company--EMBL...

ComGenex Inc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * ComGenex Inc., of Budapest, Hungary, named Klaus Frobel executive vice president of medicinal chemistry and discovery technologies. Frobel joins the combinatorial chemistry firm from Bayer AG, of Leverkusen, Germany, where he was global head...

Cyclacel Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * Cyclacel Ltd., of Dundee, UK, said it entered a collaboration with Cancer Research Technology Ltd., of London, the University of Cambridge and an unnamed pharmaceutical company to perfect the use of RNA interference for target validation and...

IDBS Ltd., of Guildford, UK, announced a collaboration with IBM Inc. to develop an informatics platform that integrates chemical and biological data, a move that the two claim will speed up the drug discovery process. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * IDBS Ltd., of Guildford, UK, announced a collaboration with IBM Inc. to develop an informatics platform that integrates chemical and biological data, a move that the two claim will speed up the drug discovery process. IBM's processors and...

MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, completed the spin-off of its cardiology and metabolic disease unit by working with the investment company BioM AG, of Munich, Germany, to establish a new firm, Larnax GmbH. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, completed the spin-off of its cardiology and metabolic disease unit by working with the investment company BioM AG, of Munich, Germany, to establish a new firm, Larnax GmbH. MediGene will hold almost 25...

Bioline Therapeutics formed by Israeli groups with $11m funding.
April 9, 2003... ZICHRON YA'AKOV, Israel -- Israel's first biopharmaceutical drug development company, Bioline Therapeutics, has been created by a strategic partnership of four groups. The founders are Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Jerusalem;...

Neuroregeneron Co. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * Neuroregeneron Co., a division of Schwartz Pharma AG, of Monheim, Germany, reported at this week's American Spinal Injury Association meeting in Miami that reversal of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) might be possible...

SkyePharma plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * SkyePharma plc, of London, joined the elite band of profitable biotechnology companies, announcing a maiden profit of 5 million [pounds sterling] (US$7.7 million) for the year ended in December 2002. Turnover was up by 51 percent to 70...

Vernalis Group plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 9, 2003... * Vernalis Group plc, of Winnersh, UK, presented Phase IIIb data showing its migraine treatment frovatriptan is effective in preventing menstrually associated migraine, at the American Academy of Neurology Annual meeting last week. More than...

Celltech poised to acquire OGS after other parties drop interest.
April 16, 2003... LONDON -- Oxford GlycoSciences plc succumbed to the hostile bid from Celltech plc that will lead to the breakup of the business, after failing to attract any better offers. The turning point in the first bid battle in the UK biotech sector...

Engineered lymphocytes show promise in metastatic cancer.
April 16, 2003... LONDON -- A clinical trial of gene therapy for bowel cancer will begin in the UK next year, following a successful pilot study in which the genetically engineered lymphocytes of patients with bowel cancer were shown to be capable of killing...

Oxxon completes 15m [pounds sterling] round to fund therapeutic vaccines.
April 16, 2003... LONDON -- Oxxon Pharmaccines Ltd., a therapeutic vaccines specialist, reached the upper limit of its ambitions, raising 15 million [pounds sterling] (US$23 million) in third-round funding to push its Phase II clinical programs in hepatitis B...

Karo Bio plans to net SEK120m from discounted rights issue.
April 16, 2003... Karo Bio AB is looking to net SEK120 million (US$14.1 million) from a discounted rights issue. The Huddinge, Sweden-based drug discovery firm is issuing up to 4.8 million shares priced at SEK26, which represents a 25 percent discount to...

Affitech, NatImmune team up in colon cancer collaboration.
April 16, 2003... Affitech AS and NatImmune A/S entered an alliance based around the development of antibody therapeutics and diagnostics for treatment and detection of colon cancer and other adenocarcinomas. Terms were not disclosed, but the companies will...

Biomer Technology Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Biomer Technology Ltd., of Runcorn, UK, said it closed an initial funding round of 300,000 [pounds sterling] (US$459,000) to further develop its biocompatible technology. That will give the company enough money to complete initial development...

Borean Pharma A/S. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Borean Pharma A/S, of Aarhus, Denmark, named Riku Rautsola president and CEO. Rautsola, a native of Finland, was previously CEO of Cosmix Molecular Biologics GmbH, of Braunschweig, Germany, and also held management posts with several other...

Entomed, Achillion enter deal for antiviral drug discovery.
April 16, 2003... PARIS -- Entomed SA and Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. entered a research collaboration for the discovery and development of novel drugs to treat a number of viral diseases. Achillion, of New Haven, Conn., is developing small-molecule drugs...

Definiens AG, of Munich, Germany, and WITA GmbH, of Berlin, entered a partnership to develop and sell integrated proteomics solutions. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Definiens AG, of Munich, Germany, and WITA GmbH, of Berlin, entered a partnership to develop and sell integrated proteomics solutions. The companies will combine gel analysis software from Definiens with optimized gels from WITA into a product...

Dolly. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Dolly the cloned sheep lives on at the Royal Edinburgh Museum, where she was put on display last week. The stuffed Dolly forms the centerpiece of an exhibition at the museum to mark the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA....

European parliament moves for strict cell, tissue rules.
April 16, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Parliament came out strongly in favor of strict ethical standards for the transplantation of cells and tissues when it debated new European Union draft rules at its plenary session in Strasbourg, France, on...

EU consumer commissioner favors progress in biotech.
April 16, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Consumer protection is not at risk from life sciences, but can positively benefit from it, David Byrne, European commissioner for health and consumer protection, said when he spoke at the Biovision conference in Lyon,...

Domantis Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Domantis Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, said it signed agreements with the UK Medical Research Council giving it exclusive access to a novel polymerase technology, which will accelerate the discovery of polypeptides, including the domain antibodies in...

Evotec OAI, of Hamburg, Germany, launched a partnership with Novartis Pharma AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Evotec OAI, of Hamburg, Germany, launched a partnership with Novartis Pharma AG, of Basel, Switzerland, in assay development and screening. The companies aim to identify drug candidates for several targets provided by Novartis. The firms...

IDM acquires cancer assets for stock in deal with Jenner.
April 16, 2003... PARIS -- The French cell therapy company Immuno-Designed Molecules SA acquired intellectual property rights and other assets from Jenner Biotherapies in exchange for an undisclosed amount of IDM stock. Among the assets it purchased from the...

Proteome sciences, IDEXX enter deal to develop BSE diagnostic.
April 16, 2003... LONDON -- Proteome Sciences plc is making strides in its bid to commercialize its proteomics research, entering a licensing agreement that grants exclusive rights to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) blood biomarkers to IDEXX Laboratories...

MedPharma looking to go public to fund sexual dysfunction drugs.
April 16, 2003... LONDON -- MedPharma plc is putting its head above the parapet to test the public markets with a proposed initial public offering on London's Alternative Investment Market to raise 8 million [pounds sterling] (US$12.4 million) net of expenses....

Genzyme Genetics, a unit of Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., began a collaboration in genetic diagnostics with genteQ, of Hamburg, Germany. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Genzyme Genetics, a unit of Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., began a collaboration in genetic diagnostics with genteQ, of Hamburg, Germany. The companies will work to develop new assays and other technologies for genetic diagnoses. Genzyme...

Gyros AB, of Uppsala, Sweden, said it licensed patents covering the manufacture and use of elastomeric microfluidic devices to biotechnology tools firm Cellectricon AB, of Gothenburg, Sweden. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Gyros AB, of Uppsala, Sweden, said it licensed patents covering the manufacture and use of elastomeric microfluidic devices to biotechnology tools firm Cellectricon AB, of Gothenburg, Sweden. The latter firm plans to incorporate the Gyros...

Human Genetics Commission. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... The Human Genetics Commission, the UK government's advisory body on genetics, has recommended that genetic testing for chronic diseases should be available only under the supervision of a doctor. The HGC said that would prevent unscrupulous...

LightUp Technologies AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, said it licensed fluorescence-based technology from Molecular Probes Inc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... LightUp Technologies AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, said it licensed fluorescence-based technology from Molecular Probes Inc., of Eugene, Ore., which it will incorporate into DNA-based probes for detecting bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. It...

Ribopharma AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 16, 2003... Ribopharma AG, of Kulmbach, Germany, began offering licenses on small interfering RNA (siRNA), after being awarded a wide-ranging patent on RNA interference (RNAi) and siRNA from the German Patent and Trademark Office. The company said the...

Celltech brings on new CEO following purchase of OGS.(Oxford GlycoSciences plc )
April 23, 2003... LONDON -- It was all change last week as members of the Oxford GlycoSciences plc board resigned to make way for directors from its new owner, Celltech Group plc, and Celltech announced the appointment of its new CEO, Goran Ando. The...

Gamma Capital bucks Austrian trend, closes new venture round.(reaches 10 mil euros)
April 23, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- Austrian venture capital firm Gamma Capital Partners (GCP) reached its goal of 10 million [euro] for the first closing of a new technology fund, gamma II Beteiligungs-AG, on the way to an announced goal for the fund of 25...

Recombinant BCG boosts TB protection in animal studies.(bacilli Calmette-Guerin)
April 23, 2003... LONDON -- A more effective vaccine to protect against tuberculosis may one day be available to help fight the current pandemic of this disease. A new study suggests that the efficacy of the attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, from which...

Affibody, InforSense release tool for data interpretation.
April 23, 2003... Swedish biotechnology firm Affibody AB and UK informatics software specialist InforSense Ltd. released a jointly developed tool for interpreting functional genomics and proteomics data. The new offering, GenseSense KDE, is built on London-based...

CeNeS sells three products to strengthen cash position.
April 23, 2003... LONDON -- CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc said it sold three pharmaceutical products it acquired in September 2000 as the basis for a pharmaceutical business, for 9 million [pounds sterling] (US$14.2 million), giving it sufficient funding for two...

BresaGen Ltd. (Other News To Note).(achieved successful treatment of Parkinson's disease in rats)(Brief Article)
April 23, 2003... BresaGen Ltd., of Adelaide, Australia, said it achieved successful treatment of Parkinson's disease in rats. The BresaGen team implanted neural cells derived from human stem cells into the brains of rats with lesions that cause Parkinson's...

Diatos SA. (Other News To Note).(appoints Denis Ravel and Sandrine Leonardi )(Brief Article)
April 23, 2003... Diatos SA, of Paris, appointed Denis Ravel chief R&D officer and Sandrine Leonardi finance director. Ravel previously was director of pharmaceutical development at Genset SA (now a subsidiary of Serono SA), and before that was head of drug...

Cellectis licenses technology to Nucleis for gene insertion.(Brief Article)
April 23, 2003... PARIS -- Cellectis SA signed a license agreement with Nucleis SA granting the latter nonexclusive commercial rights to use the Cellectis homologous recombination process for the specific replacement or insertion of a gene in the receiver genome...

Oxford BioMedica cuts back on programs to extend cash.(Brief Article)
April 23, 2003... LONDON -- Oxford BioMedica plc announced further plans to cut back research programs in order to eke out its cash reserves. The company is reducing its expenditure on early stage work, including neurobiology research at its San Diego facility...

Progress in two early programs gives Xenova much-needed lift.
April 23, 2003... LONDON -- Shares in Xenova Group plc received a much-needed boost last week when the company announced progress with two clinical programs, in cocaine addiction and human papillomavirus vaccines to treat cervical dysplasia and cervical cancer....

French researchers find gene linked to Kindler's syndrome.
April 23, 2003... PARIS -- Researchers at the French National Genotyping Center and other research establishments in France and Algeria localized and identified a new gene involved in a rare genetic disease--genodermatosis, or Kindler's syndrome. The gene,...

Genmab A/S. (Other News To Note).(loses CFO)(Brief Article)
April 23, 2003... Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said Chief Financial Officer Michael Wolff Jensen is leaving the company Aug. 1, in order to become CFO of a new start-up, which is not a competitor to Genmab. Genmab has initiated a search for a replacement....

Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
April 23, 2003... Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG, of Munich, Germany, started a collaboration with the University of Tuebingen in Germany to develop animal models with specific genetic alterations. The partners will focus on genes related to eye diseases, such as...

MediGene AG. (Other News To Note).(awarded US patent)(Brief Article)
April 23, 2003... MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, was awarded a U.S. patent on recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) developed to serve as "gene shuttles" for the transfer of therapeutic genes. Patent No. 6,541,012 covers a specific biological...

Microscience Ltd. (Other News To Note).(to develop oral vaccine against anthrax)(Brief Article)
April 23, 2003... Microscience Ltd., of Wokingham, UK, is the latest to jump on the biodefense wagon, announcing plans to develop an oral vaccine against anthrax. The company will use its spi-VEC delivery system, based on a live attenuated bacterium, to deliver...