NEWS: MARCH 2003

-3/31/2003-

Zymark Corporation introduces its Staccato Cell Station for automating cell-based assays. To read article click here. Zymark Corporation provides automated systems for combinatorial chemistry and drug discovery. For a review of Zymark's systems for combinatorial chemistry here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Axon Instruments Inc. launches its four-color, upgradeable, high-performance GenePix® Professional 4200A scanner for genomics and proteomics microarray research. To read article click here.

Mylan Laboratories Inc. to pay $32.1 million to settle antitrust class action lawsuit. To read article click here.

Exelixis Inc. files its first investigational new drug (IND) application to the FDA for its proprietary small molecule anticancer compound XL784. To read article click here.

Invitrogen Corp. acquires Vertex Pharmaceutical Inc.'s PanVera LLC product and technology rights for $95 million in cash. To read article click here.

-3/28/2003-

Press Release: Available from INTEGRA Biosciences, specialists in cell cultivation equipment, the CELLine cultivation system offers significant benefits to laboratories involved with cell growth and antibody production. To read press release click here.

Nanosyn delivers 100,000 PureQuality™ compounds to Amphora Discovery. Amphora Discovery screened these compounds against 40 targets generating over 7 million data points. To read article click here. NANOSYN offers its ANST™ Accelerated Nanoscale Synthesis Technology for combinatorial chemistry and drug discovery R&D. For a review of NANOSYN's services and compounds here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Johnson & Johnson completes the acquisition of 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $88 million. To read article click here. 3-Dimensional Pharmaceuticals Inc. (3DP) provides services in combinatorial chemistry and drug discovery. For a review of 3DP's services here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Procyon Biopharma Inc. to acquire Pharmacor Inc. To read article click here.

ViroLogic Inc. and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative form vaccine R&D collaboration for HIV/AIDS. To read article click here.

-3/27/2003-

Press Release: Available from Guava Technologies the PCA™, the world's first Personal Cell Analysis system, enables scientists engaged in cell-based discovery to easily perform advanced assays with fewer cells than required by other methods. To read press release click here.

Xenogen Corporation and Morphochem AG form research collaboration to develop drug candidates against bacterial biofilms. To read article click here.

Merck & Co Inc. and Aventis SA will combine their AIDS vaccine candidates in a new clinical trial scheduled for late 2003. To read article click here.

Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Novartis AG extend antibiotics research collaboration for two more years. To read article click here.

-3/26/2003-

Press Release: Porvair Sciences Ltd., specialists in innovative microplate technology, has announced the introduction of the highly affordable MiniVap microplate solvent evaporator. To read press release click here.

Versicor Inc. changes its name to Vicuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. and will on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol MICU. To read article click here.

Schering-Plough Corp. to license ribavirin for Hepatitis C to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. and Geneva Pharmaceuticals Inc. To read article click here.

FDA approves Somavert® for acromegaly treatment. To read article click here.

Novartis AG to get majority stake in Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $255 million. To read article click here.

Applied Molecular Evolution Inc. reaches milestone in Eli Lilly & Co. collaboration on the optimization of antibody candidate. To read article click here.

Kosan Biosciences Inc. will receive milestone payment from Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development LLC for macrolide antibiotic discovery. To read article click here.

-3/25/2003-

Press Release: Autoscribe Ltd. has announced the first in a series of new topic information packs based upon the attractive and highly intuitive e-book format. To read press release click here.

Press Release: Guava® Technologies Inc., a company dedicated to changing the way cell culture monitoring and cell screening assays are performed, has announced the appointment of Paul Kinnon as Guava's vice president of sales and marketing. He joins Guava from Cellomics Inc., where he was vice president of sales. To read press release click here.

Accelrys Inc. releases MS FAST software toolkit for formulation development introducing materials informatics capabilities to its Materials Studio product line. To read article click here. Accelrys Inc. provides software packages for molecular modeling, drug discovery, life science, material science, combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening. For a review of Accelrys' software packages here at CombiChem Lab click here.

FDA approves Merck & Co. Inc.'s Cozaar for stroke prevention. To read article click here.

Targeted Genetics Corp. form collaboration with the International AIDS Vaccine initiative and Columbus Children's Research Institute at Children's Hospital to develop an AIDS vaccine. To read article click here.

Kalypsys Inc. reaches agreement with Merck & Co. Inc. to accelerate Merck's screening capacity using Kalypsys' high-throughput lead discovery system. To read article click here.

-3/24/2003-

Libraria Inc. introduces LUCIA™ Drug Discovery Expert System. To read article click here.

Press Release: SensIR Europe is proud to announce that Bruker Optics has chosen the DuraSamplIR II diamond ATR accessory for their TENSOR series line of FT-IR spectrometers. To read press release click here.

The Strategic Research Institute (SRI) will host the "Biochips in Drug Discovery & Development" conference on July 14-15, 2003, in Princeton, NJ. To read article click here. SRI promotes and hosts a broad range of scientific oriented conferences. For more information on SRI here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Bruker AXS Inc. and Baltic Scientific Instruments Ltd. enter into joint venture for solid state s-ray detector technology. To read article click here. Bruker AXS Inc. offers its D8 DISCOVER System for fast X-Ray diffraction screening analysis of combinatorial libraries. For a review on Bruker AXS's D8 DISCOVER System here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Chemical Computing Group (CCG) and IBM enter marketing agreement form CCG's Molecular Operating Environment (MOE™) for drug discovery. To read article click here. CCG provides a software solution for drug discovery and combinatorial chemistry. To read a review of CCG's MOE here at CombiChem Lab click here.

West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. and Chiron Corp's Chiron Vaccines unit to develop diphteria and tetanus nasal vaccine using West Pharmaceutical's ChiSys nasal drug delivery technology. To read article click here.

Pfizer Inc. takes an 11.3% stake in ArQule Inc. To read article click here.

Ambion Inc. and Cenix BioScience GmbH form partnership to co-develop and commercialize the first human genome-wide siRNA library. To read article click here.

DDD Group plc and CAChe Group introduce DDD's TriDef™ Visualizer for 3D molecular modeling without the need to use 3D glasses. To read article click here.

Accelrys Inc. and John Wiley and Sons Inc. form collaboration for the creation of new series of electronic references for chemists. To read article click here. Accelrys Inc. provides software packages for molecular modeling, drug discovery, life science, material science, combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening. For a review of Accelrys' software packages here at CombiChem Lab click here.

FDA grants Lorus Therapeutics Inc.'s GTI-2040 orphan drug status for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer. To read article click here.

-3/21/2003-

Press Release: A new applications note from SensIR Europe describes and illustrates how Infrared microspectroscopy aids rapid identification and morphological evaluation of solid pharmaceutical excipients. To read press release click here.

Genentech Inc.'s drug Raptiva gives positive results in psoriasis trials. To read article click here.

Johnson & Johnson's drug Remicade gives positive results in psoriasis trials. To read article click here.

Amgen Inc.'s drug Enbrel gives positive results in psoriasis trials. To read article click here.

Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. receives milestone payment from Eli Lilly & Co. for LY818 for type II diabetes treatment. To read article click here.

-3/20/2003-

Chiron Corp. names former GlaxoSmithKline Plc executive Howard Pien as its new CEO. To read article click here.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s to lose patent protection on Taxol, Glucovance, Glucophage XR and Serzone before the end of 2003. To read article click here.

-3/19/2003-

Argonaut Technologies will introduce its new Advantage Series™ systems for chemical process development at the American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. To read article click here. Argonaut Technologies provides chemical and reagents as well as semiautomated synthesizers for parallel synthesis. For a review of Argonaut Technologies' chemicals and semiautomated synthesizers here at CombiChem Lab click here and here, respectively.

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. extends agreement with Lexicon Genetics Incorporated to access Lexicon's OmniBank library. To read article click here.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. and Alkermes Inc. file investigational New Drug Application with the FDA for diabetes drug. To read article click here.

-3/18/2003-

Press Release: INTEGRA Biosciences has selected Achema 2003 for the launch of a range of exciting new additions to its comprehensive range of liquid handling products and productive systems for cell cultivation laboratories. To read press release click here.

Press Release: ESA Inc. has announced, as from 1st April 2003, a restructuring of its European operations. To read press release click here.

Sigma-RB signs agreement with GlaxoSmithKline to provide novel organic compounds for cell signaling and neuroscience research. To read article click here. Sigma-Aldrich provides a broad range or chemicals for industry, including a specialized product line for combinatorial chemistry. For a review of Sigma-Aldrich's combichem chemical line here at CombiChem Lab click here.

MDL Information Systems Inc. (MDL®) to provide Boehringer Ingelheim with chemical information systems. To read article click here. MDL® provides software and databases for combinatorial chemistry, drug discovery and HTS. For a review of MDL®'s software for combinatorial chemistry here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Novartis AG buys Pfizer's Enablex (darifenacin) for overactive bladder treatment for $225 million. To read article click here.

Bayer AG found not liable in Baycol lawsuit. To read article click here.

The Procter & Gamble Co. to buy Wella AG for $5.8 billion. To read article click here.

Gene Logic Inc. launches its new BioExpress Inflammation Suite. To read article click here.

Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s CEO Mark Levin declines cash bonus for 2002. To read article click here.

Researchers from the Parker Hughes Center for Clinical Immunology report in the March 2003 issue of the journal Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry the discovery of a new class of drugs against allergy and asthma. To read article click here.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. developes human monoclonal antibody drug against anthrax. To read article click here.

Protein Design Labs licenses development rights to SMART™ M195 antibody to Actinium Pharmaceuticals. To read article click here.

Affymetrix Inc. to supply ParAllele Bioscience with GeneChip® tag arrays. To read article click here.

Elan Corp. to sell its muscle-relaxant drug Skelaxin. To read article click here.

-3/17/2003-

Tecan US launches its HS 400 Hybridization Station. To read article click here. Tecan provides the ChemSystem workstation and the TECAN MiniPrep systems for combinatorial chemistry and drug discovery. To read a review of TECAN's systems here at CombiChem Lab click here.

U.S. Federal Trade Commission approves Pfizer Inc. and Pharmacia Corp. 52-billion merger. To read article click here.

Eli Lilly & Co. and Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s lung-cancer drug Affinitak fails clinical trials. To read article click here.

Compugen Ltd. discovers transcription of antisense RNAs from the human genome. To read article click here.

-3/14/2003-

The Justice Department is investigating Monsanto Co. for possible antitrust practices in the herbicide industry. To read article click here.

FDA says SuperGen Inc exaggerated claims about it Mitozytrex cancer drug. To read article click here.

Bayer's cholesterol drug Baycol linked to 13 deaths. To read article click here.

-3/13/2003-

The Strategic Research Institute (SRI) will host the "siRNA in Drug Discovery & Development" conference on March 24-25, 2003, in La Jolla, CA. To read article click here. SRI promotes and hosts a broad range of scientific oriented conferences. For more information on SRI here at CombiChem Lab click here.

FDA approves Roche AG and Trimeris Inc.'s Fuzeon for AIDS. To read article click here.

Schering-Plough Corp.'s CEO Richard Kogan to leave the company in April 2003. To read article click here.

D-Pharm Ltd.'s drug candidate DP-109 found to reduce amyloid-beta plaque deposition in in both in vitro and in vivo Alzheimer's Disease models. To read article click here.

-3/12/2003-

Court upholds patent infringement lawsuit ruling on favor of Applied Biosystems Group and MDS Inc. against Micromass U.K. Ltd. and Micromass Inc. To read article click here. Micromass UK Ltd., a division of Waters Corporation, provides mass spectrometer systems for combinatorial chemistry and drug discovery. For a review of Micromass' systems here at CombiChem Lab click here. Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex provides mass spectrometer systems for combinatorial chemistry and drug discovery. For a review of Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex's systems here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Abbott Laboratories Inc. acquires 5.3% stake in Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $250 million. To read article click here.

SignalGene Inc. to halt operations. To read article click here.

Bayer AG faces lawsuit for misleading claims about its cholesterol lowering drug Lipobay/Baycol. To read article click here.

-3/11/2003-

The Center for Business Intelligence (CBI) to host its "2nd Annual Pharmaceutical Contact Centers" conference on March 31-April 1, 2003. To read article click here. CBI organizes and hosts a series of conferences in the pharmaceutical areas. For more information on CBI here at CombiChem Lab click here.

GlaxoSmithKline's AIDS drug therapy Trizivir (a combination of three HIV drugs: Ziagen, AZT and 3TC) fails NIH trials. To read article click here.

Eli Lilly & Co.'s CEO Sydney Taurel to take $1 in salary for 2002. To read article click here.

SEC investigates King Pharmaceuticals Inc. over pricing and rebate practices. To read article click here.

Guidant Corporation to acquire X Technologies Inc. To read article click here.

Cambridge Antibody Technology shareholders approve merger with Oxford Glycosciences. To read article click here.

European Commission approves Gilead Sciences Inc.'s Hepsera for Hepatitis B treatment. To read article click here.

-3/10/2003-

Bruker BioSpin introduces 1mm microliter probe for small-sample analysis for drug discovery. To read article click here. Bruker BioSpin offers its BEST-NMR (Bruker Efficient Sample Transfer) system for the analysis of combinatorial libraries. For a review of the BEST-NMR system here at CombiChem Lab click here.

IDG World Expo to host the "Bio-ITWorld Conference & Expo" conference on March 25-27, 2003, in Boston, MA. To read article click here.

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. revises 1999-2001 profit down $900 million. To read article click here.

Avant Immunotherapeutics Inc. to buy patent applications for anti- atherosclerosis drugs from Pharmacia Corp. To read article click here.

-3/07/2003-

Press Release: Launched to an enthusiastic audience at the recent LabAutomation 2003 conference the new Katana robotic arm from IMiX GmbH (Reinach, Switzerland) fills a gap in the field of laboratory automation. To read press release click here.

Press Release: Porvair Sciences has announced a major new breakthrough in performing protein precipitation experiments. To read press release click here.

InnaPhase Corporation and NuGenesis Technologies® form data management collaboration. To read article click here.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission settle antitrust charges. To read article click here.

Merck & Co. Inc. acquires 95 percent of Banyu Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. To read article click here.

-3/06/2003-

Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI) will host "Molecular Medicine Marketplace" conference on March 17-21, 2003, in Santa Clara, California. To read article click here and here. CHI promotes and hosts a broad range of scientific oriented conferences. For more information on CHI here at CombiChem Lab click here.

The Japanese Patent Office recently finds Chiron Corp.'s patent for hepatitis C virus immunodiagnostic technology invalid. To read article click here.

H. Lundbeck A/S acquires Synaptic Pharmaceutical Corporation for US $122.5 million. To read article click here.

-3/05/2003-

Press Release: Tecan (UK) has announced a new automated entry-level solution for DNA extraction. To read press release click here. Tecan provides the ChemSystem workstation and the TECAN MiniPrep systems for combinatorial chemistry and drug discovery. To read a review of TECAN's systems here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Pharmacia Corp. wins patent invalidation case for painkiller drug (cox-2 inhibitor) against University of Rochester. To read article click here.

Syrrx Inc. enforces U.S. Patent entitled "Methods And Apparatus For Performing Array Microcrystallizations." To read article click here.

FDA approves Merck & Co.'s Emend drug against vomiting in patients under chemotherapy. To read article click here.

-3/04/2003-

Press Release: New products from Genevac Ltd, world leader in solvent removal for drug discovery, will be in evidence at important European exhibitions (Achema and Miptec 2003) during May. To read press release click here. Genevac Ltd. provides high-throughput centrifugal evaporation systems for combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening (HTS) and drug discovery. To read a review of Genevac's systems here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Press Release: Genevac, world leader in solvent removal for drug discovery has announced a new version of the control software for their range of centrifugal evaporators that introduces a powerful new productivity-enhancing feature. To read press release click here. Genevac Ltd. provides high-throughput centrifugal evaporation systems for combinatorial chemistry, high-throughput screening (HTS) and drug discovery. To read a review of Genevac's systems here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Press Release: Based on Tecan's revolutionary centrifugally driven microfluidics platform, the LabCD™ combines microscale fluid paths, reaction chambers, and passive valves on a disposable compact disc operating on one easy-to-use automated platform. To read press release click here. Tecan provides the ChemSystem workstation and the TECAN MiniPrep systems for combinatorial chemistry and drug discovery. To read a review of TECAN's systems here at CombiChem Lab click here.

The Strategic Research Institute (SRI) will host the "8th International Pharma & Biotech Licensing & Deal-Making Summit" conference on March 10-12, 2003, in La Jolla, CA. To read article click here. SRI promotes and hosts a broad range of scientific oriented conferences. For more information on SRI here at CombiChem Lab click here.

The Strategic Research Institute (SRI) will host the "Biochips World Summit 2003" conference on June 23-25, 2003, in Princeton, NJ. To read article click here. SRI promotes and hosts a broad range of scientific oriented conferences. For more information on SRI here at CombiChem Lab click here.

The Center for Business Intelligence (CBI) announces its 2003 Pharmaceutical Conference Events. To read article click here. CBI organizes and hosts a series of conferences in the pharmaceutical areas. For more information on CBI here at CombiChem Lab click here.

GlaxoSmithKline loses U.S. patent court case on antidepressant Paxil. To read article click here.

Novartis AG still interested in acquiring Roche. To read article click here.

-3/03/2003-

The Strategic Research Institute (SRI) will host the "4th Annual Multicultural Pharmaceutical Marketing, Media and PR" conference on March 18-19, 2003, in Princeton, NJ. To read article click here. SRI promotes and hosts a broad range of scientific oriented conferences. For more information on SRI here at CombiChem Lab click here.

Bruker Daltonics Inc. tointroduce its novel microTOF™ electrospray ionization time-of-flight (ESI-TOF) mass spectrometer at PittCon 2003. To read article click here. Bruker Daltonics Inc. provides mass spectrometer systems for drug discovery applications. To read a review of Bruker Daltonics' Mass Spec systems here at CombiChem Lab click here.

The NDRI (National Disease Research Interchange) to sponsor "The Genetics of Rare Disease, Window to Common Disorders" conference on March 25, 2003, in Washington. To read article click here.

Former ImClone Systems CEO Samuel Waksal pleads guilty for tax evation. To read article click here.

Versicor Inc. and Biosearch Italia S.p.A. complete merger. To read article click here.

FDA approves GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia for use in combination with insulin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. To read article click here.