Applied Genetics News articles from June 1998

Applied Genetics News archives from June 1998

BIOPROCESSING Invitrogen Provides Transgenic Vectors
June 1, 1998... Invitrogen (3985 Sorrento Valley Blvd., San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 619/597-6200, Fax: 619/597-6201. Also, Carlsbad, CA.) will produce the proprietary transgenic expression system of Genzyme Transgenics (5 Mountain Rd., Framingham, MA 01701; Tel:...

GENOMICS TIGR and P-E Team Up
June 1, 1998... The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR, 9712 Medical Center Dr., Rockville, MD 20850; Tel. 301/838-0200, Fax: 301/838-0208), headed by Craig Venter, and Perkin-Elmer (PE, 761 Main Ave., Norwalk, CT 06859- 0001; Tel. 203/762-1000), which owns...

Matrigen, Prizm Address Healing
June 1, 1998... Matrigen, Inc. and Prizm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that they have merged to form a new company, Selective Genetics, Inc. (San Diego, CA; Tel: 619/625-0100). Selective Genetics combines the core technologies of Matrigen's proprietary "Gene...

Delivering p53 with Herpesvirus Protein
June 1, 1998... Phogen's (155 Cambridge Science Park, Cambridge CB4 4GN, United Kingdom; Tel: 44/1223/424-488) proprietary VP22 intercellular delivery technology can successfully transport the tumor suppressor protein p53 from cells in which the protein is...

IL-9 Pathway Linked to Asthma
June 1, 1998... Using an IL-9 transgenic mouse model of asthma, Magainin Pharmaceuticals (5110 Campus Dr., Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462; Tel: 610/941-4020, Fax: 610/941-5399) found that over-expression of IL-9 produces an asthmatic-like response to antigen, as...

GenVec Picks Up TNF-Alpha
June 1, 1998... GenVec (12111 Parklawn Dr., Rockville, MD 20852; Tel: 301/816-0396, Fax: 301/816-0085) has licensed the U.S. rights from Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan) for all gene therapy applications of the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a)...

Growing Interest in Microarrays
June 1, 1998... A joint venture between Molecular Dynamics (880 E. Arques Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086; Tel: 408/737-3000) and Amersham Pharmacia Biotech (800 Centennial Ave., Piscataway, NJ 08855-1327; Tel: 908/457-8000, Fax: 908/457-0557) has received the support...

Two Combine PCR with "GeneChips"
June 1, 1998... Roche Molecular Systems (RMS, 1447 York Ct., Burlington, NC 27215; Tel: 919/229-1127, Fax: 919/222-1755. Also, Palo Alto, CA; Tel: 908/253- 7660.) is combining its PCR gene amplification technology (acquired from Cetus) with the "GeneChip"...

CELL THERAPY Cloning Applied to Parkinson's
June 1, 1998... Researchers at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (Denver, CO; Tel: 303/315-5571), the University of Massachusetts (Amherst, MA; Tel: 413/545-0444), and Advanced Cell Technologies (1 Innovation Dr., Worcester, MA 01605; Tel:...

Porcine Nerves Alleviate Disease
June 1, 1998... Genzyme Tissue Repair (1 Kendall Sq., Cambridge, MA 02139-1562; Tel: 617/252-7500) and Diacrin Inc. (Charlestown, MA; Tel: 617-242-9100) are encouraged by early clinical results using fetal pig neural cells implanted into the brains of...

ANTI-INFECTIVES How HIV Identifies Cells
June 1, 1998... Researchers at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD; Tel: 410/955- 6878) have discovered that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) depends on the moving parts of a cell's surface to enter the cell. According to David H. Schwartz, Sujatha...

Malaria DNA Vaccine Holds Up in Humans
June 1, 1998... Physicians conducting the first human trial of a DNA vaccine against malaria reported that the vaccine was well-tolerated and safe, and that preliminary analysis of specimens from trial participants suggested a good cellular immune response with...

Vaccine Protects Against Tooth Decay
June 1, 1998... Planet Biotechnology Inc. (2462 Wyandotte St., Mountain View, CA 94043; Tel: 650/694-4996) has commenced testing an antibody-based vaccine for the prevention of tooth decay. Not only is this a relatively new application for an antibody, but also...

Promising Results from Campy Vaccine
June 1, 1998... Antex Biologics (300 Professional Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20879; Tel: 301/590-0129, Fax: 301/590-0731) and marketing partner SmithKline Beecham (1 Franklin Plaza., Philadelphia, PA 19101; Tel: 215/751-4000) had good news from a Phase II clinical...

Vaccine Venture for India
June 1, 1998... Chiron (4560 Horton St., Emeryville, CA 94608-2916; Tel: 510/655-8730) is in a joint venture with Hoechst Marion Roussel (10236 Marion Park Dr., Kansas City, MO 64134; Tel: 816/966-5000, Fax: 816/966-3270) to produce vaccines in India. Called...

Wyeth-Lederle Acquires Apollon
June 1, 1998... Wyeth-Lederle Vaccines, a unit of American Home Products' Wyeth- Ayerst Laboratories (P.O. Box 8299, Philadelphia, PA 19101; Tel: 610/971-5400, Fax: 610/995-4884) has acquired Apollon (1 Great Valley Pkwy., Malvern, PA 19355; Tel: 610/647-9452),...

ANTIBODIES Genentech Seeks "Herceptin" Approval
June 1, 1998... Genentech (1 DNA Way, S. San Francisco, CA 94080-4990; Tel: 415/225- 1000, Fax: 415/225-6000) completed submission of a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the Food and Drug Administration for "Herceptin" (generic name: trastuzumab), the...

PDL Licenses Its Humanization Patents
June 1, 1998... Protein Design Labs (2375 Garcia Ave., Mountain View, CA 94043; Tel: 415/903-3700, Fax: 415/903-3730, Website:www.pdl.com) has granted a worldwide, nonexclusive license to its antibody humanization patents to a subsidiary of Elan Corp.,...

HORMONES, GROWTH FACTORS Scios Tries Again with "Natrecor"
June 1, 1998... Scios Inc. (2450 Bayshore Pkwy., Mountain View, CA 94043; Tel: 415/966-1550; Website: www.sciosinc.com) has submitted a New Drug Application to the FDA for "Natrecor" (generically named nesiritide) in acute congestive heart failure. If approved,...

Enzyme Modulates Blood Cell Production
June 1, 1998... A new study by researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (Memphis, TN; Tel: 901/495-3306) has identified an enzyme essential to the production of red blood cells and platelets. These findings may affect how scientists and physicians...

INDUSTRY NEWS Companies Target Angiogenesis
June 1, 1998... A recent article in the press extolled the work of Judah Folkman at Children's Hospital (Boston, MA) in shrinking solid tumors in mice by application of angiostatin and endostatin, two proteins that blocked blood vessel formation (angiogenesis)...

DARPA Seeks Pathogen Detection
June 1, 1998... Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA; Tel: 408/541-4191, Website: www.cepheid.com), along with five consortial partners, has received a $5 million, three- year grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to design and manufacture advanced,...

Merger Forms Avant Immunotherapeutics
June 1, 1998... T Cell Sciences, Inc. (115 4th Ave., Needham, MA 02194; Tel: 781/433- 3112) is acquiring Virus Research Institute, Inc. (61 Moulton St., Cambridge, MA 02138; Tel: 617/864-6232, Fax: 617/864-6334). The merged firm will be called Avant...

Ligand Forges New Links
June 1, 1998... A subsidiary of Ligand Pharmaceuticals (9393 Towne Centre Dr., San Diego, CA 92121; Tel: 619/535-3900) is merging with Seragen (97 South St., Hopkinton, MA 01748; Tel: 508/435-2331, Fax: 508/435-9805). Additionally, Ligand is acquiring all the...

Igen Seeks Injunction Against Boehringer
June 1, 1998... Applied Genetics News Stock Watch (As of June 1, 1998 11 AM) This Last Company Symbol Month Month Change Amgen AMGN 60.375 58.312 +2.063 Biogen ...