BioWorld International articles from March 2002

BioWorld International archives from March 2002

UK government OKs research involving embryonic stem cells.
March 6, 2002... LONDON -- The UK government has removed the last legal barrier to stem cell research using human embryos, paving the way for the UK to take the lead in this field as the only country with a precise regulatory framework governing such research....

Finding breast cancer genes will help prevention efforts.
March 6, 2002... LONDON -- Once all the genes that contribute to a woman's risk of breast cancer have been identified, geneticists will be able to target measures to prevent the disease in the subgroup of women among whom almost 90 percent of cases are likely...

Elan continuing with Alzheimer's vaccine program despite setback.
March 6, 2002... DUBLIN, Ireland -- Elan Corp. plc is continuing development of an additional four or five candidate therapeutic vaccines for Alzheimer's disease, following the failure of the program's lead compound, AN-1792, in Phase IIa trials, the company's...

Genset sells division, secures equity line of up to EUR30m.(Genset S.A. to sell Obligos division to Degussa's Poligo Division)
March 6, 2002... PARIS -- Genset SA is planning to sell its Oligos division, which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of oligonucleotides, to the Poligo Division of the German chemical company Degussa for EUR25 million (US$21.6 million) in cash. ...

Biotie Therapies Corp. (Other News To Note).(results of Vapantix psoriasis treatment trials)
March 6, 2002... * Biotie Therapies Corp., of Turku, Finland, said it obtained preliminary evidence of efficacy of its mouse monoclonal antibody Vapantix in a Phase I/II study involving eight patients with mild to moderate psoriasis. Seven of the eight subjects...

ES Cell International, of Singapore, is hiring the research director of PPL Therapeutics PLC, Alan Colman. (Other News To Note).
March 6, 2002... * ES Cell International, of Singapore, is hiring the research director of PPL Therapeutics plc, Alan Colman. ES Cell is one of the leaders in the field of human embryonic stem cell lines. PPL previously had announced that it intends to spin out...

Medigene AG. (Other News To Note).(appoints Alexander Dexne chief financial officer)
March 6, 2002... * Medigene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, appointed Alexander Dexne chief financial officer and member of the board of directors as of May 1. Dexne previously has held management positions with companies including Olympus Diagnostica and Price...

MetaGen Pharmaceuticals GmbH, of Berlin, entered a bioinformatics collaboration with MicroDiscovery GmbH, of Berlin, and InforSense Ltd., of London. (Other News To Note).
March 6, 2002... * MetaGen Pharmaceuticals GmbH, of Berlin, entered a bioinformatics collaboration with MicroDiscovery GmbH, of Berlin, and InforSense Ltd., of London. MetaGen expects to obtain technology to complete its proprietary tools, thus accelerating the...

Protagen AG. (Other News To Note).(company news)
March 6, 2002... * Protagen AG, of Bochum, Germany, said that Christoph Huls took over as head of the management board and as CEO from founder Helmut Meyer, who was appointed the company's chief scientific officer. Founder Martin Bluggel became chief operating...

Proteome Sciences PLC, of Cobham, UK, agreed to an early stage research agreement in stroke with ReNeuron Holdings PLC, of Guildford, UK. (Other News To Note).
March 6, 2002... * Proteome Sciences plc, of Cobham, UK, agreed to an early stage research agreement in stroke with ReNeuron Holdings plc, of Guildford, UK. The aim is to identify proteins expressed in brain repair in response to stroke as possible therapeutic...

Switch Biotech AG. (Other News To Note).(vitiligo research venture with Berlin University's Charite hospital)
March 6, 2002... * Switch Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, is working with dermatologists from the Berlin University hospital Charite to investigate the genetic mechanisms of the skin pigmentation disorder vitiligo. Switch's vitiligo research network also...

Correction.
March 6, 2002... Hermona Soreq was misidentified in a Feb. 27 story. She is Ester Neurosciences' chief scientific adviser. Editor's Note: The correction has been made in BioWorld Online.

Innate Pharma seeking $13m to develop cancer therapies.
March 6, 2002... PARIS -- Innate Pharma, developing cancer therapies through the pharmacological manipulation of nonconventional lymphocytes, has embarked on a second funding round in which it is seeking EUR15 million (US$13 million). The Marseille-based...

Biovitrum plans Phase IIb trials of obesity treatment BVT.933.
March 6, 2002... Swedish drug development firm Biovitrum AB is looking to move its lead compound, an appetite-suppressing obesity treatment called BVT.933, into Phase IIb trials following positive Phase IIa results. A Phase IIb study is slated for later...

AM-Pharma completes venture round to move drugs forward.
March 6, 2002... LONDON -- AM-Pharma BV raised EUR2.2 million (US$1.9 million) in its second financing round to fund the company over the next 18 months and enable it to take its two lead anti-infective compounds through Phase I trials. Paul Leufkens, vice...

Celltech plans Crohn's Phase III despite non-significant Phase II.(Celltech Group PLC)
March 6, 2002... LONDON -- Celltech Group plc said Phase II trial results for its antibody drug, CDP 870, in Crohn's disease demonstrated the drug was effective and safe, but the study did not reach statistical significance because of a very high placebo...

Amrad reports positive AM336 trial results, raises A$15.5m.
March 6, 2002... Sydney, Australia -- Amrad Corporation Ltd. raised A$15.5 million (US$7.9 million) from institutional investors in part to finance a Phase II trial of a compound for treating chronic severe pain, after also announcing a successful Phase I/II...

Transgene S.A. (Other News To Note).(starts new Phase II trial of MVA-HPV-IL2 anticancer vaccine)
March 6, 2002... * Transgene SA, of Paris, said it started a third Phase II clinical trial of its anticancer vaccine, MVA-HPV-IL2, this time in the indication of stage 2-3 cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN2-3). The trial is being conducted at six sites...

Xenome Ltd. (Other News To Note).(to test coneshell derived painkiller)
March 6, 2002... * Xenome Ltd., of Brisbane, Australia, said it will start preclinical testing of a painkiller derived from the venom of a coneshell marine shellfish. Officials of Xenome, which is partly owned by Medica Holdings Ltd., said that the animal...

NeuroSearch, GlaxoSmithKline halt development of NS2389.
March 13, 2002... The antidepressant drug development alliance between Danish firm NeuroSearch A/S and partner GlaxoSmithKline plc has hit a bump that will delay progress by several years. The two companies have decided to discontinue development of the...

Galapagos Genomics closes $18.7M initial funding round.
March 13, 2002... PARIS -- Galapagos Genomics NV closed an initial funding round that netted it EUR21.4 million (US$18.7 million). The private placement was co-led by Abingworth Management, of London and Palo Alto, Calif.; Apax Partners, of Paris; and the...

New type of mutation casts fresh light on `junk' DNA.(ataxia-telangiectasia mutated gene)
March 13, 2002... LONDON -- The "junk" DNA in the human genome -- so-called because no one knows what its function is -- may not be so useless after all. Researchers have now described a novel type of genetic mutation, which leads to disease even though it does...

CAT outbid in acquisition of DRC, will buy back royalties.(Cambridge Antibody Technology Group PLC; Drug Royalty Corporation Inc.)
March 13, 2002... LONDON -- Cambridge Antibody Technology Group plc has been outbid in its attempt to acquire Drug Royalty Corp., of Toronto, as a cash cow, and will now pay C$14 million to buy back royalties on its products owned by DRC. CAT made an...

Ionix, Xenome enter deal to screen toxin peptides.(Ionix Pharmaceuticals Ltd.)
March 13, 2002... LONDON -- Ionix Pharmaceuticals Ltd., a specialist in the discovery of analgesic drugs, signed an agreement with Xenome Ltd. to screen Xenome's libraries of toxin peptides against two of Ionix's ion channel targets. Brisbane,...

Ark Therapeutics Ltd.(develops Scavidin drug delivery system)
March 13, 2002... * Ark Therapeutics Ltd., of London, said it developed a novel delivery system, Scavidin, for targeting chemotherapeutic agents and radioactive isotopes directly into tumors. When the Scavidin construct is inserted into a cell it expresses a...

Biovitrum AB.(changes clinical trial schedule for BVT.3498 type 2 diabetes therapy)
March 13, 2002... * Biovitrum AB, of Stockholm, Sweden, said it moved its candidate treatment for Type II diabetes, BVT.3498, into Phase I clinical trials. BVT.3498 is a selective inhibitor of 11[beta]-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (11[beta] HSD-I), one of two...

MediGene AG.(has patent for papillomavirus research)
March 13, 2002... * MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,352,696 titled "Papillomavirus truncated L1 protein and fusion protein constructs." The patent is related to vaccines for the treatment of tumors induced by human...

OctoPlus N.V.
March 13, 2002... * OctoPlus NV, of Leiden, the Netherlands, raised EUR5.7 million (US$5 million) in its first financing round, enabling it to advance lead products based on its polymer drug delivery technology into clinical trials later in 2002. The company...

Oxford GlycoSciences PLC.(chief executive officer, Michael Kranda, to leave company)
March 13, 2002... * Oxford GlycoSciences plc, of Abingdon, UK, is looking for a new CEO following the announcement that the current head, Michael Kranda, is leaving the company for personal reasons. Kranda, who has held the post for six years, will stay until...

PowderJect Pharmaceuticals PLC.(Dukoral cholera and travelers' diarrhea vaccine marketing application submitted)
March 13, 2002... * PowderJect Pharmaceuticals plc, of Oxford, UK, said it has submitted a European marketing authorization application for its cholera and travelers' diarrhea vaccine, Dukoral. This is a drinkable vaccine that protects against Virio cholerae and...

Protherics PLC, of Macclesfield, UK, launched its second product in the U.S., DigiFab, for the treatment of digoxin toxicity.
March 13, 2002... * Protherics plc, of Macclesfield, UK, launched its second product in the U.S., DigiFab, for the treatment of digoxin toxicity. The product, which consists of specific antibody fragments that bind to and neutralize digoxin molecules, will be...

Provalis PLC.
March 13, 2002... * Provalis plc, of Deeside, Wales, plans to raise 10 million [pounds sterling] to fund the development and launch of diabetes diagnosis products based on its Glycosal technology. Half the money will come from a 1-for-5 rights offer and the rest...

Scienion AG, of Berlin, and Conaris Research Institute GmbH, of Kiel, Germany, plan to jointly develop DNA and protein chips for the investigation of inflammatory diseases.
March 13, 2002... * Scienion AG, of Berlin, and Conaris Research Institute GmbH, of Kiel, Germany, plan to jointly develop DNA and protein chips for the investigation of inflammatory diseases. The German Research Ministry granted EUR2.5 million to fuel the...

The Singapore Economic Development Board.(Biomedical Sciences Investment Fund will open an office in London)
March 13, 2002... * The Singapore Economic Development Board said its Biomedical Sciences Investment Fund will open an office in London next month to look for investment opportunities in Western Europe, with the aim of establishing links between European...

SkyePharma buying out RTP Pharma in $20.6 million deal.
March 20, 2002... LONDON -- The drug delivery company SkyePharma plc is buying the remaining 60 percent of the Canadian company RTP Pharma in an all-share deal valued at US$20.6 million. Also, the company secured US$30 million in cash from Paul Capital Royalty...

Study of schizophrenia brains focuses on lipid transport genes.
March 20, 2002... LONDON -- Genes whose products play a role in cholesterol and lipid transport are expressed to a significantly higher degree in the brains of people who suffer from schizophrenia, an international team of researchers and clinicians showed. ...

Further call for action on the biotechnology front in France.
March 20, 2002... PARIS -- A government-commissioned report titled "Meeting the biotechnology challenge" advocates the implementation of a five-year action plan for the French biotechnology industry over the 2002-2007 period. The report was produced by...

BioWorld's annual report published.(BioWorld Biotechnology State of the Industry Report 2002)
March 20, 2002... The BioWorld Biotechnology State of the Industry Report 2002, the most comprehensive review and analysis of the business, science and government regulation of the biotechnology industry, is now available. The industry raised about $15.1...

SCS has exclusive rights to embryo cloning technology.(Stem Cell Sciences Ltd.)
March 20, 2002... Sydney, Australia -- Stem Cell Sciences Ltd., an unlisted company based in Sydney, said it has exclusive rights to technology reportedly used by Chinese researchers to clone very early stage human embryos as a source of stem cells. SCS...

European Union biotech patents directive faces new threat.
March 20, 2002... BRUSSELS, Belgium Europe's still-incomplete patent regime for biotechnology inventions is under a new threat. One of the 15 member states of the European Union is formally requesting a review of "ambiguities" in the 1998 EU directive on the...

Synt:em licenses Pep:Trans to Corixa for vaccine development.
March 20, 2002... PARIS -- Synt:em and Corixa Corp. signed a nonexclusive licensing agreement, granting the U.S. company the right to use Syntem's Pep:trans vectorization technology for the development of novel vaccines. Pep:trans is an engineering system...

PPL's AAT facing further delays; launch pushed back.(PPL Therapeutics PLC's alpha-1-antitripsin therapy trials delayed)
March 20, 2002... LONDON -- PPL Therapeutics plc announced a further delay to the start of Phase III trials of its lead product, transgenically produced alpha-1-antitripsin, pushing the expected launch date back from 2005 to 2007, and putting the company in a...

Co.don starts Phase III trials of DISC in herniated discs.(chondrotransplant technology trials begin)
March 20, 2002... BORNHEIM, Germany -- Co.don AG started a Phase III trial to investigate the long-term benefit of its chondrotransplant DISC for the treatment of herniated discs. Teltow, Germany-based Co.don focuses on tissue engineering. ...

Ricerca begins cancer portfolio, licenses Genset's RAP-3 gene.(Pierca L.L.C. licenses Genset S.A.'s cancer gene)
March 20, 2002... PARIS -- Genset SA has granted a license to Rierca LLC, of Concord, Ohio, for its RAP-3 gene, which is associated with cancer. The U.S. company said it plans to use the gene as a drug target, as well as to explore the possibility of developing...

OGS BioInvent in three-year therapeutic antibodies deal.(Oxford GlycoSciences PLC to collaborate with BioInvent International AB)
March 20, 2002... LONDON Oxford GlycoSciences plc agreed to a three-year collaboration with BioInvent International of Lund, Sweden, to develop and commercialize therapeutic antibodies aimed at antigen targets discover by OGS's proteomics technology. As...

Powderject sells needle-free drug delivery business to AlgoRx.(Powderject Pharmaceuticals PLC; AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals Inc.)
March 20, 2002... BioWorld International Correspondent LONDON -- Powderject Pharmaceuticals plc sold the needle-free drug delivery business around which it was founded to the privately held venture-funded company AlgoRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., for an equity...

Genmab to collaborate with Bionomics on angiogenesis.
March 20, 2002... Danish therapeutic antibody development firm Genmab A/S is halfway toward meeting its partnering target for the year. The Copenhagen-based company unveiled its second agreement of 2002 last week, an angiogenesis collaboration, with...

Biosearch Italia S.p.A. (Other News to Note).(begins Phase II trials of delbavancin)
March 20, 2002... * Biosearch Italia SpA, of Gerenzano, Italy, said its next-generation antibiotic, dalbavancin, entered Phase II trials for treatment of catheter-related bloodstream infections. Approximately 5 percent of the 7 million central venous catheters...

Paion, Millennium cooperate in development of MLN519.
March 20, 2002... BORNHEIM, Germany -- Paion GmbH and Millennium Inc. are cooperating in the clinical development of MLN519, Millennium's compound for the treatment of stroke and other neurological disorders. Through the deal, Paion adds the second clinical...

LION bioscience AG. (Other News to Note).(appoints Martin Hollenhorst chief financial officer)
March 20, 2002... * LION bioscience AG, of Heidelberg, Germany, appointed Martin Hollenhorst chief financial officer effective April 1. Hollenhorst has accumulated finance, controlling and management experience working for a variety of companies internationally,...

NicOx S.A. (Other News to Note).(appoints Damian Marron senior director of business development)
March 20, 2002... * NicOx SA, of Sophia Antipolis, France, appointed Damian Marron as senior business development director. Marron has 16 years of experience in the international pharmaceutical industry and was previously head of business development at 3M...

TranXenoGen Inc. (Other News to Note).(avian transgenic technology for the production of insulin)
March 20, 2002... * TranXenoGen Inc., based in Shrewsbury, Mass., said it is close to achieving proof of principle for its avian transgenic technology in the production of insulin. The company succeeded in creating transgenic chickens carrying an insulin gene,...

Wilex AG. (Other News to Note).(reports positive results on WX-UK1 drug candidate)
March 20, 2002... * Wilex AG, of Munich, Germany, reported positive Phase Ia data on its antimetastatic drug candidate, WX-UK1. The compound is a small-molecule urokinase inhibitor, designed for combination treatment with chemotherapy for cancer patients who...

J&J buying Tibotec-Virco for $320 in cash and debt.(Johnson and Johnson)
March 27, 2002... PARIS -- Johnson & Johnson signed a definitive agreement to acquire all of the assets of Tibotec-Virco NV for $320 million in cash and debt. When completed, Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, N.J., will take one-time charge of about $145...

New gene inhibition technique aims to hasten gene analysis.(Netherlands Cancer Institute)
March 27, 2002... LONDON -- Dutch researchers have invented a way of turning off single genes in cultures of mammalian cells and keeping them turned off. The technology has been patented by The Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, where the group...

Amrad's stock falls on poor Phase II results for Emfilermin.
March 27, 2002... Sydney, Australia -- Amrad Corp. Ltd. announced it is abandoning development of Emfilermin in the nerve damage reduction during chemotherapy indication due to poor Phase II results, just weeks after raising A$15.5 million (US$7.9 million). ...

Schering to purchase Collateral for $140m in stock exchange.(Schering AG; Collateral Therapeutics Inc.)
March 27, 2002... BORNHEIM, Germany -- The pharmaceutical company Schering AG, of Berlin, plans to acquire Collateral Therapeutics Inc., of San Diego, in a stock-for-stock deal valued at $140 million. Schering wants to grow by expanding from its core...

Millennium, Compugen in deal for protein pathway software.(Milennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.; Compugen Ltd.)
March 27, 2002... TEL AVIV, Israel -- With human bombs rather than human genes on many minds, an estimated 100 attendees withdrew from Bio-Tech Israel2002, the conference and exhibition inaugurating Israel's annual government-sponsored National Biotechnology...

Avidex platform creates TCRs; company planning partnerships.(t-cell receptor)
March 27, 2002... LONDON -- Avidex Ltd. said it succeeded in creating functional, stable and soluble T-cell receptors, unlocking the clinical and commercial potential of this immune system element in the same way the ability to engineer antibodies provided a...

U.S. Research Foundation backs Swedish stem cell program.(Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Association of Diabetes Research)
March 27, 2002... Stem cell research in Sweden received an SEK75 million boost through a three-way partnership between the New York-based Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish Association of Diabetes Research. ...

ReGen's Phase III interim data not significant in Alzheimer's.(ReGen Therapeutics PLC Colostrinin trial results)
March 27, 2002... LONDON -- ReGen Therapeutics plc released interim data from the first phase of a Phase III trial Colostrinin in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, showing that the rate of deterioration in patients in the treated arm was slower than in the...

Ark Therapeutics Ltd. (Other News To Note).(glioma therapeutic awarded orphan drug status in Europe)
March 27, 2002... * Ark Therapeutics Ltd., of London, said EG009, its gene therapy product for the treatment of high-grade glioma, has been awarded orphan drug designation in the European Union. The product also has orphan drug status with the FDA. EG009...

Biosearch Italia S.p.A. (Other News To Note).(BI-K0376 antibiotic begins Phase I trials)
March 27, 2002... * Bioserch Italia SpA, of Gerenzano, Italy, said its candidate antibiotic, BI-K0376, entered Phase I trials for the topical treatment of acne. The compound's mode of action makes it highly selective against Propionibacterium acnes, the...

Cerep S.A. (Other News To Note).(announces profit)
March 27, 2002... * Cerep SA, of Paris, announced a 10-fold jump in its net profit to EUR2.4 million (US$2.1 million) in 2001 from EUR240,000 the year before. Its consolidated turnover increased by 51.3 percent to EUR27.7 million from EUR18.3 million in 2000,...

Evotec OAI AG. (Other News To Note).(begins negotiations with Byk Gulden Lomber Chemische Fabrik GmbH)
March 27, 2002... * Evotec OAI AG, of Hamburg, Germany, reached the first milestone in a contract agreement with the pharmaceutical company Byk Gulden Lomberg Chemische Fabrik GmbH, of Constance, Germany. Evotec expects to receive an undisclosed payment for the...

Genset S.A. (Other News To Note).(co-founder Marc Vasseur returns to company)
March 27, 2002... * Genset SA, of Paris, announced the return of Marc Vasseur, the co-founder of the company and its chief biology officer until July 2000. He has been appointed to the post of senior vice president, with responsibility for the development of...

[Text unreadable in original source] Biotech AG. (Other News To Note).(receives patent)
March 27, 2002... * [Text unreadable in original source] Biotech AG, of Martinsried, Germany, was granted U.S. Patent No. 6,342,356, describing genetic approaches to elucidate molecular differences between normal ans diseased cells that can be exploited for drug...

Cyclacel, University of Edinburgh form drug design collaboration.
March 27, 2002... LONDON -- Cyclacel Ltd. announced a three-year collaboration with the University of Edinburgh under which two of the university's professors will work exclusively for Cyclacel, applying rational drug design to more than 100 Cyclacel cell cycle...

Vernalis seeks second Nasdaq listing, reports profitability.(Vernalis Group PLC)
March 27, 2002... LONDON -- Vernalis Group plc said it finished the preparations for a secondary listing on Nasdaq and -- due to FDA approval for frovatriptan -- announced interim profits of 1.1 million [pounds sterling] for the six months ended December 2001....

LION bioscience AG, of Heidelberg, Germany and GeneProt Inc., of North Brunswick, N.J., entered a three-year strategic marketing collaboration aimed at intertwining their bio-informatics and industrial-scale proteomics capacilibities. (Other News To Note).
March 27, 2002... * LION bioscience AG, of Heidelberg, Germany and GeneProt Inc., of North Brunswick, N.J., entered a three-year strategic marketing collaboration aimed as intertwining their bioinformatics and industrial-scale proteomics capabilities. LION is...

MediGene AG. (Other News To Note).(signs agreement with the University of Chicago)
March 27, 2002... * MediGene AG, of Martinsried, Germany, signed a two-year cooperation agreement with the University of Chicago on the influence of ionizing radiation exposure on tumor cell growth. MediGene plans to provide the University of Chicago with...

MorphoSys AG, of Munich, Germany, said Centocor Inc., of Malvern, Pa., exercised an option to expand its existing agreement. (Other News To Note).
March 27, 2002... * MorphoSys AG, of Munich, Germany, said Centocor Inc., of Malvern, Pa., exercised an option to expand its existing agreement. Centocor increased its funded research at MorphoSys and also ordered AutoCAL, the MorphoSys-developed system for...

Phytopharm PLC. (Other News To Note).(begins study of P7v atopic dermatitis therapy)
March 27, 2002... * Phytopharm plc, of Cambridgeshire, UK, said it is starting a multicenter study of P7v in the treatment of [Text unreadable in original source] atopic dermatitis, or mange. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 120...

Viscum AG. (Other News To Note).(receives grant from German Research Ministry)
March 27, 2002... * Viscum AG, of Zwingenberg, Germany, received a four-year EUR2.55 million (US$2.2 million) grant from the German Research Ministry for the development of cancer therapies based on fusion toxins. In fusion toxins, antibodies are fused with a...