BioWorld International articles from December 2002

BioWorld International archives from December 2002

Renovo raises 21m [pounds sterling] to move compounds through Phase II.
December 4, 2002... LONDON -- Renovo Ltd. raised 21 million [pounds sterling] in a second round funding that should enable it to take two compounds, one for accelerating wound healing and one for preventing scarring, to the end of Phase II studies, and to put...

Direvo raises 10.5m [euro] in second funding round for growth.
December 4, 2002... Direvo Biotech AG raised 10.5 million [euro] in a second round of private equity financing and will use the capital for growth and to accelerate development of its screening-based technologies for directed evolution. Danisco Venture, of...

Gene discovery suggests synapse abnormality in mental retardation.
December 4, 2002... LONDON -- Identification of a gene responsible for some cases of inherited severe mental retardation has allowed unexpected insights into one of the causes of this common condition. The gene encodes a protein that is found in presynaptic...

METabolic EXplorer raises 6m [euro] second funding round.
December 4, 2002... PARIS -- METabolic EXplorer, a young French company exploring the metabolic pathways of bacteria, yeasts and plants to develop new processes for synthesizing chemicals by fermentation, completed a second funding round that brought it 6 million...

Anosys testing exosomes as anticancer vaccine vectors.
December 4, 2002... PARIS -- A technology that uses exosomes derived from immune system cells as vectors for anticancer vaccines is being tested in clinical trials in France and the United States by a Franco-American company called Anosys Inc. Following...

Allergan Inc., of Irvine, Calif., has paid US$1 million up front to Peplin Biotech Ltd., based in Brisbane, for the right to further develop and commercialize Peplin's lead compound, PEP005, for the treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer and actinic keratosis. (Other News To Note).
December 4, 2002... Allergan Inc., of Irvine, Calif., has paid US$1 million up front to Peplin Biotech Ltd., based in Brisbane, for the right to further develop and commercialize Peplin's lead compound, PEP005, for the treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer and...

Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, said it received a milestone payment of $10 million from Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J., relating to the start of Phase III development of CDP 870 in rheumatoid arthritis in October. (Other News To Note).
December 4, 2002... Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, said it received a milestone payment of $10 million from Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J., relating to the start of Phase III development of CDP 870 in rheumatoid arthritis in October. CDP 870, a humanized...

Genset SA, of Paris, is terminating its American depository receipt facility on Dec. 27 under the terms of the deposit agreement governing the facility. (Other News To Note).
December 4, 2002... Genset SA, of Paris, is terminating its American depository receipt facility on Dec. 27 under the terms of the deposit agreement governing the facility. Until then, holders of ADSs may surrender them to The Bank of New York in exchange for a...

Medigene CEO now assembling European healthcare companies. (European Union Roundup).
December 4, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Peter Heinrich, CEO of Medigene, has taken over as the new president of the Emerging Biopharmaceutical Enterprises, a specialized group bringing together 34 European healthcare companies involved in bioscience technologies...

Novuspharma SpA. (Other News To Note).
December 4, 2002... Novuspharma SpA, of Bresso, Italy, said it is planning to initiate a Phase I trial of pixantrone (BBR 2778) in patients with multiple sclerosis early next year. The compound, already in Phase III studies for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's...

PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, of Oxford, UK, said last week it pulled out of talks with a prospective buyer because the offered price was too low. (Other News To Note).
December 4, 2002... PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, of Oxford, UK, said last week it pulled out of talks with a prospective buyer because the offered price was too low. The unnamed suitor, widely reported to have been Chiron Corp., of Emeryville, Calif., (though...

Trinity Biotech plc, of Bray, Ireland, said it completed the acquisition of the specialty clinical chemistry product line from the Sigma Diagnostics division of Sigma Aldrich Corp., of St. Louis. (Other News To Note).
December 4, 2002... Trinity Biotech plc, of Bray, Ireland, said it completed the acquisition of the specialty clinical chemistry product line from the Sigma Diagnostics division of Sigma Aldrich Corp., of St. Louis. The company said the acquisition would be...

Competitors managing Israel's first private biotech incubators.
December 4, 2002... ZICHRON YA'AKOV, Israel -- The Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade is encouraging cooperation in its first two private biotechnology incubator, if a third incubator is added for the same budget. Israeli Ministry of Industry and Trade...

EU biotechnology support brings industry applause.
December 4, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European industry was quick to applaud when European research ministers adopted a new strategy for biotechnology at their meeting in Brussels on Nov. 26. The strategy, drafted by European Union officials only days...

Merlin director discusses tips for investing in a bear market.
December 4, 2002... BioWorld International Correspondent MUNICH, Germany -- "The IPO window will most likely open again in 2004," said Mark Clement, managing director for Europe with Merlin Biosciences. "It will be very selective. It will be driven by...

GM breakthrough could lead to lifting of EU moratorium.
December 4, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Europe Union agriculture ministers reached an agreement last Thursday on new rules for genetically modified food and feed--and as a result may have opened the way to an end to the de facto moratorium on new GMO...

Actelion Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, and Oxford GlycoSciences plc, of Oxford, UK, signed a licensing agreement extending the parties' existing European marketing relationship and granting Actelion worldwide marketing rights to Zavesca, except in Israel. (Other News To Note).
December 4, 2002... Actelion Ltd., of Basel, Switzerland, and Oxford GlycoSciences plc, of Oxford, UK, signed a licensing agreement extending the parties' existing European marketing relationship and granting Actelion worldwide marketing rights to Zavesca, except...

MediGene AG. (Other News To Note).
December 4, 2002... MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, obtained a U.S. patent for a filtration method for producing therapeutic viruses. The technique separates viruses and is applicable to all viruses that show specific differences in size. The company is...

UK invites scientists to give opinions on GM food, crops.
December 4, 2002... LONDON -- The UK government invited scientists around the world to contribute their views on the safety of genetically modified crops when it launched an independent review of the current state of scientific knowledge, the invitation designed...

Paradigm therapeutics gets 12M [pounds sterling] on strength of murine program.
December 11, 2002... LONDON -- Sequencing the mouse genome is unlikely to provoke a fund-raising spate like that which flowed from the publication of its human counterpart, but Paradigm Therapeutics Ltd. was keen to stress its murine credentials this week when it...

Japanese, Israeli firms unite on tyrosine kinase blockers.
December 11, 2002... ZICHRON YA'AKOV, Israel -- Kirin Brewery Company Ltd. will invest an initial US$5 million in a joint venture with Algen Biopharmaceuticals, a Jerusalem-based start-up company established in 2000 by Yissum, the research development company of...

Longevity gene in mice could speed search for cancer drugs.
December 11, 2002... LONDON -- The prospects of developing a drug that could lengthen the human life span have brightened, with the discovery that mice have a gene that predicts how long they live. Martin Holzenberger, a principal investigator at INSERM in...

London biotech network helps keep young companies in city. (Genesis Conference).
December 11, 2002... LONDON -- It has been a record year for the growth of biotechnology in London, with more than 20 new companies founded in 2002, bringing the total number in the capital to more than 90. Those numbers were to be delivered here today by Simon...

Fellner going to British biotech to help drive UK consolidation.
December 11, 2002... LONDON -- The defining event that will force through the consolidation of the UK biotechnology sector may have arrived with the announcement that Peter Fellner, outgoing CEO of the UK's largest biotech company, Celltech Group plc, will become...

Atugen AG, of Berlin, received two milestone payments from Altana Pharma AG, of Konstanz, Germany, as part of a validation alliance for new target molecules associated with cancer and diseases of the immune system, signed in 2001. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Atugen AG, of Berlin, received two milestone payments from Altana Pharma AG, of Konstanz, Germany, as part of a validation alliance for new target molecules associated with cancer and diseases of the immune system, signed in 2001. The...

Australian Parliament. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Australian Parliament members decided to permit the use of excess IVF embryos for medical research. After extensive debate, federal legislation permitting such research was passed by the Senate with a substantial majority. The lower house,...

Axxima Parmaceuticals AG. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Axxima Pharmaceuticals AG, of Martinsried, Germany, secured 1 million [euro] from the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research to fund research activities. The project will last three years, as part of the ministry's program on new...

Cartela seeks funding for cartilage repair programs.
December 11, 2002... COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Cartela AB, an early stage firm based in Lund, Sweden, is seeking US$3 million in equity financing to progress its programs based on the development of two novel integrins, a10b1 and a11b1, as targets for treatment of...

BioCity Nottingham. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * BioCity Nottingham in the UK, a new biotechnology innovation and incubation center, officially opened its doors Tuesday. BioCity claims to be the largest dedicated biotechnology incubation center in the UK, with 12,000 square meters of space....

Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, terminated its collaboration in cystic fibrosis with Targeted Genetics Corp., of Seattle, giving back full rights to tgAAVCF, which is currently in Phase II trials. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, terminated its collaboration in cystic fibrosis with Targeted Genetics Corp., of Seattle, giving back full rights to tgAAVCF, which is currently in Phase II trials. Targeted Genetics said it is now talking...

Cytos Biotechnology AG. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Cytos Biotechnology AG, of Zurich, Switzerland, said an initial round of immunization with its first Immunodrug product was well tolerated in a Phase I trial involving 24 healthy volunteers. The study was designed to assess the safety and...

Genmab A/S. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said it identified a lead compound, HuMax-TAC, in a newly disclosed therapeutic antibody development program for organ transplant rejection. The program is directed at the interleukin-2 receptor (or TAC)...

Neurotech SA, of Paris, published positive preclinical efficacy results from a proof-of-concept study of the use of its Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) for the treatment of chronic eyes diseases. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Neurotech SA, of Paris, published positive preclinical efficacy results from a proof-of-concept study of the use of its Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) for the treatment of chronic eyes diseases. The study tested the cell-based delivery of...

NeuTec Pharma plc. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * NeuTec Pharma plc, of Manchester, UK, said it completed recruitment into the first stage of its double-blind Phase II trial of Mycograb in the treatment of invasive candidiasis. To date, 21 patients have been entered into the trial, there...

Enkam finalizing first round, planning for first clinical trial.
December 11, 2002... Enkam Pharmaceuticals A/S, an early stage spin-off from Copenhagen University, is in the process of finalizing its first round of funding and is planning to commence a Phase I/II trial of its lead compound, a candidate treatment for Alzheimer's...

Pharmagene plc. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Pharmagene plc, of Royston, UK, said its lead product, PGN52, a synthetic version of the human peptide hormone secretin, has entered Phase I trials. The company specializes in drug discovery services using human tissue for testing compounds...

Prolysis Ltd., of Oxford, UK, announced a three-year drug discovery agreement with Evotec OAI AG. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Prolysis Ltd., of Oxford, UK, announced a three-year drug discovery agreement with Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany, for Evotec to design and synthesize compounds to novel antibiotic targets developed by Prolysis. Under the deal, which has...

Scil Proteins GmbH. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Scil Proteins GmbH, of Halle, Germany, completed a proof-of-principle study demonstrating that Affilines, its scaffold for protein construction, are suited as innovative binding proteins. The study showed that it is possible to generate...

Vectura Ltd., of Bath, UK, a specialist in powder formulations for pulmonary drug delivery, completed a 6.9 million [pounds sterling] (US$10.8 million) funding round and announced a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London. (Other News To Note).
December 11, 2002... * Vectura Ltd., of Bath, UK, a specialist in powder formulations for pulmonary drug delivery, completed a 6.9 million [pounds sterling] (US$10.8 million) funding round and announced a collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline plc, of London. The...

Sanofi-Synthelabo purchases IDM shares as part of alliance.
December 11, 2002... PARIS -- The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Synthelabo purchased 20 million [euro] worth of new shares in the Paris-based biotechnology company Immuno-Designed Molecules SA, paying a higher price than the value put on IDM's stock in its...

France introducing measures to foster innovative companies.
December 18, 2002... PARIS -- The French government plans to introduce new measures aimed at encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship in high-technology industries. They are designed to boost the proportion of GDP spent on research and development from 2.2...

UK government adds 40m [pounds sterling] to stem cell research effort.
December 18, 2002... LONDON -- The UK government announced it will put an extra 40 million [pounds sterling] (US$64 million) into stem cell research over the next four years, creating one of the world's largest publicly funded programs. This additional...

Enzyme structure could lead to new diabetes compounds.
December 18, 2002... LONDON -- Pharmacologists who want to design drugs to treat diabetes, by inhibiting an enzyme that damps down the release of insulin, now have access to this protein's 3-dimensional structure to help them. Scientists working at Novo...

MPM closes $900m fund, plans to invest in range of companies.
December 18, 2002... MUNICH, Germany -- MPM Capital LP, an investment management firm that focuses on health care, closed a $900 million venture capital fund. The company said the fund, MPM BioVentures III, is the largest venture fund dedicated to health care and...

CareX enters research deal with chemical diversity labs.
December 18, 2002... PARIS -- The French functional genomics company CareX signed a research collaboration agreement with Chemical Diversity Labs to support its drug discovery activities in the field of metabolic diseases. The deal calls for Chemical Diversity...

Biovation Ltd., of Aberdeen, UK, entered a research agreement with Viventia Biotech Inc., of Toronto, for Biovation to apply its Delmmunisation technology to a cytotoxic protein designed by Viventia. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Biovation Ltd., of Aberdeen, UK, entered a research agreement with Viventia Biotech Inc., of Toronto, for Biovation to apply its Delmmunisation technology to a cytotoxic protein designed by Viventia. Biovation will receive fees for service and...

Cobra Biomanufacturing plc, of Keele, UK, agreed to manufacture ovine adenovirus for Mayne Pharma, of Melbourne, Australia. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Cobra Biomanufacturing plc, of Keele, UK, agreed to manufacture ovine adenovirus for Mayne Pharma, of Melbourne, Australia. Mayne intends to use the adenovirus to deliver a cytotoxic. Cobra will supply material for preclinical and early stage...

Meristem licenses PureIntro system from Japan tobacco.
December 18, 2002... PARIS -- Meristem Therapeutics signed a worldwide commercial license agreement with Japan Tobacco for the latter's proprietary monocot transformation system, PureIntro. Meristem, which produces recombinant therapeutic proteins from...

UK officials want to tighten access to biotech research.
December 18, 2002... LONDON -- The UK needs stronger vetting procedures to prevent bioterrorists getting access to biotechnology research laboratories in both industry and academia, according to a committee of members of Parliament. "We are concerned that...

EU environment ministers OK additional regulations on GMOs.
December 18, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- European Union environment ministers gave their approval to further rules on traceability and labeling of food and feed products produced from genetically modified organisms when they met here last week. The aim is to...

Pharmexa moving pharmaccine for cancer into phase II studies.
December 18, 2002... Danish therapeutic vaccine specialist Pharmexa A/S is planning to move its DNA-based HER-2 Autovac pharmaccine for treatment of breast cancer into Phase II trials early next summer, following encouraging data from a Phase I/II trial involving...

French Academy of Science. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... The French Academy of Science has submitted a report on genetically modified plants to the French Minister of Research and New Technology, Claudie Haignere, in which it recommends the "rational and cautious introduction of transgenic plants in...

Graffinity Pharmaceuticals AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Graffinity Pharmaceuticals AG, of Heidelberg, Germany, appointed Klaus Schollmeier as CEO, effective Jan. 1. Schollmeier most recently served as managing director of the health care and biotechnology group at ING-BHF Bank, part of ING Group...

Growcorp Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Growcorp Ltd., of Dublin, Ireland, launched a 25 million [euro] seed and venture capital fund--European Bioscience Fund I--that will target life sciences investment opportunities in Ireland and the rest of Europe. The fund also will be used to...

HiberGen Ltd., of Dublin, Ireland, said it granted Fermentas UAB, of Vilnius, Lithuania, a nonexclusive worldwide license to its proprietary genotyping technology SNaPIT for use in the development of genotyping kits for research applications. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... HiberGen Ltd., of Dublin, Ireland, said it granted Fermentas UAB, of Vilnius, Lithuania, a nonexclusive worldwide license to its proprietary genotyping technology SNaPIT for use in the development of genotyping kits for research applications....

Igeneon AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Igeneon AG, of Vienna, Austria, started Phase I trials of two of its key cancer products. The first, IGN301, is a cancer vaccine. The Phase lb study will be undertaken with the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center in Cleveland. The second,...

Lorantis Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, said it was making progress in its collaboration with PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, of Oxford, UK, to develop an allergy treatment based on Lorantis' Notch technology. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Lorantis Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, said it was making progress in its collaboration with PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, of Oxford, UK, to develop an allergy treatment based on Lorantis' Notch technology. Notch is a cell surface protein that has...

Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, said it entered a three-year R&D collaboration with Paradigm Therapeutics Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, focused on the identification of novel protease targets and the discovery of protease inhibitor drugs. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, said it entered a three-year R&D collaboration with Paradigm Therapeutics Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, focused on the identification of novel protease targets and the discovery of protease inhibitor drugs. Medivir...

Metabometrix Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Metabometrix Ltd., of London, has developed a o test it says can replace angiograms in the detection of atherosclerosis. The test involves measuring the magnetic properties of the blood sample by nuclear magnetic resonance and analyzing the...

Mologen AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Mologen AG, of Munich, Germany, announced positive results from a study of vaccinations against a tropical parasite that causes deadly diseases in both dogs and humans. Mologen cooperated with the National Center for Biotechnology in Madrid,...

Munich Biotech AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Munich Biotech AG, of Munich, Germany, was awarded a 1.4 million [euro] grant from the European Commission for a three-year project on antitumor anglogenesis. The work will focus on gene therapy to prevent new blood vessel formation...

Purely Proteins Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Purely Proteins Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, granted Cytomyx Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, a license to its TargetBasePlus database of genes and protein information for applications in the G protein-coupled receptor field. David Parry-Smith, chief...

Transgene SA. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 18, 2002... Transgene SA, of Strasbourg, France, signed an agreement with the International Aids Vaccine Initiative for the production of preclinical batches for the development of a new AIDS vaccine. The initial composition of the vaccine, as determined...

Xenova institutes outsourcing plan for biologics programs.
December 18, 2002... LONDON -- Xenova Group plc plans to outsource the development of its biologics programs to produce an annual cost saving of 2 million [pounds sterling] and extend its existing 20 million [pounds sterling] (US$31.8 million) cash resources until...

CAT reaches agreement over patents with MorphoSys, Crucell.
December 25, 2002... LONDON -- Peace has broken out in long-running wars over antibody phage display patents, with Cambridge Antibody Technology Group plc granting licenses to MorphoSys AG and Crucell NV, and all existing litigation between the companies being...

New drug for malaria shows promise in first clinical trial.
December 25, 2002... LONDON -- An antibiotic that was partially developed and then left on the shelf two decades ago has been hailed as "quite a breakthrough" in the treatment of malaria. The compound, fosmidomycin, can treat malaria with 100 percent success within...

Germany, other countries told to strengthen patent protections.
December 25, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Germany and eight other European Union countries have been told to strengthen their protection for biotechnology patents. The European Commission last week instructed Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy,...

CeNeS licenses addiction product to Swiss firm Addex.
December 25, 2002... LONDON -- CeNeS Pharmaceuticals plc made further progress with its restructuring, agreeing to a US$4.5 million licensing deal with Swiss company Addex Pharmaceuticals SA for CEE 03-310 in the treatment of substance abuse. Neil Clark,...

Berna Biotech, Samsung win Vietnamese vaccines project.(Brief Article)
December 25, 2002... Swiss vaccines company Berna Biotech AG won a US$28 million project with Korean industrial and electronics giant Samsung, of Seoul, to design and build two GMP-compliant vaccine production plants in Vietnam. In addition, the Vietnamese...

4SC AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 25, 2002... * 4SC AG, of Martinsried, Germany, won a 2.2 million [euro] grant from the European Union to lead a consortium that will identify and develop drugs to combat Staphylococcus aureus infections. The EU is concerned about the increasing drug...

Actelion Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 25, 2002... * Actelion Ltd., of Basel Switzerland, appointed Andrew Oakley as chief financial officer. He will succeed Andre Mueller as of Jan. 2. Mueller will remain actively engaged in the management team until the spring, when he will concentrate on his...

Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said it signed an agreement with fellow Dutch firm DSM Biologics, of Heerlen, to develop and market biopharmaceutical manufacturing technology based on Crucell's PER.C6 human cell line. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 25, 2002... * Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said it signed an agreement with fellow Dutch firm DSM Biologics, of Heerlen, to develop and market biopharmaceutical manufacturing technology based on Crucell's PER.C6 human cell line. DSM Biologics is...

Ireland and China. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 25, 2002... * Ireland and China signed a research collaboration agreement and have committed a combined 1 million [euro] for supporting research exchanges in the areas of biotechnology and information technology. The four-year agreement takes effect Jan....

European Commission calls for proposals for research program. (European Union Roundup).
December 25, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Commission launched its first call for proposals last week under its new 2002-06 research program. About 513 million [euro] is to be made available to European researchers and companies under this first...

Swiss authorities deal setback to IsoTis for skin treatment.
December 25, 2002... MUNICH, Germany -- The Swiss Federal Social Insurance Office (OFAS) decided not to reimburse use of EpiDex, a product from IsoTis SA, for treatment of chronic skin wounds. IsoTis had anticipated that OFAS would allow reimbursement as of Jan. 1,...

Pharming Group NV. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
December 25, 2002... * Pharming Group NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said it promoted Samir Singh to the position of vice president and managing director, U.S. Singh will continue to hold his current responsibilities for business development, corporate...