Drug Discovery & Technology News articles from September 2000

Drug Discovery & Technology News archives from September 2000

BASIC SCIENCE: Life Extension Through Chemistry.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Drugs have been used for the first time to extend the natural life span of worms. Scientists led by Simon Melov of the Buck Institute (8001 Redwood Blvd., Novato, CA; Tel: 415/209-2000, Fax: 415/899- 1810, Website: www.buckinstitute.org) have...

Switching Fat On and Off.(University of Michigan)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Scientists at the University of Michigan (UM) medical school have discovered a molecular switch that controls the formation of fat cells in mice. If the switch is on, fat cells will not develop. Switch it off, and even potential muscle cells...

Hypocretin Deficiency Causes Narcolepsy.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A study that appeared in the September 1 issue of Nature Medicine links narcolepsy with the deficiency of a brain peptide called hypocretin that stimulates wakefulness. The work was collaborative effort led by Emmanuel Mignot, director of the...

How HIV Destroys Immune Systems.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... University of Michigan scientist Denise Kirschner has developed a new mathematical model that shows how HIV slowly destroys its victim's immune system by accelerating a normal process called homing, which diverts white blood cells from the...

SCREENING: Affymetrix to Develop Pseudomonas Arrays.
September 1, 2000... Affymetrix, Inc., (3380 Central Expwy., Santa Clara, CA 95051; Tel: 408/731-5000, Fax: 408/481-0422, Website: www.affymetrix.com) and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation have entered into an agreement to develop a custom GeneChip expression array...

Search Started for Diabetes SNPs.(Genomics Collaborative Inc.)(Lynx Therapeutics Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Lynx Therapeutics, Inc. (25861 Industrial Blvd., Hayward, CA 94545; Tel: 510/670-9300, Fax: 510/670-9302, Website: www.lynxgen.com) and Genomics Collaborative, Inc. (GCI, 99 Erie St., Cambridge, MA 02139; Tel: 617/661-2400 or 877/GENOMIX,...

High Throughput System Launched.(Luminex Corp.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Luminex Corp. (12212 Technology Blvd., Austin, TX 78727; Tel: 512/219-8020 or 888/219-8020, Fax: 512/258-4173, Website: www.luminexcorp.com) introduced its high throughput screening (HTS) system for drug discovery at the Society for...

MALDI-TOF Mass Spec Introduced.(Bruker Daltonics Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Bruker Daltonics, Inc. (15 Fortune Dr., Billerica, MA 01821; Tel: 978/663-3660, Fax: 978/667-0985, Website: www.daltonics.bruker.com) has announced Autoflex, the first MALDI- TOF mass spectrometry system specifically designed for very high...

Corning to Make DNA Microarrays.(Corning Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Corning, Inc. (1 Riverfront Plaza, Corning NY, 14831-0001; Tel: 607/974-9000, Fax: 607/974-8091, Website: www.corning.com) is entering the high-growth market for microarrays used by research scientists to simultaneously analyze thousands of...

DRUG TARGETS: TB Enzyme Needed for Persistence.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Researchers have discovered an enzyme that allows the tuberculosis (TB) bacterium to metabolize nutrients and persist for months while shielding itself from immune-system attack by hiding inside macrophages. According to the researchers, the...

How the Malaria Parasite Feeds.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... NIH researchers headed by Sanjay A. Desai, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Joshua Zimmerberg, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), have found pore-like holes in the membranes of red...

PHARMACOGENOMICS: Haplotypes Predict Drug Response.(Brief Article)(Technical)
September 1, 2000... Researchers at Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (5 Science Park, New Haven, CT 06511; Website: www.genaissance.com) and the University of Cincinnati college of medicine have published results demonstrating for the first time that a response...

Pharmacogenomics Collaboration.(Clingenix, Inc. and MJ Life Co.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Clingenix, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA; Tel: 408/541-6401, Website: www.clingenix.com) and MJ Life Co. (Taiwan; Tel: 886/2-8712115) have entered into a collaboration agreement, under which MJ Life will provide its comprehensive laboratory services...

INFORMATICS: Try Simulating Clinical Trials.(Apache Medical Systems introduces systems for clinical trial simulation)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2000... "The drug and device industry is now capable of simulating clinical trials on a very advanced scale thanks to the Apache simulator," says William A. Knaus, president and CEO of Apache Medical Systems, Inc. (1650 Tysons Blvd., Suite 300,...

Beowulf to Help Decipher Genome.(supercomputer)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A network-based supercomputer known as a Beowulf cluster computer will help decipher complex genetic information. The computer will be built with the help of a University of Idaho (UI, Moscow, ID) class taught by Robert Heckendorn, an...

DIAGNOSTICS: Smelling Ability May Predict Alzheimer's.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A simple scratch-and-sniff test--combined with an unawareness of one's own olfactory dysfunction--might help predict Alzheimer's disease, reports the results of a study led by D.P. Devanand, of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and...

Fast Diagnosis of Drug Resistant TB.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Sequenom, Inc. (11555 Sorrento Valley Rd., No. C, San Diego, CA 92121-1331; Tel: 619/350-0345) will collaborate with the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) in New York City to develop high- speed diagnostic tests to identify...

DRUG DELIVERY: Prodrug Gets Through the Gut.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Immtech International, Inc. ((1 N. End Ave., Suite 1111, New York, NY; Tel: 212/791-2911, Fax: 212/791-2917) was awarded a small business innovative research (SBIR) phase II grant from the NIH for the development of a "Novel Prodrug for...

NEW COMPOUNDS: Manganic Porphyrins Win Patent.(Incara Pharmaceuticals collaborates with Duke University on research)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A U.S. patent entitled "Oxidoreductase Activity of Manganic Porphyrins" has been issued to Duke University. The patent is licensed by Incara Pharmaceuticals Corp. (3200 East Hwy. 54, Suite 300, PO Box 1428, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709;...

Cyanide Generator to Fight Cancer.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Researchers at London's Imperial College, funded by U.K.-based cancer company Antisoma plc (West Africa House, Hanger Lane, Ealing, London, U.K.; Tel: +44(0)181 799 8200, Fax: +44(0)181 799 8201, Website: www.antisoma.co.uk, E-mail:...

Plant Compound Kills Cancer Cells.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Researchers led by Philip A. Beachy, from Johns Hopkins demonstrated that a plant-derived compound, cyclopamine, can block abnormal cell growth associated with genetic lesions that cause a number of cancers including basal cell carcinoma...

Strategy Kills Colon Polyps.(combination drugs block polyp development)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator Bert Vogelstein, Christopher Torrance, and their colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University oncology center and Wyeth-Ayerst (PO Box 8299, Philadelphia, PA; Tel: 610/688-4400 or...

Pentapeptide as Cancer Remedy.(Ilex Oncology Inc. collaborates with BASF Pharma)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Ilex Oncology, Inc. (11550 I.H. 10 West, Suite 100, San Antonio, TX 78230; Tel: 210/949-8200, Fax: 210/949-8210, Website: www.ilexoncology.com) has entered into an agreement with BASF Pharma of Ludwigshafen, Germany, for an exclusive,...

Src Inhibitor Active Against Osteoporosis.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... In a paper published in the August, 15, 2000 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, Ariad Pharmaceutical (26 Landsdowne St., Cambridge, MA 02139; Tel: 617/494-0400, Fax: 617/494-8144) scientists demonstrated that a...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Center for Medicinal Marijuana Established.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... A state-funded initiative to study the safety and efficacy of cannabis to treat certain diseases is being established at the University of California. The Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR), headquartered at UCSD, will be a...

Genzyme Buys GelTex Pharm.(Genzyme General Div. acquires GelTex Pharmaceuticals Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Genzyme General Corp. (One Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA 02139- 1563; Tel: 617/252-7500, Fax: 617/374-7368, Website: www.genzyme.com) and GelTex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (153 2nd Ave., Waltham, MA 02451; Tel: 781/290-5888, Fax: 781/290-5890,...

Call for Moratorium on HIV Vaccine.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A call for a moratorium on HIV vaccine research will appear in the October 2000 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Vaccine. Veljko Veljkovic (Institute of Nuclear Sciences in Belgrade, Yugoslavia), lead author of the Vaccine article, says,...

Prescribed Medicine Can Damage Lungs.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... There are hundreds of medicines routinely prescribed against a variety of disorders, including high blood pressure, allergies, rheumatism, certain cancers or even common non-respiratory inflammations, which can cause all kinds of lung...

COLLABORATIONS: Agreement for Solid Dose Products.(Delsys Pharmaceutical Corp. and Elan Corporation PLC form joint venture)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... Delsys Pharmaceutical Corp. (5 Vaughn Dr., Suite 305, Princeton NJ; Tel: 732/329-3407) and Elan Corp. plc (Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2, Ireland; Tel: 212/755-3218, Fax: 212/755-1043) have formed a new joint venture, which will...

Glycodesign, Leo in Partnership.(GlycoDesign Inc. enters joint venture with Leo Pharmaceutical Products)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... GlycoDesign, Inc. (GD, 480 University Ave., Suite 900, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Vs, Canada; Tel: 416/593-6027, Fax: 416/593-8988, Website: www.glycodesign.com) has entered into a joint venture with Leo Pharmaceutical Products, Ltd. (Leo) of...

Nanoscale Synthesis Agreement Signed.(Nanoscale Cominatorial Synthesis Inc. finalizes deal with ArQule Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... ArQule, Inc. (200 Boston Ave., Medford, MA 02155; Tel: 781/395- 4100, Fax: 781/395-1225) and Nanoscale Combinatorial Synthesis, Inc.(9062 S. Rita Rd., Tucson, AZ 85747; Tel: 520/799-7621 Fax: 520/799-7616, Website: www.nanosyn.com) have...

CALENDAR.
September 1, 2000... October 16-17, Win-Win Agreements in the Drug Industry, London, U.K. Contact: Smi Pharmaceutical Conferences; Tel: 020 7252 2222, Fax: 020 7252 2272. October 16-17, Human Genetic Variation, 3rd Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. Contact:...