Spring 2006

(From www.BioIndustrySouth.com)

Alabama

Birmingham-based Brookwood Pharmaceuticals to Partner with Genzyme on Drug Delivery Products

Brookwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. has entered into a collaborative agreement with Genzyme Pharmaceuticals, a business unit of Genzyme Corp., to develop new drug delivery techniques. According to a senior official at Genzyme, the company chose to partner with Brookwood because of the company's “industry-leading” experience in a wide range of drug delivery systems and especially those associated with “long-acting parenterals such as microparticles and solid implants.” Brookwood Pharmaceuticals is a for-profit subsidiary of Southern Research Institute.

Florida

Palm Beach County Agrees to Terms with Scripps

Palm Beach County commissioners have unanimously agreed to a revised contract to put the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter. Should Scripps leave Palm Beach County, the state would pay $100 million for the three buildings the county plans to build on the Florida Atlantic University campus. The offer is subject to approval by the state legislature. The contract meets Scripps request to have no corporate liability for its parent company while satisfying the county's desire to recover some money for the taxpayers should Scripps leave. The state's offer broke a two-month impasse over financial liability in the new contract between the county and Scripps. Scripps President Richard Lerner said Scripps has never wanted to fail or leave Palm Beach County and has done everything in its power to encourage the growth of the biotech industry there. He also said that two research hospitals have expressed interest in relocating to be near Scripps Florida, but both are waiting for the political issues to be resolved.

Georgia

Atlanta-based Serologicals Sold to Massachusetts Company

Serologicals, which makes biological products and technologies for the research, development and manufacture of life science products, will be sold to Massachusetts-based firm Millipore. According to company officials, Millipore will boost sales of Serologicals' products in international markets such as Europe, Asia, and Japan.

GeoVax Launches Clinical Human Trials for its HIV/AIDS Vaccine Developed at GeoVax, Emory University, NIH and the CDC

GeoVax, Inc. announced that its HIV/AIDS human clinical trials have begun at several sites around the U.S. These trials include testing of both DNA and MVA components of an HIV/AIDS vaccine developed by a team of researchers at GeoVax, the Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University and the Emory Vaccine Center, along the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

North Carolina

United Therapeutics Corporation Announces 160 Jobs in Durham

United Therapeutics Corporation, a leading biotechnology company that develops products for patients with life-threatening cardiovascular and infectious diseases and cancer, will build a facility in Durham, North Carolina, investing $54.3 million over three years. The project is being partially funded by a $175,000 One North Carolina Fund grant and tax incentives are being offered by Durham County. The company will build a new 125,000 square-foot administration and R&D and manufacturing facility in Research Triangle Park.

Governor Heads to Ireland to Talk Biotech

North Carolina Governor Mike Easley traveled to Dublin, Ireland recently to discuss the biotechnology industry with public-policy officials and international business leaders. North Carolina is home to a cluster of 350 biotech, pharmaceutical clinical research and life-science companies that employ about 46,000 according to the governor's office.

GlaxoSmithKline to Cut Prices for AIDS Drugs in Poor Nations

Research Triangle Park-based GlaxoSmithKline announced a 30 percent reduction in the price of AIDS drugs it charges at not-for-profit prices in poor countries and will add two antiretroviral to the list. The firm also announced a new generic licensing agreement with a pharmaceutical company in South Africa as part of its pledge to reduce the cost of antiretroviral drugs as it sees greater economies of scale.

Maryland

Two Maryland Biotech Firms Land $210M for Flu-Vaccine Work

Two Maryland biotech companies have received more than $200 million to develop new cell-based flu vaccines. The funding was granted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which awarded over $1 billion to five manufacturers to accelerate the production of new technologies to aid the federal government in stockpiling for a flu pandemic. MedImmune, which sells a nasal-spray flu vaccine, received a $170 million contract and DynPort, a private biodefense firm landed a nearly $41 million contract. DynPort will work in partnership with health care giant Baxter.

Osiris Therapeutics Plans IPO

Baltimore-based Osiris Therapeutics Inc. plans to go to an initial public offering of stock worth up to $80 million. The company, which provides stem-cell therapy that targets inflammation as well as orthopedic and cardiovascular conditions, has marketed one product and has three biologic drug candidates in clinical development. Proceeds from the IPO will mainly be used to fund the growth of the company's business, including additional clinical trials and pre-clinical research and development.

Two Southern Biotech Firms to Market Genetic Test for Cystic Fibrosis

Digene of Gaithersburg, Md. has inked a deal with Texas-based biotech company Asuragen to sell a genetic test for identifying carriers of cystic fibrosis. Asuragen is hoping for federal approval of the next-generation cystic fibrosis test by the end of 2006.

Maryland Bill Supporting Embryonic Stem Cell Research Becomes Law

Maryland's governor has signed legislation that supports embryonic stem cell research with public funds. The law requires authorization of $15 million for grants supporting the research in the next year, with guidelines for awarding the grants on both embryonic and adult stem cells.

Spherix Signs Agreement to Conduct Phase III Clinical Trial

Beltsville, Maryland-based Spherix Incorporated has signed an agreement with GleneaglesCRC, a major clinical research and drug development company based in Singapore, to conduct its phase III clinical trial on the use of Naturlose as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. Gleneagles will conduct the main part of the trial in Australia with patient recruitment to begin by the end of 2006.

Missouri

ABC Labs to be First Tenant at New Research Park in Columbia

Analytical Bio-Chemistry (ABC) Laboratories, Inc. will become the first tenant of the new University of Missouri Discovery Ridge Research Park, the first technology park in the Columbia, Missouri area. ABC Labs announced intentions to relocate its $15 million corporate headquarters and pharmaceutical labs to the research park. Discovery Ridge, located south of the University of Missouri South Farm of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, is a 1,452 acre agriculture experiment station. Its occupants will focus on life science, but will also serve as a site for commercialization of discoveries at the University of Missouri.

Texas

Chevron Invests in Texas Biodiesel Deal

Chevron has purchased a 22 percent share of Galveston Bay Biodiesel, which is building a $15 million fuel plant on Galveston Island, Texas. The $3.5 million investment is the first biodiesel deal for Chevron.

Virginia

New River Pharma Added to NASDAQ Biotech Index

Radford-based New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been added to the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index. To be included on the Index, a biotechnology or pharmaceutical security must be listed on the NASDAQ National Market and meet minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume, and seasoning as a public company. The specialty pharmaceutical company also announced positive news at the recent American Psychiatric Association meeting. New River announced that the investigational drug NRP104 demonstrated statistically significant reduction in the symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children aged 6 to 12 years old according to the results of a phase III trial.

Insmed's IPLEX Now Available Nationwide

Insmed Incorporated has announced the nationwide availability of its drug IPLEX. IPLEX was approved as an orphan drug by the Food and Drug Administration in December 2005 for the treatment of growth failure in children with severe primary IGF-I deficiency.

National News

Novartis Plans Bird Flu Vaccine Plant in U.S.; Location Decision Could Come in Next Few Weeks

Novartis says that it will build a vaccine plant in the U.S. that incorporates cell-based production technologies to produce avian flu vaccine quickly in case of a pandemic. Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella said that the plan could cost around $400 million and may not be in production for several years. An announcement of the plant's location could come in the next few weeks, according to company officials.

Biotech Leading Pharma in New Drug Development

For the third year in a row, the U.S. biotechnology industry has been ahead of pharmaceutical companies in producing new medicines, according to a new report released at the Biotechnology Industry Organization convention. Biotech revenue jumped almost 16 percent last year to $50.7 billion.