BioWorld International articles from August 2003

BioWorld International archives from August 2003

Phytopharm gets obesity drug back from Pfizer, seeks partner.
August 6, 2003... LONDON -- Phytopharm plc fell victim to the fallout from Pfizer Inc.'s $66 billion acquisition of Pharmacia Corp., as Pfizer dropped development of P57, an obesity treatment based on a plant extract discovered by Phytopharm. The news...

Transgenic mouse model could speed research in meningitis.
August 6, 2003... LONDON -- A novel transgenic mouse model is likely to speed the development of new vaccines to protect against meningococcal meningitis. The model, in which the animals express the human cell-surface receptor called CD46, also might help in the...

Actelion, Celltech receive FDA approval for Zavesca.
August 6, 2003... Actelion Ltd. and partner Celltech Croup plc received FDA clearance to market Zavesca to Type I Gaucher's disease patients who are not candidates for Cerezyme, an orphan product made by Genzyme Corp. Zavesca (once called Vevesca), an oral...

Omrix receive $3m from NIH to develop bioterrorism product.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... ZICHRON YA'AKOV, Israel -- Omrix Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. is now the first commercial entity in Israel to be awarded a U.S. National Institutes of Health R01 research grant. The Tel Hashomer-based Israeli biotechnology company was awarded a...

Cancer Research Technology Ltd., of London, agreed to exclusively license to Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., a RNA interference patent covering the RNAi-mediated inhibition of endogenous genes in mammalian cells. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * Cancer Research Technology Ltd., of London, agreed to exclusively license to Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., a RNA interference patent covering the RNAi-mediated inhibition of endogenous genes in mammalian cells. The terms...

Cobra Biomanufacturing, of Keele, UK, won a contract to supply the active ingredient for a Listeria monocytogenes-based cancer vaccine to Advaxis Inc., of Princeton, N.J. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * Cobra Biomanufacturing, of Keele, UK, won a contract to supply the active ingredient for a Listeria monocytogenes-based cancer vaccine to Advaxis Inc., of Princeton, N.J. The vaccine is due to start clinical trials in cervical cancer within...

Devgen NV. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * Devgen NV, of Ghent, Belgium, named Pierre Hochuli nonexecutive chairman. Hochuli spent 23 years at Monsanto Co., of St. Louis, Mo., where he became president of its international arm. Until recently, he was managing partner at the venture...

Genencor International Inc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * Genencor International Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif., and The Health Protection Agency Business Division in Salisbury, UK, said they are making progress in their two-year collaboration to develop a way of eradicating infectious prions. The...

IsoTis SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, said its merger with GenSci OrthoBiologics Inc. is closer to completion, as the latter firm's parent, Toronto-based GenSci Regeneration Sciences Inc. was dismissed from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * IsoTis SA, of Lausanne, Switzerland, said its merger with GenSci OrthoBiologics Inc. is closer to completion, as the latter firm's parent, Toronto-based GenSci Regeneration Sciences Inc. was dismissed from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the U.S....

KS Biomedix Holdings plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * KS Biomedix Holdings plc, of Guildford, UK, confirmed that it is in merger discussions following a rise in its share price. No further information was given. The shares rose by 9 percent last week to 14.75 [pounds sterling].

Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, outlicensed its HIV compound MIV-150 to the Population Council, a not-for-profit New York-based organization developing a vaginal microbicide to combat HIV transmission. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, outlicensed its HIV compound MIV-150 to the Population Council, a not-for-profit New York-based organization developing a vaginal microbicide to combat HIV transmission. The license provides the Population...

Oxagen Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * Oxagen Ltd., of Abingdon, UK, identified a gene for Type II diabetes, OG178, from genetic analysis of patients from an isolated population in the Netherlands, and has since replicated the disease association in two independent, non-isolated...

Abingworth closes $350m life science fund for U.S., Europe.(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... LONDON -- Abingworth Management closed its sixth life science fund, the latest at $350 million--$75 million above target. "We are delighted, not only [at the amount] but at the quality of the names," Stephen Bunting, managing director, told...

Qiagen NV, of Venlo, the Netherlands, entered an agreement to supply a genome-wide library of siRNA molecules to Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * Qiagen NV, of Venlo, the Netherlands, entered an agreement to supply a genome-wide library of siRNA molecules to Novartis AG, of Basel, Switzerland. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Qiagen said it believes the deal to be one of the...

ReNeuron Holdings plc. (Other News to Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * ReNeuron Holdings plc, of Guildford, UK, said it confirmed its immortalized, human neural stem cells are genetically stable in long-term culture. The cells remain both genetically and phenotypically stable after about 100 cell doublings....

Science Foundation Ireland. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * Science Foundation Ireland, the Irish government agency allocating 635 million [euro] in research funding to biotechnology and information technology, named Martina Newell-McGloughlin, director of the system-wide biotechnology research and...

The Money Tree Survey. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * The Money Tree Survey conducted by Kesselman and Kesselman/PricewaterhouseCoopers in Tel Aviv, Israel, reported $243 million was invested in the second quarter in high-tech companies. That is a 70 percent increase compared with the previous...

XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
August 6, 2003... * XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd., of Rehovot, Israel, received $1.2 million from the Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the first installment of its approximately $4.3 million award that was suspended two months...

Pyrosequencing merging with Swedish firm personal chemistry.
August 13, 2003... Pyrosequencing AB, a Swedish sequencing instrumentation specialist, is buying its neighbor, Personal Chemistry i Uppsala AB, in a stock-based transaction valued at approximately SEK185.6 million (US$22.8 million). The deal, which is...

International team shows how Epstein-Barr virus causes cancer.
August 13, 2003... LONDON -- The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), notorious for its role in several human cancers, stimulates cells to multiply out of control by booting key molecules out of the nucleus that normally act as brakes on cell division. The discovery...

Alizyme enters $42m deal with Takeda, its first collaboration.
August 13, 2003... LONDON -- Alizyme plc entered its first license deal, granting rights to its anti-obesity treatment ATL 962 to Takeda Chemical Industries, Japan's largest pharmaceutical company, in a US$42 million deal. Alizyme will receive $2 million up...

Axovan to move clazosentan into Phase III early next year.
August 13, 2003... Swiss drug development firm Axovan AG is looking to move its lead compound clazosentan, for prevention of cerebral vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), into a Phase III clinical trial in the first quarter of 2004. That follows a...

Institutions step in to help CeNeS out of Elan alliance.(CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... LONDON -- CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc freed itself from the inheritance of its joint venture with Elan Corp. plc, putting together a group of institutional investors to buy Elan's holding of 1 6.9 million shares for 3.875 pence per share. ...

NeuroSearch looking to cash in with one broad pharma alliance.
August 13, 2003... One more big deal. That's all that separates Danish CNS drug developer NeuroSearch A/S from financial security, the company said when issuing interim results last week. The Ballerup-based firm is eyeing a broadly based strategic alliance...

Cancer Research Technology, of London, the technology transfer arm of the charity Cancer Research UK, granted GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, an exclusive license to a novel target that enhances the oral bioavailability of certain cytotoxic drugs, including topotecan.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Cancer Research Technology, of London, the technology transfer arm of the charity Cancer Research UK, granted GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London, an exclusive license to a novel target that enhances the oral bioavailability of certain cytotoxic...

Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, and Scancell Ltd., of Nottingham, UK, entered a collaboration to develop antibody therapeutics targeting Lewis y/b, a cell surface carbohydrate blood group antigen discovered by Scancell.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, and Scancell Ltd., of Nottingham, UK, entered a collaboration to develop antibody therapeutics targeting Lewis y/b, a cell surface carbohydrate blood group antigen discovered by Scancell. Expression of Lewis...

Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, licensed its PER.C6 human cell line to GeneMax Corp., of Blaine, Wash., enabling the latter firm to use the platform in its adenovirus-based gene delivery research programs.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, licensed its PER.C6 human cell line to GeneMax Corp., of Blaine, Wash., enabling the latter firm to use the platform in its adenovirus- based gene delivery research programs. GeneMax also negotiated a...

CyBio AG, of Jena, Germany, extended its cooperation with Euroscreen SA, of Brussels, Belgium, to include combined work in drug discovery.(Other News To Note)
August 13, 2003... CyBio AG, of Jena, Germany, extended its cooperation with Euroscreen SA, of Brussels, Belgium, to include combined work in drug discovery. CyBio will use Euroscreen's patented cell lines, assays and membrane preparations in drug discovery....

Upcoming EU rules on clinical trials causing concern in UK.
August 13, 2003... LONDON -- Disquiet is growing in the UK that new EU rules on clinical trials will delay or stop publicly funded trials. The rules are intended to protect patients and harmonize the conduct of clinical trials throughout Europe, but academics...

Definiens AG, of Munich, Germany, began a partnership with IBM Life Sciences to create solutions for life sciences companies to speed research and development processes.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Definiens AG, of Munich, Germany, began a partnership with IBM Life Sciences to create solutions for life sciences companies to speed research and development processes. The companies will combine Definiens' products Cellenger and Polymind with...

EMBL Ventures.(appoints Christof Antz )(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... EMBL Ventures, of Heidelberg, Germany, named Christof Antz as the firm's second partner. He will be responsible for building up the company's portfolio. EMBL Ventures specializes in early phase financing for life sciences companies. Antz had...

Evotec Neurosciences GmbH, a subsidiary of Evotec OAI, of Hamburg, Germany, began a four-year collaboration with Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, in the area of Alzheimer's disease.(Other News To Note)
August 13, 2003... Evotec Neurosciences GmbH, a subsidiary of Evotec OAI, of Hamburg, Germany, began a four-year collaboration with Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd., of Osaka, Japan, in the area of Alzheimer's disease. The companies intend to identify and validate...

Genovac AG, of Freiburg, Germany, licensed its proprietary antibody production technology to Nosan Corp., of Yokohama, Japan.(Other News To Note)
August 13, 2003... Genovac AG, of Freiburg, Germany, licensed its proprietary antibody production technology to Nosan Corp., of Yokohama, Japan. The companies began their cooperation with a marketing agreement in October 2002, and Nosan found such a positive...

Genzyme Corp.(enters into a research agreements with Academic Medical Center )(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Genzyme Corp., of Cambridge, Mass., said it entered a preclinical research collaboration with the Academic Medical Center (AMC), Amsterdam, to assess its smallmolecule immunomodulator GENZ-381 67 as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease....

GPC Biotech AG.(product development)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... GPC Biotech AG, of Munich, Germany, published positive results from its anticancer monoclonal antibody program, specifically for the antibody designated 1D09C3. The company said that the antibody showed consistent effects against various...

ML Laboratories plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... ML Laboratories plc, of Warrington, UK, said an interim review of the Phase III U.S. trial of Adept in the reduction of adhesions after laparoscopic surgery found no safety concerns and recommended that the study should continue. The...

MorphoSys AG, of Munich, Germany, has delivered antibodies against an inflammatory disease target, achieving the third milestone in its collaboration with Centocor Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, in therapeutic antibodies.(Other News To Note)
August 13, 2003... MorphoSys AG, of Munich, Germany, has delivered antibodies against an inflammatory disease target, achieving the third milestone in its collaboration with Centocor Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, in therapeutic antibodies. The...

Tepnel Life Sciences plc.(raises finance)(Brief Article)
August 13, 2003... Tepnel Life Sciences plc, of Manchester, UK, raised 1.5 million [pounds sterling] (US$2.4 million) in a placing of 9.7 million new shares with existing and new investors. The money will be used to accelerate development of Tepnel's system for...

Xenova adding to pipeline via 8.5m [pounds sterling] KS Biomedix acquisition.
August 20, 2003... LONDON -- Consolidation continues in the UK as Xenova Group plc announced an agreed-to 8.48 million [pounds sterling] (US$13.5 million) all-share takeover offer for KS Biomedix plc (KSB). "This is a small but very useful transaction for...

Chromosomal breaks could hold clues to cancer targets.
August 20, 2003... LONDON -- The search is on for broken and rearranged chromosomes in common cancers such as those of the bowel and breast. Such rearrangements have long been associated with leukemias, but a new discovery now shows that they may be more...

Merck drops lead molecule in estrogen program with karo bio.
August 20, 2003... Swedish drug discovery firm Karo Bio AB's shares fell 15.8 percent to close at SEK50.50 Tuesday, as investors digested news that partner Merck & Co. Inc. opted to discontinue development of the lead compound in their collaboration to find novel...

Codon chair says company on track despite turmoil at top.
August 20, 2003... BERLIN -- A former star of Germany's Neuer Markt is sputtering to earth amid turmoil at the highest levels of management and concerns of potential bankruptcy. Codon AG, of Teltow, is a research-oriented company specializing in cell-based...

U.S., others formally call for panel on GMO issue in Europe.
August 20, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy publicly regretted as "unnecessary litigation" the move Monday by Argentina, Canada and the U.S. on EU rules on marketing genetically modified organisms. And Environment...

BioClin Research Laboratories Ltd.(Other News to Note)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... * BioClin Research Laboratories Ltd., a research services start-up formed by ex-Elan Corp. plc. employees, closed on (:400,000 in seed financing. The company, based in Athlone, Ireland, has leased premises from Elan at its Monksland campus, and...

BresaGen moving operations to U.S. for better biotech climate.
August 20, 2003... SYDNEY, Australia -- BresaGen Ltd. plans to shift most of its operations to the U.S. and take advantage of that country's more active biotech industry by raising US$20 million to US$25 million in private stock placements to develop two new lead...

Inpharmatica Ltd., of London, said it entered a nonexclusive ADME service agreement with Ionix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK.(Other News to Note)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... * Inpharmatica Ltd., of London, said it entered a nonexclusive ADME service agreement with Ionix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, to optimize leads in Ionix's analgesic products portfolio. No financial details were given.

NeuroSearch A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, said its partner, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, extended the development program for NS2330, a drug candidate in development for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, to Japan.(Other News to Note)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... * NeuroSearch A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, said its partner, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, extended the development program for NS2330, a drug candidate in development for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, to Japan....

Oxford BioMedica plc.(Other News to Note)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... * Oxford BioMedica plc, of Oxford, UK, said it received a further U.S. patent covering its LentiVector gene vector technology. The patent complements an earlier U.S. patent, and covers the method of production whereby all the viral genes are...

PharmaMar SA.(Other News to Note)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... * PharmaMar SA, the drug development arm of Madrid, Spain-based Zeltia SA, said it would appeal the July 24 decision by the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products of the London-based European Medicines Evaluation Agency not to grant...

Pyrosequencing AB, of Uppsala, Sweden, entered an exclusive licensing deal with 454 Life Sciences, a majority-owned subsidiary of CuraGen Corp., of New Haven, Conn., for whole-genome applications of its pyrophosphate-based sequencing technology, including karyotyping, genotyping and determining sequence-based expression.(Other News to Note)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... * Pyrosequencing AB, of Uppsala, Sweden, entered an exclusive licensing deal with 454 Life Sciences, a majority-owned subsidiary of CuraGen Corp., of New Haven, Conn., for whole-genome applications of its pyrophosphate-based sequencing...

IsoTis outlicenses skin product, keeps focus on bone programs.
August 20, 2003... IsoTis SA took another step toward fulfilling its goal of becoming an orthobiologics firm focused on bone substitution by outlicensing its chronic wound-care product Allox to Healthpoint Ltd., in a worldwide exclusive deal. Healthpoint, a...

Xerion Pharmaceuticals AG, of Martinsried, Germany, licensed bacterial expression technology from XOMA Ireland Ltd. Xerion will have rights to use XOMA's antibody expression technology to develop antibody products derived from phage display libraries.(Other News to Note)(Brief Article)
August 20, 2003... * Xerion Pharmaceuticals AG, of Martinsried, Germany, licensed bacterial expression technology from XOMA Ireland Ltd. Xerion will have rights to use XOMA's antibody expression technology to develop antibody products derived from phage display...

NicOx, Merck enter agreement around Nitric Oxide compounds.
August 27, 2003... PARIS -- NicOx SA and Merck & Co. Inc. signed an agreement allowing Merck to evaluate certain nitric oxide-donating compounds under NicOx's intellectual property rights. The agreement provides for NicOx, of Sophia Antipolis, to provide...

Research group grows UK's first embryonic stem cell line.
August 27, 2003... LONDON -- A human embryonic stem cell line has been grown in the UK for the first time, using five-day-old blastocysts produced by in vitro fertilization, but rejected as unsuitable for implantation after failing screening tests for serious...

German health care legislation could set back biotech sector.
August 27, 2003... BERLIN -- Faced with continuously mounting costs for health care, the German parliament is taking up wide-ranging reform of the country's health system. This week, the ruling Social Democrats and the opposition Christian Democrats agreed...

Merlin sets up shop in Finland, evaluates biotech opportunities.
August 27, 2003... Merlin Biosciences Ltd., a London-based life sciences venture capital group, is establishing an office in Finland in a move that could trigger greater consolidation and internationalization of that country's biotechnology sector. That...

Celltech ends development of CDP 571 in Crohn's indication.
August 27, 2003... LONDON -- Celltech Group plc confirmed that it is scrapping CDP 571 in Crohn's disease, a move that comes a year after the anti-TNF-alpha antibody failed to reach the primary endpoint in Phase III trials. The results at the time left the...

Agendia planning predictive array trials for breast cancer.
August 27, 2003... Agendia BV, a recently formed Dutch start-up, is planning three large-scale clinical trials of a genomics-based method for predicting the chance of primary breast cancers to recur and metastasize. If successful, the approach could alter the...

Acambis plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * Acambis plc, of Cambridge, UK, said the clonal smallpox vaccine it developed for the U.S. government stockpile is free from contaminating bacteria and viruses, and therefore less likely to cause postvaccinal encephalitis than first-generation...

Antisoma plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * Antisoma plc, of London, said it was dropping AS1403 (formerly TheraFab) due to adverse results in a Phase I biodistribution study. The study, examining the ability of AS1403 to deliver a targeted dose of radiation to tumors in patients with...

Astex Technology Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, agreed to a structure-based drug design and development contract with Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * Astex Technology Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, agreed to a structure-based drug design and development contract with Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Osaka, Japan. Astex has used high-throughput X-ray crystallography to solve crystal structures...

Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, has designated Alessandro Banchi, currently the company's board member responsible for pharmaceutical marketing and sales, to succeed Rolf Krebs as chairman of the board of managing directors,...

British Biotech plc, of Oxford, UK, said it was extending its offer for Vernalis plc until Thursday.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * British Biotech plc, of Oxford, UK, said it was extending its offer for Vernalis plc until Thursday, after it received acceptances representing 84 percent of the issued share capital of Vernalis by the first closing on Aug. 18.

Meristem therapeutics victim of 'terrorim' by anti-GMO activists.(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... PARIS -- About 3,000 square meters of genetically modified corn being cultivated by Meristem Therapeutics for the production of gastric lipase was trashed by anti-GMO activists Friday night. The destroyed area was part of a...

BTG plc, of London, entered an alliance with the Australian technology commercialization company QPSX, giving BTG access to life science intellectual property in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * BTG plc, of London, entered an alliance with the Australian technology commercialization company QPSX, giving BTG access to life science intellectual property in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. QPSX will provide technology sourcing and...

GPC Biotech AG.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, has received three permits from German regulatory authorities necessary to begin clinical trials of its monoclonal antibody designated 1D09C3. The permits cover the manufacturing, importing, storing...

Karo Bio AB.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * Karo Bio AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, obtained data from animal models indicating that selective activation of the thyroid hormone receptor beta could offer a new approach to treating obesity and hyperlipidemia. An experimental thyroid hormone...

ReNeuron Holdings plc.(Other News To Note)(Brief Article)
August 27, 2003... * ReNeuron Holdings plc, of Guildford, UK, announced positive preclinical efficacy data for ReN1820, an antagonist of nerve growth factor. In a rat model of interstitial cystitis, ReN1820 delayed the onset and markedly reduced the frequency and...