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NIH Awards Scripps $51 Million Contract for Immune System Research

A division of the National Institutes of Health awarded the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla a five-year, $51 million contract that will be used to build a detailed picture of how the immune system functions, Scripps said Oct. 25.

Researchers led by Scripps professor and Department of Immunology Chairman Richard Ulevitch will construct a model of the immune system’s response to several disease-causing agents using mice.

In the long term, the project will seek to develop innovative approaches to improving vaccines and drugs that stimulate the immune system that can be used against a variety of diseases, including inflammatory and infectious diseases. Massachusetts-based BCC Research estimated that the global market for immunotherapies to treat cancer would reach more than $23.7 billion by the end of the year.

The contract will build on a previous five-year program that developed a comprehensive and detailed picture of innate immunity, the body’s first line of defense against infectious diseases. That program was awarded a $24 million grant by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the same NIH division that awarded the current contract, in 2003.

Scripps will share the contract with researchers at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia, and Stanford University in Palo Alto.

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CardioDynamics Transfers Nasdaq Markets:

On Oct. 22, CardioDynamics International Corp. received approval from Nasdaq to transfer its common stock from the Nasdaq Global Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market.

It began trading on the capital market, under the symbol CDIC, Oct. 25.

CardioDynamics switched over in response to an April letter from Nasdaq indicating that it did not meet minimum bid price requirements because its common stock had closed below $1 a share for 30 consecutive days of trading. It had until Oct. 15 to regain compliance or apply to transfer to the capital market.

It will have until mid-April to regain compliance while listed on the capital market. All companies listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market must meet certain financial requirements and adhere to Nasdaq’s corporate governance standards.

CardioDynamics makes noninvasive diagnostic and monitoring technologies and medical device electrodes. The company’s impedance cardiography, or ICG, systems are being used by physicians worldwide for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

For the most recent quarter ended Aug. 31, CardioDynamics reported a net loss of $853,000 on revenues of $5.6 million compared with a net income of $665,000 on revenues of $5.2 million for the same period a year ago.

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Immunosyn Garners Expanded Rights To Drug Compound:

An amended license agreement between Immunosyn Corp. and its largest shareholder, Argyll Biotechnologies LLC, both based in La Jolla, will expand the biopharmaceutical company’s rights to commercialize drug candidate SF-1019 for all diseases and pathological conditions.

Previously, Immunosyn held rights to commercialize SF-1019 for limited treatments: inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, a neurological disorder characterized by progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms; diabetic neuropathy; and diabetic ulcers.

Immunosyn also garnered the rights to any improvement on the drug, or other chemically similar drugs developed using the same technology. It also obtained an exclusive, worldwide license to all intellectual property owned by or assigned to Argyll regarding the commercialization of SF-1019.

Research has suggested that SF-1019 has the potential to affect a number of clinical conditions, including auto-immune and neurological disorders and complications from diabetes.

Immunosyn, launched in August 2006, began trading over the counter under the symbol IMYN on Oct. 26. For the three months ended June 30, Immunosyn had a net loss of $75,834 and no revenues.

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Isis To Receive Up To $9.9 Million To Develop Huntington’s Disease Treatment:

CHDI Inc., a nonprofit foundation pursuing treatments for Huntington’s disease, will provide up to $9.9 million in funding to Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. for the discovery and development of an antisense drug for the treatment of the fatal neurodegenerative disease, Isis said Oct. 26.

CHDI’s funding builds upon an earlier collaboration between Carlsbad-based Isis and CHDI involving studies that demonstrated the feasibility of using antisense drugs to treat HD.

The nonprofit will provide Isis with up to $9.9 million in a three-year span. Isis has the right to continue clinical development of any drugs arising from the collaboration.

Huntington’s disease affects 30,000 people in the United States. Additionally, 35,000 people exhibit some symptoms and 75,000 people carry the abnormal gene that will cause them to develop the disease. There is no cure for the fatal disease.

“We are pleased to expand our relationship with CHDI to identify a potential new therapy for Huntington’s disease, a condition for which there are limited treatment options available,” said C. Frank Bennett, senior vice president of research at Isis, in a prepared statement.

For the three months ended June 30, Isis reported a net loss of $11 million on revenues of $3.8 million compared with a net loss of $2.2 million on revenues of $4.4 million during the same period a year ago.


Send biotechnology industry-related news to Heather Chambers,

hchambers@sdbj.com

, or call (858) 277-6359, ext. 3125.

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