Applied Genetics News articles from January 1999

Applied Genetics News archives from January 1999

GENOMICS: Genomewide Signal Transduction Assay.
January 1, 1999... Aurora Biosciences Corp. (San Diego, CA) published the details of a genomewide screening technique in the cover article of the December, 1998, issue of Nature Biotechnology. The article is entitled "A Genome-Wide Functional Assay of Signal...

Gene Patents to Millennium.
January 1, 1999... In December, Millennium Pharmaceuticals announced that it had been awarded several new U.S. patents for novel genes. Three of these Smad6, and conservin-1 and conservin-2 encode gene products that modulate TGF-beta signaling. Two others,...

Worm Genome Completely Sequenced.
January 1, 1999... The NIH and the Human Genome Project have announced the complete sequencing of the genome of Ceanorhabiditis elegans, a type of nematode worm. C. elegans is probably the most thoroughly understood animal in terms of cellular development,...

Antisense Treats Prostate Cancer.
January 1, 1999... New pre-clinical research provides support for the use of Genta Inc.'s (San Diego, CA; Tel: 619/455-2700) Anticode product, G3129, to treat prostate cancer. Research conducted by Martin Gleave, associate professor of surgery/urology at the...

Retail DNA Banking.
January 1, 1999... GeneLink announced plans to expand its website (www.bankdna.com) in order to enter the retail DNA banking business. The website will be the first to enable consumers worldwide to order GeneLink's noninvasive DNA Collection Kit. The kit will...

Parkinson's Disease Mutation Found.
January 1, 1999... Researchers at the Mayo Clinic (Jacksonville, FL) have identified an area of chromosome 4p that carries a mutation that causes Parkinson's disease in some people. The team also found evidence in six generations of an Iowa family that...

Epilepsy Gene Is Identified.
January 1, 1999... Scientists from Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center who were studying the genetic basis of epilepsy have discovered a gene required for proper brain development that may also play a role in vascular disease and stroke. The gene,...

GENE THERAPY: Growing New Blood Vessels.
January 1, 1999... Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (HGSI) (Rockville, MD) announced that it will begin Phase I/II clinical trials of a gene therapy approach to angiogenesis in collaboration with Vascular Genetics, Inc. (VGI). The FDA has cleared a protocol in which...

Drug-Resistance Transferred to Stem Cells.
January 1, 1999... Efficient long term transfer of a therapeutic gene to the blood stem cells of cancer patients was demonstrated in a study performed by Rafat Abanour, MD, and colleagues at the Indiana School of Medicine, and reported at the American Society of...

CELL THERAPY: Immunotherapy Kills HIV.
January 1, 1999... Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), the University of Washington, and Targeted Genetics announced results of a phase I study in which adoptive immunotherapy was used to treat HIV-infected patients. The study,...

Stem Cells a Feature for CytoTherapeutics.
January 1, 1999... CytoTherapeutics announced that it had been granted U.S. Patent No. 581,832, covering the methods for expanding human neural stems cell cultures, for the composition of cultures so expanded, and for the use of these cultures in human...

Stem Cells Give Rise to Blood Vessels.
January 1, 1999... ImClone Systems Inc. (New York, NY; Tel: 212/645-1405) presented results at the American Society of Hematology meeting held in December (Miami Beach, FL) suggesting that new blood vessels are formed from endothelial stem cells arising in the...

Natural Killer Cells Expanded 10,000 Fold.
January 1, 1999... Hemosol Inc. (Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Tel: 416/798-0700; Website: www.hemosol.com) demonstrated advances in its blood cell expansion program which may have applications in the treatment of leukemia as well as viral diseases. These findings...

Therapy Kit Gets CE Mark.
January 1, 1999... Aastrom Biosciences Inc. has obtained approval to affix the CE Mark to the AastromReplicell Cell Production System (CPS) liquid products of the SC-1 Therapy Kit to produce bone marrow cells for use in stem cell therapy. This follows an earlier...

GROWTH FACTORS, HORMONES Patent Awarded for Cytokine Antagonists.
January 1, 1999... Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Tel: 914/345-7492) has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 5,844,099 covering cytokine traps capable of blocking the activity of cytokines interleuken-1, interleukin-2, interleukin-3, interleukin-4, interleukin-4,...

Remyelination Factor Under Development.
January 1, 1999... Cambridge NeuroScience, Inc. (CNSI) and Bayer Corp. announced on December 21st an agreement worth up to $26 million, plus royalties, to develop Cambridge's recombinant Glial Growth Factor-2 (GGF2) as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of...

AG BIOTECH: Pioneer Introduces New Varieties.
January 1, 1999... Pioneer Hi-bred Intl., Inc. (Des Moines, IA) is making available 20 new soybean varieties and 59 new corn hybrids for the 1999 season. New varieties of soybean include 14 with the Roundup Ready gene in maturities ranging from Group 0 through...

Cows Continue to be Cloned.
January 1, 1999... ABS Global, Inc. and its affiliate, Infigen, Inc. announced new developments in bovine cloning during December. First, "Gene," the first bovine cloned from a nonembryo derived cell, became the proud father of two healthy calves, one male and...

Scotts in Plant Alliances.
January 1, 1999... The Scotts Co. (Marysville, OH) recently announced two new alliances with respect to the genetic engineering of plants. A collaboration with Monsanto (St. Louis, MO) will combine Monsanto's extensive genetic library of plant traits with...

VACCINES, ANTI-INFECTIVES Lyme Disease Vaccine Approved.
January 1, 1999... LYMErix, a genetically engineered vaccine manufactured by SmithKline Beecham, became the first vaccine approved by the FDA for the prevention of Lyme disease. Lyme disease is a potentially serious multi-stage bacterial infection with a wide...

Consensus Interferon Clears Hepatitis C.
January 1, 1999... High dose interferon eliminated hepatitis C virus in the majority of patients who had never been treated before according Carl Jones, gastroenterology fellow at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jones presented results of...

Therapeutic Vaccines for Addiction Acquired.
January 1, 1999... Cantab Pharmaceuticals (Cambridge, U.K.) announced that it will acquire two developmental-stage vaccine programs for the treatment of nicotine and cocaine addiction from ImmuLogic Pharmaceutical Corp. These vaccines are designed for use in...

Medeva Seeks Approval of Hepatitis B Vaccine.
January 1, 1999... Medeva PLC (London, England; Tel: 011-441-71-839-3888) announced results of placebo-controlled trials that it will use to support license applications in Europe and the U.S. for its therapeutic Hepagene vaccine to treat Hepatitis B. The study,...

Dendritic Factor Increases Efficacy.
January 1, 1999... According to Hyseq, Inc., dendritic differentiation factor, the product of the company's DDFHy144 gene, may be effective in increasing the efficiency of vaccines. Dendritic cells, part of the immune system, are activated in response to...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Nutrition Technology Licensed to Dow.
January 1, 1999... Demegen, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA; Website: www.demegen.com) expanded a license agreement with Dow AgroSciences (Indianapolis, IN; Website: www.dowagro.com), originally made with Dow subsidiary Mycogen, to include technologies that increase the...

Corixa to Acquire Anergen.
January 1, 1999... Corixa Corp. (Seattle, WA; Website: www.corixa.com) will acquire Anergen (Redwood City, CA; Website: www.anergen.com) in a stock merger valued at approximately $8.5 million. The transaction is intended to qualify as a tax-free reorganization...

Progenitor Calls it Quits.
January 1, 1999... Progenitor, Inc. announced in December that, after reviewing its options, its board has voted to cease operations, effective immediately. The company will retain a small staff to implement an orderly sale of the company's assets. A sign of...

Dendritic Cell Deal Announced.
January 1, 1999... Dendreon Corp. (Seattle, WA) and Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) announced the signing of a corporate development and marketing agreement. Under terms of the partnership, Kirin has made an equity investment in Dendreon and will purchase...

Amgen Wins Against J&J.
January 1, 1999... Amgen owns the exclusive rights to its next-generation anemia drug under a court ruling handed down in December. The new drug, called NESP (Novel Erythropoesis Stimulating Protein), may eventually replace EPO which generates about one half of...

Biogen Receives Medal of Technology.
January 1, 1999... Biogen, Inc. was selected to receive the National Medal of Technology on the basis of its leadership in applying advances in biology to the development of life-saving and life-enhancing pharmaceutical products, including the first development...

ANTIBODIES: Universal Therapy Patent Awarded.
January 1, 1999... Immunomedics (Morris Plains, NJ) announced that it had been awarded U.S. Patent No. 5,851,527 comprising a method for antibody targeting of therapeutic agents to specific cell types. Among the disease states for which this method may have...

ENZYMES: Telomerase in the News.
January 1, 1999... The "immortality enzyme" telomerase was in the news again in December. Telomerase is the enzyme that forms telomeres, the repetitive sequences found at the end of chromosomes. Telomerase activity declines as the number of successive cell...

CALENDAR.
January 1, 1999... January 20, 1999, BIOCOM/San Diego State of the Industry CEO Panel, San Diego, CA. Contact: BIOCOM/San Diego; Tel: 619/455-0300, Fax: 619/455-0022; Website: www.biocom.org. January 27-28, 1999, Successful Commercialization of Transgenic Animal...