In the Region Hanger's earnings show effects of 1999...

In the Region

Hanger's earnings show effects of 1999 acquisition

Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc. of Bethesda showed the effects of a major acquisition a year ago in second-quarter results it posted yesterday.

Hanger earned $2.4 million, or 6 cents a common share, in the quarter, down from $4.9 million, or 24 cents a common share, in the second quarter of 1999. Revenue was more than double the year-earlier quarter - $125.9 million compared with $56.4 million - but profit slipped, in part because of acquisition-related costs.

The year-earlier quarter was the last before Hanger, then the country's second-largest company fitting braces and artificial limbs, bought its larger competitor, NovaCare Orthopedics and Prosthetics, for $455 million in cash and assumed debt.

Blood-vessel growth drug moves to 2nd test phase

GenVec Inc., a Gaithersburg developer of gene-based drugs, said its leading product candidate has advanced to the second of three phases of government-required testing in patients who suffer from a disease that causes a narrowing of blood vessels in the legs.

Biobypass, a gene-based drug designed to stimulate the growth of small blood vessels to enhance circulation, also recently entered Phase II clinical trials to test whether it works to form blood vessels that help patients with coronary artery disease. GenVec's Phase II Biobypass trial for those with the disease is expected to enroll more than 100 patients.

Novavax announces start of Androsorb tests

Novavax Inc. said yesterday that three clinical sites in Florida have begun enrolling patients to test the safety of its Androsorb cream, a hormone replacement therapy for women designed to deliver testosterone through the skin.

The Columbia-based drug-delivery company already has an estrogen-replacement therapy called Estrasorb in Phase III clinical trials, the third and final stage of testing in humans required by the Food and Drug Administration before a drug goes to market.

Antex Biologics reports loss of more than 100%

Antex Biologics Inc. said yesterday that its second-quarter loss widened more than 100 percent, as revenue fell and research and development costs increased.

The Gaithersburg company reported a net loss of $1.6 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with a loss of $783,625, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier. The 1999 numbers have been restated to reflect a reverse stock split effective July 20.

Research and development costs grew nearly 18 percent to $1.3 million from $1.1 million in the like quarter last year, while cash and cash equivalents were about $14 million at quarter's end.

Glendening names five to technology agency

Gov. Parris N. Glendening appointed five Maryland business leaders yesterday to the Technology Development Corp., a quasi-public agency formed in 1998 to guide technology growth in the state.

They are Gregory V. Billups, president and CEO of Systems, Maintenance & Technology Inc.; Dr. Wayne T. Hockmeyer, president and CEO of MedImmune Inc.; Richard C. "Mike" Lewin, state secretary of business and economic development; Andre Lynch, founder of Ingenium Corp.; and Steve Walker, a principal at Walker Investment Funds.

Elsewhere

Chicago law firm sues United on ticketholders' behalf

A Chicago law firm sued United Airlines yesterday in Cook County (Ill.) Circuit Court on behalf of ticketholders, accusing the world's largest airline of fraud and breach of contract for canceling and delaying thousands of flights.

The suit seeks to represent all United customers who have been affected by flight delays and cancellations since April, when United's contract with its pilots became open for renegotiation.

UAL Corp., United's parent, declined to comment.