BioWorld International articles from February 2003

BioWorld International archives from February 2003

Karo Bio, Pharmexa cut staff, shift focus to development.
February 5, 2003... Two Scandinavian biotechnology companies unveiled restructuring plans last week, adding to the growing list of European firms that are cutting scientific staff in response to the weak market. Each is articulating a similar message. Pharmexa A/S...

European Union tries again to push patent protections.
February 5, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- In a bid to shore up the credibility of its rules on biotechnology, the European Union called its member states to Brussels last week to "try to speed up progress" in bringing the 1998 EU rules on legal protection of...

Imprinting study holds telling message for gene researchers.
February 5, 2003... LONDON -- The latest evidence that the expression of a gene can depend on which parent it was inherited from has important implications for researchers engaged in studying genetic phenotypes. One of the scientists who carried out the work...

European VCs see tough exits, put emphasis on product firms.
February 5, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- Biotechnology investors alternated between commiseration and encouragement at the European Venture Capital and Private Equity Forum held here last week. The good-news, bad-news view of the sector covered several key aspects...

KS Biomedix venture produces first antibody, enters alliances.
February 5, 2003... LONDON -- KS Biomedix Holdings plc said its industrial/academic joint venture, Discerna Ltd., has made significant progress, producing its first antibody candidate and agreeing to research collaborations with a European diagnostics company and...

Active Biotech AB. (Other News to Note).(Brief Article)
February 5, 2003... * Active Biotech AB, of Lund, Sweden, said it plans to proceed with dose-escalation studies of its candidate prostate cancer treatment TASQ (tumor angiogenesis suppression by quinolines), following a successful Phase I trial of the drug in...

Amarin Corp. plc. (Other News to Note).
February 5, 2003... * Amarin Corp. plc, which is headquartered in London but quoted on Nasdaq, raised US$21.2 million in a private placement of 6.1 million shares. The price of $3.4785 per share was based on the average closing price of Amarin's ADRs for the five...

Rebif sales help push Serono over $1.5B in 2002 revenues.
February 5, 2003... PARIS -- Serono SA has consolidated its position as the world's third largest biotechnology company by driving its revenues through the $1.5 billion mark in 2002. Amgen Inc. and Genentech Inc. are the largest biotech companies. ...

Transgene licenses technology to Merck on nonexclusive basis.
February 5, 2003... PARIS -- Merck & Co. Inc. signed a nonexclusive licensing agreement with Transgene SA giving it access to the French gene therapy company's intermolecular homologous recombination technology for the construction of recombinant viral vectors,...

UK BIA calls for penalties for animal rights activism.
February 5, 2003... LONDON -- The UK BioIndustry Association has called on the government to criminalize the activities of animal rights activists by bringing in legislation similar to that against football hooliganism. In his speech at the BIA's annual dinner...

Biotie Therapies Oyj. (Other News to Note).(Brief Article)
February 5, 2003... * Biotie Therapies Oyj, of Turku, Finland, said it sold its process development and production unit to a new company, Biovian Oy, which has been established by management and employees. Fourteen staff have transferred to the new organization....

Cytomyx plc, of Cambridge, UK, and Purely Proteins Ltd., also of Cambridge, agreed to a broad alliance in drug discovery services relating to the G protein-coupled receptor protein family. (Other News to Note).(Brief Article)
February 5, 2003... * Cytomyx plc, of Cambridge, UK, and Purely Proteins Ltd., also of Cambridge, agreed to a broad alliance in drug discovery services relating to the G protein-coupled receptor protein family. Cytomyx will use Purely Protein's TargetBASE GPCR...

African food crisis at center of continued debate on GMOs.
February 5, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- European Union discussions last week managed to "demonstrate very clearly the potential that life sciences and biotechnologies have for developing countries. But they also identified the associated risks and underlined the...

Inpharmatica Ltd., of London, announced an expansion of its bioinformatics collaboration with Serono SA, of Geneva, Switzerland, originally entered in July 2001. (Other News to Note).
February 5, 2003... * Inpharmatica Ltd., of London, announced an expansion of its bioinformatics collaboration with Serono SA, of Geneva, Switzerland, originally entered in July 2001. To date Inpharmatica has delivered sequences of more than 100 novel proteins to...

KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, entered a two-year drug discovery and preclinical research collaboration. (Other News to Note).
February 5, 2003... * KUDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, and MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte. Ltd., of Singapore, entered a two-year drug discovery and preclinical research collaboration. It brings together MerLion's natural products library with KUDOS'...

Medical Marketing International Group plc. (Other News to Note).(Brief Article)
February 5, 2003... * Medical Marketing International Group plc, of Cambridge, UK, said Oncosense Ltd., its wholly owned cancer therapeutics company, is ready to progress its second program into animal testing. That follows in vitro tests showing the compound, an...

NicOx, Biolipox expand alliance to areas of inflammation, pain.
February 5, 2003... PARIS -- NicOx SA and Biolipox AB are expanding their research collaboration covering nitric oxide-donating drugs for the treatment of respiratory diseases to include other pathologies as well. The research and co-development agreement...

Sophion raises $5M to fund automated patch clamp system.
February 5, 2003... Sophion Bioscience A/S raised DKK35 million (US$5 million) in a second financing round supported by a consortium of Scandinavian investors. The fresh injection of cash boosts its total funding to date to about US$8.5 million and will enable the...

Medivir AB. (Other News to Note).(Brief Article)
February 5, 2003... * Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, named Lars Adlersson president and CEO. Adlersson, who is due to take up his new position at the beginning of March, joins the company from Handelsbanken Securities, of Stockholm, where he was a senior analyst...

Oxford BioMedica plc, of Oxford, UK, and Kiadis BV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, agreed to a joint research program in the area of wound healing. (Other News to Note).(Brief Article)
February 5, 2003... * Oxford BioMedica plc, of Oxford, UK, and Kiadis BV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, agreed to a joint research program in the area of wound healing. Oxford BioMedica has identified an enzyme involved in angiogenesis, and Kiadis will apply its...

Renovo Ltd., of Manchester, UK, said Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. and BioVeda Capital Pte. Ltd., both of Singapore, have invested 2 million [pounds sterling] (US$3.3 million) in the company as part of an oversubscription to its second-round funding. (Other News to Note).
February 5, 2003... * Renovo Ltd., of Manchester, UK, said Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. and BioVeda Capital Pre. Ltd., both of Singapore, have invested 2 million [pounds sterling] (US$3.3 million) in the company as part of an oversubscription to its second-round...

RiboTargets plc. (Other News to Note).
February 5, 2003... * RiboTargets plc, of Cambridge, UK, said it has joined the Partnership for Structural Biology set up at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. That will provide guaranteed access to beamlines, providing the intense X-ray source needed...

Cancer Research UK using RNAi to uncover cancer gene roles.
February 12, 2003... LONDON -- The charity Cancer Research UK launched a 500,000 [pounds sterling] (US$814,000) research program to use RNA interference technology to systematically uncover the function of all human genes, with the ultimate aim of identifying all...

Graft of skeletal stem cells survived 18 months in heart.
February 12, 2003... LONDON -- A team of French physicians said it has proof of principle that autologous cell therapy is a viable treatment for myocardial infarction. A post-mortem study carried out on one of 10 patients who received the experimental treatment...

World events cause cease-fire in U.S.-EU battle over GMOs. (European Union Roundup).(genetically modified organisms)(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The crisis in Iraq has placed on the back burner the United States' action against European Union limits on the marketing of genetically modified organisms. The U.S. has delayed its decision on whether to challenge the...

Vivalis completes 3m [euro] initial round for transgenics work.
February 12, 2003... PARIS -- Vivalis SA completed an initial funding round in which it raised 3 million [euro] from three French venture capital funds. The new investors in the Nantes-based company, which cultivates stem cells from transgenic animals, are, in...

Entomed appoints new CEO, advances discovery programs.
February 12, 2003... PARIS -- Entomed SA, which is developing compounds based on natural peptides and small molecules derived from insects, appointed Jean Combalbert CEO to replace Mario Thomas, who resigned last summer for personal reasons. Combalbert was...

AM-Pharma Holding BV. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * AM-Pharma Holding BV, of Bunnik, the Netherlands, announced the start of Phase I trials of its lead product, calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase (AP), for the treatment of sepsis. AM-Pharma discovered AP has an important role in the body's...

Antisense Therapeutics Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Antisense Therapeutics Ltd., of Melbourne Australia, said it will begin in March at Stamford Hospital in London Phase I human trials of a new treatment for multiple sclerosis. The new drug, called ATL 1102, binds to the piece of messenger RNA...

Bavarian Nordic A/S. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Bavarian Nordic A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said it would realize "the major part" of its 2003 revenue and profit targets through an agreement to supply its Elstree-BN smallpox vaccine to an undisclosed European government. Bavarian Nordic...

Chiracon GmbH. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Chiracon GmbH, of Luckenwalde, Germany, appointed Thilo Schmidt-Rogge to the position of managing director, a rank he shares with Ralf Zuhse, the company's founder. Chiracon produces chiral molecules as the raw material for high-value...

Domantis Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Domantis Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, said it has been granted a U.S. patent on its emulsion technology for generating antibodies without using bacteria or cells. A water-in-oil emulsion is used to compartmentalize genes and their products into an...

Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany began a three-year discovery and development partnership with Dynogen Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Abingdon, UK. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany began a three-year discovery and development partnership with Dynogen Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Abingdon, UK. Dynogen will use Evotec's technology to identify and develop neurological compounds for the...

Gene Bridges GmbH. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Gene Bridges GmbH, of Dresden, Germany, is the beneficiary of an additional U.S. patent on its Red/ET recombination process for DNA manipulation, cloning and modification. The patent itself was issued to the European Molecular Biology...

Genmab A/S. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Genmab A/S, of Copenhagen, Denmark, said its pre-clinical human antibody, HuMax-CD20, is undergoing manufacturing development in advance of human clinical trials. The company last week reported preclinical data at the Keystone Symposium...

Genovac AG, of Freiburg, Germany, reached proof of principle for its genetic immunization technology by meeting goals of a test designed by CuraGen Corp., of New Haven, Conn. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Genovac AG, of Freiburg, Germany, reached proof of principle for its genetic immunization technology by meeting goals of a test designed by CuraGen Corp., of New Haven, Conn. Genovac's technology was able to generate polyclonal antibodies...

GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, licensed patents from Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., that extend the intellectual property position of GPC's "Reverse Genomics" technology platform. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, licensed patents from Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., that extend the intellectual property position of GPC's "Reverse Genomics" technology platform. The patents cover cell-signaling...

SynGenix buys Dallas Burston, adds sublingual technology.
February 12, 2003... LONDON -- SynGenix Ltd. acquired Dallas Burston Ltd. in an all-share deal that gives SynGenix access to sublingual drug delivery technology, a product for breakthrough pain in clinical trials and two other compounds that are ready to enter...

Medivir AB. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Medivir AB, of Huddinge, Sweden, said its oral antiviral molecule MIV-210, which is in development for the treatment of HIV and hepatitis B, entered a Phase I trial in healthy volunteers. The multiple-dose study, which is being conducted in...

MelTec GmbH. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * MelTec GmbH, of Magdeburg, Germany, has begun a feasibility study in rheumatoid arthritis with the Proteome Center Rostock in Germany to examine tissue from inflamed human joints using MelTec's MELK technology. If the first phase of the study...

Migragen AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Migragen AG, of Tubingen, Germany, acquired an exclusive license from Yale University for a joint patent on nerve regeneration. The license covers worldwide rights for development and commercialization of novel therapeutics. The patent covers...

NeuTec Pharma plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * NeuTec Pharma plc, of Edinburgh, UK, said it has filed an IND for Mycograb in the treatment of hospital-acquired invasive candidiasis. That follows the completion in January of the interim analysis of 21 patients in the European Phase IIa...

NicOx SA, of Sophia-Antipolis, France, plans to embark on Phase I studies of NCX 1000, a nitric oxide-donating derivative of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), in both the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of portal hypertension, a late-stage chronic liver disease. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * NicOx SA, of Sophia-Antipolis, France, plans to embark on Phase I studies of NCX 1000, a nitric oxide-donating derivative of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), in both the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of portal hypertension, a late-stage...

PPL Therapeutics plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * PPL Therapeutics plc, of Edinburgh, UK, said it has entered exclusive negotiations with U.S.-based investors to dispose of PPL's xenograft and stem cell programs, which it put on the market in March 2002. PPL expects to receive a minority...

Switch Biotech AG, of Munich, Germany, has validated a target from LEO Pharma A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, that plays a role in controlling psoriasis. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * Switch Biotech AG, of Munich, Germany, has validated a target from LEO Pharma A/S, of Ballerup, Denmark, that plays a role in controlling psoriasis. Switch earned an undisclosed milestone payment from LEO for the work. The companies will...

IsoTis receives EU approval of synthetic bone substitute.
February 12, 2003... IsoTis SA aims to start selling its OsSatura BCP synthetic bone substitute product in Europe this quarter, following its receipt of the CE mark, which clears the product for marketing throughout the European Union. The news lifted its share...

Ingenium adds GSF mouse data to ingenotyping modeling platform.
February 12, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG added the mouse tissue archive of the German National Research Center for Environment and Health GmbH (GSF) to its own archive in its Ingenotyping technology platform. The addition doubles...

EuropaBio initiates petition on patents. (European Union Roundup).
February 12, 2003... A petition has been initiated by EuropaBio, the European association for bioindustries, to put pressure on the European Union for a final decision on the long-awaited "Community Patent." A broad coalition from within the biotechnology and...

Transgene reports successful results from adenoviral vector.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... PARIS -- The gene therapy company Transgene SA reported positive results from Phase I trials of two cancer therapies based on the latest version of its adenoviral vector, one delivering the interferon gamma gene and the other the interleukin-2...

Boehringer Ingelheim starts Phase III trial of HIV inhibitor.
February 12, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- Boehringer Ingelheim pressed the fight against the increased resistance in HIV by starting a global Phase III trial of tipranavir, a non-peptidic protease inhibitor. The compound would be the company's second antiretroviral...

German Ministry of Education and Research. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... * The German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) awarded the BioFuture prize to the leaders of five promising research groups in biological sciences. Each group will receive an average of 1 million [euro] in public funding. The winners...

Serono, Genentech extend marketing deal for Raptiva.(Brief Article)
February 12, 2003... PARIS -- Genentech Inc. agreed to expand the geographical scope of the exclusive license it granted Serono SA last August for developing and marketing Raptiva (efalizumab) to include 15 Asian countries. The new agreement means Geneva-based...

Oxford GlycoSciences considers interest from Celltech, others.
February 19, 2003... LONDON -- Celltech Group plc has refused to comment on reports that it is preparing to make a cash bid for Oxford GlycoSciences plc, undermining the agreed-to all-share takeover offer made by Cambridge Antibody Technology Group plc on Jan. 23....

Work on lymphocyte infection could have implications in HIV.
February 19, 2003... LONDON -- New insights into how a virus that infects lymphocytes can sneak from cell to cell could allow pharmacologists to design drugs that inhibit viral enzymes. The researchers who carried out the work, on a virus called human T...

Diatos raises 6.5m [euro] privately to fund delivery technology.
February 19, 2003... PARIS -- Diatos SA, which is developing intracellular and intranuclear drug delivery systems using peptide vectors for the treatment of cancer, completed a second funding round in which it raised 6.5 million [euro]. The lead investor was...

Dolly the cloned sheep opened research doors in biotechnology.
February 19, 2003... LONDON -- Obituary: Dolly the Sheep, July, 5, 1996--Feb. 14, 2003. The world's most famous sheep, Dolly--the first clone to be created from an adult cell--died Friday at age 6 and a half. She was put down after vets at the Roslin Institute...

Biotech companies included in new German stock index.(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- The announcement from Deutsche Boerse AG, the company that operates Germany's most important stock markets, that it would close the Neuer Markt, the country's high-tech, high-growth market, ended a chapter in German...

Atugen AG, of Berlin, and MetaGen Pharmaceuticals GmbH also of Berlin, agreed to evaluate Atugen's target validation technology in the research and development of MetaGen's cancer drug targets. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Atugen AG, of Berlin, and MetaGen Pharmaceuticals GmbH also of Berlin, agreed to evaluate Atugen's target validation technology in the research and development of MetaGen's cancer drug targets. Atugen will select and screen antisense...

Cambridge Antibody Technology Group plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Cambridge Antibody Technology Group plc, of Cambridge, UK, was granted clearance from the FDA to begin U.S. clinical trials of CAT-152 (Trabio) for the prevention of post-operative scarring following surgery to treat glaucoma. The study is...

Cardion AG, of Erkrath, Germany, licensed its genomics enabler technology to Pfizer Inc., of New York. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Cardion AG, of Erkrath, Germany, licensed its genomics enabler technology to Pfizer Inc., of New York. The German company expects Pfizer to use the nonexclusive license to improve drug screening, target gene validation and predictive...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 19, 2003... A story in the Feb. 12, 2003, issue of BioWorld International misstated the location of NeuTec Pharma plc. The company is based in Manchester, UK. Editor's note: The correction has been made on BioWorld Online.

Active Biotech seeks $26.5m in discounted rights offering.
February 19, 2003... Swedish firm Active Biotech AB is looking to put something away for a rainy day. The Lund-based company aims to add SEK224.9 million (US$26.5 million) to its coffers through a rights issue planned April 23 through May 15. Existing...

Confirmant Ltd., of Abingdon, UK, a proteomics database specialist, announced a technology software alliance with Accelrys Inc., of San Diego, to create a database of annotated proteins for use in the selection of drug targets. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Confirmant Ltd., of Abingdon, UK, a proteomics database specialist, announced a technology software alliance with Accelrys Inc., of San Diego, to create a database of annotated proteins for use in the selection of drug targets. Confirmant...

Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said Targeted Genetics Corp., of Seattle, licensed its PER.C6 human cell expression system for evaluation and use in vaccine research and has retained an option to commercialize any products that may result. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Crucell NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, said Targeted Genetics Corp., of Seattle, licensed its PER.C6 human cell expression system for evaluation and use in vaccine research and has retained an option to commercialize any products that may...

Investment rules delay first closing of new Nordic fund.
February 19, 2003... Danish investment rules that kick in during a bear market have thrown an obstacle in the path of Scandinavia's newest life sciences venture capital fund, lengthening the time required to reach its first closing. The new fund,...

SIRTeX officials welcome idea of $161m acquisition by Cephalon.
February 19, 2003... SYDNEY, Australia -- Directors of Sydney-based SIRTeX Medical Ltd. welcomed the A$271 million (US$161 million) bid by Cephalon Inc., saying that Cephalon has the distribution muscle to get its liver cancer treatment to market. Executive...

Wilex expands uPA program through deal with San Raffaele.
February 19, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- Wilex AG began a licensing and research collaboration with San Raffaele Biomedical Science Park in Milan, Italy, to examine the therapeutic and diagnostic use of the cleaved uPA receptor of the urokinate-type plasminogen...

Enact Pharma plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Enact Pharma plc, of Salisbury, UK, said its lead compound, Voraxaze, has been granted European orphan drug status. The compound is a treatment for methotrexate toxicity during cancer therapy. Clinical trial results showed Voraxaze can reduce...

Equinet Venture Partners AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Equinet Venture Partners AG, a private equity firm based in Frankfurt, Germany, has reached its first closing for its new fund, Venture Capital Rheinland-Pfalz (VRP), with a volume of 15 million [euro]. The company intends to raise a total of...

Hybrigenics SA. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Hybrigenics SA, of Paris, said it identified the role played by several cellular proteins required for replication of HIV-1. Among the essential proteins it focused on is LEDGF/p75, a chromatin-associated protein that is a general...

Fees for EMEA registration increasing for the first time. (European Union Roundup).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union is set to push up the fees for registering medicines via the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products. The key EU committee responsible for setting fees for using the EMEA gave its...

Switch Biotech AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Switch Biotech AG, of Munich, Germany, secured exclusive rights to a cellular target molecule and its modulators that the company believes play a crucial role in controlling proliferation of cells from the upper layer of the skin. The target,...

Cerep, Sanofi-Synthelabo renew drug discovery collaboration.
February 19, 2003... PARIS -- Cerep SA and the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Synthelabo renewed their drug discovery collaboration for 2003. Cerep, of Rueil-Malmaison, said that, given the progress made in its lead optimization programs, it expects to...

Oxford BioMedica plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Oxford BioMedica plc, of Oxford, UK, said it was awarded a UK government grant of 900,000 [euro] to fund development of 5T4, a proprietary tumor-associated antigen. 5T4 is the active immunogenic component of the company's lead product,...

Phoqus Pharmaceuticals plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Phoqus Pharmaceuticals plc, of West Mailing, UK, raised 7 million [pounds sterling] (US$11.2 million) in a third-round funding to advance the commercialization of its electrostatic dry powder deposition technology for coating and loading of...

ReNeuron Holdings plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * ReNeuron Holdings plc, of Guilford, the UK's only quoted stem cell company, confirmed it is in talks that may lead to an offer for the company. Last month ReNeuron announced its lead product, ReN1869, a neurin for treating neuropathic pain,...

Ribopharma AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 19, 2003... * Ribopharma AG, of Kulmbach, Germany, added John Rossi, Ronald Plasterk and David Baulcombe to its scientific advisory board. Ribopharma was founded in 2000 to develop novel drugs based on RNA interference (RNAi), using short lengths of...

NicOx takes hit on data, calls for inquiry into stock movement.
February 26, 2003... PARIS -- The share price of NicOx SA on the Nouveau Marche in Paris plummeted by more than 83 percent last week after AstraZeneca plc issued a statement in the names of both companies announcing that the recently completed Phase II trial of a...

European ethics advisers want scrutiny in area of genetic tests. (EU Roundup).
February 26, 2003... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The explosion of Internet-based advertising for genetic tests has provoked a sharp reaction from the European Union's top advisers on ethics. They issued a call for caution Monday, and promised to investigate the matter...

Route to antigen presentation provides clues for viral vaccines.
February 26, 2003... LONDON -- A previously unknown way in which cells generate protein fragments for recognition by the immune system has been identified by researchers working in Germany, France and Israel. The discovery has important implications for the design...

Xenova, QLT suffer setback in pivotal trial of cancer drug.
February 26, 2003... LONDON -- Shares in Xenova Group plc fell by 14.5 pence to 23.5 pence Friday when partner QLT Inc. announced patient enrollment in two Phase III studies of tariquidar was suspended because of safety concerns. The shares continued to fall on...

German officials call for cloning ban at home, around the world.
February 26, 2003... MUNICH, Germany -- The German parliament passed a measure not only prohibiting all forms of human cloning in Germany, but also calling on the German government to actively pursue a worldwide ban on cloning. The bill passed with a large...

Domantis gets milestone, funds for work in domain antibodies.
February 26, 2003... LONDON -- Domantis Ltd. received a $4.25 million milestone payment from Peptech Ltd. as its lead compound, an anti-TNF alpha domain antibody (dAb) being co-developed with the Australian company, entered preclinical development. At the same...

Autogen Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, was paid A$1.4 million (US$780,000) by Merck KgaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, as a milestone payment for work on a gene originally identified by Autogen. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
February 26, 2003... Autogen Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia, was paid A$1.4 million (US$780,000) by Merck KgaA, of Darmstadt, Germany, as a milestone payment for work on a gene originally identified by Autogen. Merck will continue to work on the gene, AGT203, one of...