BioWorld International articles from January 2002

BioWorld International archives from January 2002

Astex solves P450 3-D crystal structure, raises another 5.7m [pounds sterling].(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... LONDON -- Astex Technology Ltd. said it solved the first 3-dimensional crystal structure of a human cytochrome P450 enzyme involved in drug metabolism, a discovery that will make it easier to rationally design drugs that reduce metabolic and...

Chromosome 20's secrets could yield clues in genetic diseases.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... LONDON -- The sequence of chromosome 20, which has just been published, will allow medical researchers to "zoom in" on the genetic causes of diseases as diverse as Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, obesity, eczema and Type II diabetes, the scientists...

Differences in opinions block EU consensus on stem cells. (European Union Roundup).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Despite the best endeavors of some 300 scientists, ethicists and industrialists from across the European Union in their two-day conference in Brussels on stem cells Dec. 18-19, the prospect of real consensus seems as...

Synaptica raises 3.5m [pounds sterling] for peptide-based CNS program.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... LONDON -- Synaptica Ltd. raised 3.5 million [pounds sterling] (US$5.1 million) in its first funding round, enabling it to accelerate its discovery program based on a proprietary peptide implicated in the earliest stages of neurodegenerative...

British Biotech plans studies on new class of antibiotics.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... LONDON -- British Biotech plc said the first of its new class of antibiotics based on metalloenzyme inhibitors will enter clinical studies in 2002, and that it is in talks with pharmaceutical companies to partner the program. The company...

Trinity College Dublin spin-off eyes dominant genetic diseases.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... DUBLIN, Ireland -- One of Ireland's most successful life sciences research groups is spinning off a start-up company, Optigen Technologies Ltd., to develop therapeutic strategies for treating dominant genetic diseases. The ocular genetics...

Transgene embarks on second Phase II of therapeutic vaccine.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... PARIS -- The Strasbourg-based gene therapy company Transgene SA initiated another Phase II clinical trial of its MVA-HPV-IL2 vaccine, this time in the indication of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN3). A Phase II trial of the same...

Millennium on the lookout for collaborations in Israel.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... ZICHRON YA'AKOV, Israel -- Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. is reviewing the Israeli biotechnology arena for drugs in development and novel technologies for drug discovery and development. "In all franchise areas, we are developing a...

Tibotec-Virco initiating U.S. trials of HIV drug.(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... PARIS -- Tibotec-Virco NV plans to embark on Phase I clinical trials of its anti-HIV drug candidate TMC125 in the U.S., following the completion of the FDA's review of its investigational new drug application. TMC125 is a non-nucleoside...

Compugen Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... * Compugen Ltd., of Tel Aviv, Israel, said it has been approved to list its shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) to begin trading on Jan. 7. Mor Amitai, president and CEO of Compugen, said Compugen is the first biotechnology company to...

Medical Marketing International Group plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 2, 2002... * Medical Marketing International Group plc, of Cambridge, UK, a technology management company, formed a joint venture company with the Northwick Park Institute for Medical Research in London to commercialize the discovery at Northwick of the...

ExonHit partners with IDEC to develop antibody therapeutics.(ExonHit Therapeutics S.A.)(IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp. )(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... PARIS -- ExonHit Therapeutics SA and IDEC Pharmaceuticals Corp. signed a collaboration and research agreement aimed at discovering new antigen targets for antibody therapy, with a particular focus on prostate carcinoma. IDEC will have...

New heart drugs could be hiding in a glass of Vin Rouge.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... LONDON -- People who regularly down a glass or two of red wine with their evening meal, and vaguely hope it might do them some good at the same time, can now congratulate themselves for almost certainly reducing their risks of coronary heart...

PPL clones knockout pigs, says Dolly's arthritis not a setback.(PPL Therapeutics PLC)(cloned sheep)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... LONDON -- PPL Therapeutics plc laid claim to the world's first cloned knockout pigs with the birth of five cloned piglets, genetically engineered to make the organs of their offspring suitable for xenotransplantation. The piglets, all...

NeuTec raising 10m [pounds sterling] to fund programs targeting infections.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... LONDON -- NeuTec Pharma plc plans to raise 10 million [pounds sterling] (US$14.4 million) in a listing on the Alternative Investment Market, London's junior market, to further develop its portfolio of antibodies that target antibiotic-resistant...

Budget cuts sidetrack plan for Israeli Biotech Institute.(National Institute for Biotechnology, Ben Gurion University of the Negev)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... TEL AVIV, Israel -- The plans of the Ministry of Science, Culture & Sport for a new National Institute for Biotechnology at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba are likely to be thwarted in view of the current budget crisis in...

Antisoma, Abbott restructure deal regarding cancer drug.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... LONDON -- Antisoma plc has renegotiated its licensing deal with Abbott Laboratories Inc. for pemtumomab, under development for the treatment of ovarian and gastric cancer, a move that will mean Antisoma takes on an extra 9 million [pounds...

Novartis enlists Optimata to analyze new drug candidates.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... TEL AVIV, Israel -- Optimata Ltd. has been contracted by Novartis Pharma AG to analyze the mechanism of action of a Novartis drug under development. For this first commercial run, Tel Aviv- and Bene Ataroth-based Optimata, an Israeli...

Strakan raises another 15m [pounds sterling], gains UK approval for Zindaclin.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... LONDON -- Drug delivery specialist Strakan Group Ltd. raised 15 million [pounds sterling] (US$21.6 million) in a rights issue to add to the 30.5 million [pounds sterling] it raised from institutional investors in May 2001. At the same time...

Curacyte AG. (Other News To Note).(patent application)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... * Curacyte AG, of Munich, Germany, filed a patent application in Germany that covers 26 peptide inhibitors of Factor XIIIa. Factor XIIIa is the terminal enzyme of the blood-clotting cascade. Potential indications of the new inhibitors might...

Europroteome AG. (Other News To Note).(vice president)(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... * Europroteome AG, of Hennigsdorf, Germany, appointed Christian Knobloch vice president, business development. Knobloch previously was medical director with the Belgian subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Knoll AG, of Ludwigshafen,...

MediGene AG. (Other News To Note).(Polyphenon E ointment)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 9, 2002... * MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said a long-term Phase III trial of Polyphenon E ointment against genital warts showed complete clearance of genital warts in 44.9 percent of the patients treated. The study started with 78 patients....

Mologen Holding AG. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... * Mologen Holding AG, of Berlin, plans to offer its shares on the German regulated market (Geregelter Markt) at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Mologen's shares now are traded over the counter in the "Freiverkehr," a less-regulated stock market...

Noxxon AG, of Berlin, for US$5 million acquired an exclusive sublicence to Cambridge, Mass.-based Archemix Corp.'s SELEX patent portfolio.(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... * Noxxon AG, of Berlin, for US$5 million acquired an exclusive sublicence to Cambridge, Mass.-based Archemix Corp.'s SELEX patent portfolio. SELEX is a method to identify among millions of different RNA-oligonucleotides (aptameres) the one...

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., of Jerusalem, received tentative approval from the U.S. FDA for 250-, 500- and 750-mg Ciprofloxacin tablets, the generic version of Bayer AG's Cipro, used to treat bacterial infections including anthrax. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 9, 2002... * Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, of Jerusalem, received tentative approval from the U.S. FDA for 250-, 500- and 750-mg Ciprofloxacin tablets, the generic version of Bayer AG's Cipro, used to treat bacterial infections including anthrax....

Cellzome, MDS publish maps of protein interactions in yeast.(MDS Proteomics Inc.)
January 16, 2002... BORNHEIM, Germany -- Cellzome AG and MDS Proteomics Inc. scientists each published last week in Nature drafts of maps recording protein interaction pathways inside yeast cells. Cellzome, of Heidelberg, Germany, expects its maps to enable...

Cell entry proteins could be next malaria vaccine target.
January 16, 2002... LONDON -- It may one day be possible to protect both humans and mosquitoes from the malaria parasite with the same vaccine, a recent discovery suggests. Scientists working in England and France have found that proteins belonging to the same...

French parliament could vote to allow therapeutic cloning.
January 16, 2002... PARIS -- The French National Assembly was due to start discussion Tuesday of the government's new "bioethics" bill, which is designed to update the existing legislation enacted in 1994. As presently drafted, the bill authorizes research using...

UK group calls for safeguards before DNA database creation.(GeneWatch UK's BioBank UK)
January 16, 2002... The UK's leading independent genetics watchdog group said plans to create a national DNA database of 500,000 people should not go ahead until the law is changed to protect the rights of individual donors. A detailed review of the proposal...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
January 16, 2002... A news item on MediGene AG in the Jan. 9, 2002, issue of BioWorld International should have said that in a survey following treatment of genital warts in a Phase III trial of Polyphenon E, the recurrence rate in men was 23 percent, not 25...

Israeli biotech fared well last year compared to high tech.
January 16, 2002... ZICHRON YAAKOV, Israel -- It may be that the sharp fall from virtual reality has cast a better light on the life sciences, according to a report by Kost, Forer and Gabbay -- Ernst and Young (Israel), which described 2001 as "a successful year"...

Phenion starts operations with EUR12.5m Henkel collaboration.(Phenion GmbH and Company KG)
January 16, 2002... BORNHEIM, Germany -- Phenion GmbH & Co. KG started operations last week in Frankfurt with the goal of transferring expertise in molecular physiology from basic research into products. The company entered a five-year, EUR12.5 million...

Rhein Biotech plans filing this year for two-dose HBV vaccine.(hepatitis B vaccine)
January 16, 2002... Rhein Biotech NV and Corixa Corp. reported positive preliminary data from a Phase III trial of their two-dose hepatitis B vaccine. Marcel Jacobs, spokesman for Maastricht, the Netherlands-based Rhein Biotech, said the final analysis of the...

Neurotech acquires exclusive license from Amgen for CNTF.(ciliary neurotrophic factor)
January 16, 2002... PARIS -- The French company Neurotech SA, which is developing cell-based therapies for diseases of the eye and the central nervous system, signed what it describes as a "milestone license agreement" with Amgen Inc., of Thousand Oaks, Calif. ...

Protesters force Stephens Group to sell position in Huntingdon.(Huntingdon Life Sciences Group PLC)
January 16, 2002... LONDON -- Stephens Group Inc., the main shareholder and financial backer of the UK drug testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences plc, said it is selling its stake in HLS after becoming the target of animal rights protestors. The...

4SC AG, of Martinsried, Germany, and Wilex AG, of Munich, started a collaboration to optimize and synthesize novel inhibitors of the enzyme human urokinase-type plasminogen activator, which is important in tumor metastasis. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... 4SC AG, of Martinsried, Germany, and Wilex AG, of Munich, started a collaboration to optimize and synthesize novel inhibitors of the enzyme human urokinase-type plasminogen activator, which is important in tumor metastasis. 4SC plans to build...

Atugen AG, of Berlin, signed a collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk A/S, of Bagsvaerd, Denmark, aimed at the validation of novel genetic targets associated with diabetes and related diseases. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... Atugen AG, of Berlin, signed a collaboration agreement with Novo Nordisk A/S, of Bagsvaerd, Denmark, aimed at the validation of novel genetic targets associated with diabetes and related diseases. Atugen expects to receive up-front and annual...

Cambridge Antibody Technology Group PLC, of Royston, UK, announced progress in two of its collaborations, saying that Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Rockville, Md., and Immunex Corp., of Seattle, are to take up rights to develop monoclonal antibodies discovered by CAT. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... Cambridge Antibody Technology Group plc, of Royston, UK, announced progress in two of its collaborations, saying that Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Rockville, Md., and Immunex Corp., of Seattle, are to take up rights to develop monoclonal...

Cardion AG. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... Cardion AG, of Erkrath, Germany, expanded its executive board. The company appointed Chief Financial Officer Niels Ackermann and Chief Scientific Officer Manfred Rudiger new members of the board.

Celltech Group PLC, of Slough, UK, signed an agreement with Maxygen Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., to use Maxygen's Molecular Breeding technology in four of its monoclonal antibody programs. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... Celltech Group plc, of Slough, UK, signed an agreement with Maxygen Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., to use Maxygen's Molecular Breeding technology in four of its monoclonal antibody programs. The value of the deal was not disclosed but Maxygen...

DxS Ltd., of Manchester, UK, which specializes in human genetic analysis, announced the first customer for its Scorpions genotyping service: Eurogentec, of Belgium. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... DxS Ltd., of Manchester, UK, which specializes in human genetic analysis, announced the first customer for its Scorpions genotyping service: Eurogentec, of Belgium. DxS was founded in June by Steve Little and David Whitcombe, who invented the...

Gentech. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... Gentech, of Sophia-Antipolis, France, launched a new version of its Biotechnix 3-D integrated software program for the latest generation of Apple Mac OS X computers. Biotechnix 3-D is a set of tools for analyzing DNA sequences and proteins....

GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said it achieved a milestone in its osteoarthritis alliance with Aventis Pharma AG, of Frankfurt, Germany. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... GPC Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said it achieved a milestone in its osteoarthritis alliance with Aventis Pharma AG, of Frankfurt, Germany. Aventis selected a target validated by GPC and plans to move it into high-throughput screening...

MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, expanded its collaboration with Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., which started in December 2000. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, expanded its collaboration with Biogen Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., which started in December 2000. Biogen now has access to MorphoSys' new antibody library, HuCAL Gold. In addition, both partners increased...

NicOx S.A. (Other News To Note).
January 16, 2002... NicOx SA, of Sophia Antipolis, France, received a favorable response from the FDA for its investigational new drug application to initiate clinical trials in the U.S. of HCT 1026, its nitric oxide-releasing derivative of the non-steroidal...

Onyvax Ltd. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 16, 2002... Onyvax Ltd., of London, said it started a Phase II trial of OnyvaxP, a vaccine for the treatment of prostate cancer in patients who have failed hormone therapy. All 30 patients will receive active treatment of monthly injections for 12 months....

Oxford Gene Technology Ltd., of Oxford, UK, sold its DNA microarray business to Arrow Therapeutics Ltd., of London, for an undisclosed amount, largely consisting of Arrow shares. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 16, 2002... Oxford Gene Technology Ltd., of Oxford, UK, sold its DNA microarray business to Arrow Therapeutics Ltd., of London, for an undisclosed amount, largely consisting of Arrow shares. The deal gives privately held Arrow the exclusive right to use...

Qiagen NV. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 16, 2002... Qiagen NV, of Venlo, the Netherlands, plans to open a new research and manufacturing complex in Germantown, Md. The start of operations is anticipated by the end of February. The company expects to employ more than 300 in the facility, which...

Transgene SA. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 16, 2002... Transgene SA, of Strasbourg, France, initiated a Phase I trial of its adeno interferon gamma (Ad-IFNg) immunotherapeutic product candidate for the treatment of cutaneous lymphoma. The trial is being conducted in Zurich, Switzerland, on at least...

Vernalis plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 16, 2002... Vernalis plc, of Winnersh, UK, said it has selected a lead compound, VER-11135, an adenosine A2A receptor antagonist, for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. By targeting adenosine, a neurotransmitter that plays a role in motor coordination...

IDM, Sanofi-Synthelabo enter deal potentially worth $545m.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... PARIS -- Immuno-Designed Molecules SA, a Paris-based company specialized in the development of cellular immunotherapies for cancer, signed a co-development agreement with the French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Synthelabo SA covering the whole...

New study casts doubt on third breast cancer gene.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... LONDON -- Hopes that scientists had identified a third gene responsible for many cases of familial breast cancer--named the BRCA3 gene -- have weakened, following the failure of an international consortium of researchers to substantiate the...

Estonia expects gene project to help health, economy; Latvia next.
January 23, 2002... BERLIN -- The national Genome Project officially started operations in Estonia this month, an official of the Estonian Genome Foundation (EGF) said during a workshop here last week. Researchers now are preparing for a pilot phase of the...

Swedish discovery firms merge, secure US$15.5m in financing.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Swedish firms Melacure Therapeutics AB, of Uppsala, and BioFactor Therapeutics AB, of Stockholm, combined in a stock-based deal to create a company with 31 employees and drug discovery programs in inflammation, appetite control, eating...

CXR spun out with 4m [pounds sterling] to develop products from Dundee.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... LONDON -- CXR Biosciences Ltd. has spun out of the University of Dundee, Scotland, after attracting 4 million [pounds sterling] (US$ 5.7 million) in start-up funding to commercialize specialist drug discovery technologies developed at the...

Therapeutic cloning proposal defeated in French parliament.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... PARIS -- Given the opportunity last week to legalize therapeutic cloning in France, the country's National Assembly finally voted against it. (See BioWorld International, Jan. 16, 2002.) A substantial majority rejected an amendment to the...

LION acquiring NetGenics in stock deal valued at US$17m.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... BORNHEIM, Germany -- LION bioscience AG intends to acquire U.S.-based NetGenics Inc. in exchange for approximately 1.12 million LION shares. LION estimated the deal to be worth approximately US$17 million. Privately held NetGenics, of...

CAT acquiring Canadian firm focused on royalties for 55m [pounds sterling].(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... LONDON -- Cambridge Antibody Group plc is acquiring Drug Royalty Corp. (DRC) in an all-share deal that values DRC at 55 million [pounds sterling] (US$78.5 million) and gives CAT an income stream to help fund its expensive clinical development...

Trigen raises $10m, looks to take drug into Phase IIb trials.(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... LONDON -- Trigen Ltd. raised 7.1 million [pounds sterling] (US$10 million) in its first funding round, enabling it to take TRI 50b, an anti-coagulant thrombin inhibitor, into Phase IIb trials. The funding was led by HealthCap, of Sweden. ...

Alizyme plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Alizyme plc, of Cambridge, UK, announced the successful completion of the Phase Ia trial of ATL-104 for the treatment of mucositis, and said it will complete Phase Ib in time for a Phase IIa trial in cancer patients to start in the second half...

Antisoma plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Antisoma plc, of London, said it got positive preclinical results in the treatment of solid tumors using DMXAA, a small molecule that restricts blood flow in tumors, in combination with nine widely used chemotherapy agents. The company will...

DeCode Genetics Inc., of Reykjavik, Iceland, said its pharmacogenomics and clinical research subsidiary Encode entered an alliance with Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J., to identify genetic markers associated with the onset of advanced forms of heart disease. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... DeCode Genetics Inc., of Reykjavik, Iceland, said its pharmacogenomics and clinical research subsidiary Encode entered an alliance with Pharmacia Corp., of Peapack, N.J., to identify genetic markers associated with the onset of advanced forms...

GeneMedix plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... GeneMedix plc, of Newmarket, UK, which specializes in the production of protein drugs that are coming off patent, said it has launched its first product, granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor, in China. The company also announced...

Isotis NV. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Isotis NV, of Bilthoven, the Netherlands, reported encouraging preliminary results from the first patient trials of its autologous tissue-engineered human bone, which is cultured from bone marrow cells. Twenty patients have been treated to...

EU pulled both ways regarding debate about GMO development.(genetically modified organisms)(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The pressure on the European Union to keep a tight rein on biotechnology development took a different and more personal form on Monday, when American farmers visited the European Parliament to urge the EU to maintain its...

Proteome Sciences plc. (Other News To Note).(Brief Article)
January 23, 2002... Proteome Sciences plc, of Cobham, UK, said its U.S. subsidiary, Intronn Inc., successfully used a new approach to correct the gene defect that causes cystic fibrosis. In collaboration with the University of Iowa, Intronn used its SMART...

UroGene, Pierre Fabre enter 3-year cancer collaboration.
January 30, 2002... PARIS -- UroGene SA entered into a three-year research collaboration with Pierre Fabre Medicament to discover and develop new active compounds to treat prostate cancer against a validated biological target identified by UroGene. The gene...

Peptide study yields insights into autoimmune disease mechanisms.
January 30, 2002... LONDON -- It may one day be possible to immunize people who suffer from autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes, by giving them small fragments of protein specifically recognized by the cells of the immune system that are...

Symphogen raises US$15m to develop polyclonal antibodies.
January 30, 2002... Early stage Danish biotechnology firm Symphogen A/S raised US$15 million in first-round financing to develop polyclonal antibody technology it licensed from Boston University. Symphogen CEO and co-founder Kirsten Drejer told BioWorld...

Synt:em, Baxter collaborate on peptide mimetics of MAbs.
January 30, 2002... PARIS -- Synt:em signed a research agreement with Baxter Healthcare Corp. for the development of mimetics of the binding regions of selected proprietary monoclonal antibodies of therapeutic interest. Synt:em, of Nimes, France, will use its...

UK creating centers to help capitalize on genetics progress.
January 30, 2002... LONDON -- The UK government said it will create a national network of Genetic Knowledge Parks to translate advances in genetics into treatments and services for patients in the National Health Service (NHS). Six centers will be set up --...

Galapagos, Exelixis collaborate to analyze functions of genes.
January 30, 2002... PARIS -- The Belgian functional genomics company Galapagos Genomics NV signed a research collaboration agreement with Exelixis Inc. covering the use of Galapagos' adenoviral technology for analyzing the function of novel genes in cell-based...

Biogen paying Schering $20m or more over MS drug patents.(multiple sclerosis)
January 30, 2002... BORNHEIM, Germany -- Schering AG said it will receive US$20 million from Biogen Inc., subject to a settlement Schering reached with Biogen in connection with infringement litigation over patents covering the manufacture of Biogen's multiple...

BIA calls for more support to deal with animal rights activists.(BioIndustry Association)
January 30, 2002... LONDON -- The UK biotechnology industry must lead the debate on animal testing in medical research and "defend its right to carry out bioscience without fear of violence" from animal rights activists, Paul Drayson, chairman of the BioIndustry...

Dutch biotech association seeks clearer signals from politicians.
January 30, 2002... The Dutch Parliament plans to start debate Thursday on a series of proposals that will shape government policy toward biotechnology and thereby determine the overall climate for biotech in the country. NIABA, the Dutch biotechnology...

Adprotech Ltd. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * Adprotech Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, said it would extend and expand its malaria vaccine program, after signing a license with the UK Medical Research Council giving it exclusive rights to MSP1.19, a protein found on the surface of the malarial...

Atugen AG. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * Atugen AG, of Berlin, in a target validation agreement plans to provide the University of California at San Francisco with its GeneBloc antisense platform to validate targets associated with epithelial membrane regulation. Atugen's U.S....

Cytomyx Holdings Ltd. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * Cytomyx Holdings Ltd., of Cambridge, UK, a drug discovery services company, entered a collaboration with the specialist heart hospital, Papworth Hospital NHS Trust, of Huntingdon, UK, to discover and validate new targets associated with...

Evotec OAI AG. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany, extended its chemical library collaboration with Serono SA, of Geneva, by an additional year. Evotec OAI may receive milestone payments for all patented compounds to enter clinical trials coming from the...

MorphoSys AG. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * MorphoSys AG, of Martinsried, Germany, said it started to build up its own preclinical and clinical development unit, and said the core operation is now fully staffed and operational. The head of the team is physician Axel Mescheder. He...

Oxford Natural Products plc. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * Oxford Natural Products plc, of Charlbury, UK, signed an agreement with the Center for Research and Development of Ethnomedicinal Plants in Vietnam, giving ONP exclusive access to a portfolio of plant medicines. The portfolio includes...

Pieris Proteolab AG. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * Pieris Proteolab AG, of Freising, Germany, and CytoTools GmbH, of Darmstadt, Germany, are collaborating in the discovery of anticalins against a number of CytoTools' targets implicated in atherosclerosis. Pieris granted to CytoTools an...

Transgene SA. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * Transgene SA, of Strasbourg, France, initiated two Phase II clinical trials of its MVA-Muc1-IL2 immunotherapeutic vaccine candidate for the treatment of lung and breast cancers. The product uses a highly attenuated MVA vaccinia virus vector...

Vernalis Group plc. (Other News To Note).
January 30, 2002... * Vernalis Group plc, of Winnersh, UK, announced it has completed the mutual recognition procedure, giving it approval for the migraine treatment frovatriptan in 14 European countries, and said its marketing partner, Menarini Ltd., of Italy,...