Biotechnology

Biosys Inc., a Columbia-based company that develops and markets biological products for insect control on crops, reported a second-quarter loss yesterday of $3.6 million on sales of $6.3 million.The results for the quarter, which ended June 30, were 5.4 percent better than for the same period last year, when Biosys reported a net loss of $3.7 million on sales of $8.4 million.The publicly held company said quarter-to-quarter comparisons were distorted by the fact that a sales contract in Egypt resulted in most of the 1996 revenues occurring in the first quarter, while most of 1995 revenues from the contract occurred in the second quarter.

Cellco Inc. and Pharmavene Inc. have a lot in common. They're young biotechnology companies, small and well-regarded, and based in Montgomery County. But one big difference between them tells a lot about Maryland's economic future.Since it was founded in late 1989, Pharmavene has had a fairly easy time obtaining money to fund development of drugs to suppress craving for cocaine and nicotine and an enzyme to treat cocaine overdoses. On the other hand, Cellco had to go to Japan to finance its 1988 start-up and has been trying for months to raise $2 million in fresh capital.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tom McMillen of Maryland and three other members of Congress have formed the Congressional Biotechnology Caucus -- designed to ensure that the United States retains its competitive advantage."

In what analysts described as one of the largest biotechnology licensing deals in history, Amgen Inc. said yesterday that it has acquired the rights to a group of promising compounds to treat neuro-degenerative diseases developed by Baltimore-based Guilford Pharmaceuticals Inc.Amgen, one of the country's top biotechnology companies, initially will pay Guilford $35 million for the rights. But payments could grow substantially if any of the drugs are successfully developed."This is a spectacular blockbuster deal for Guilford," said Alex Zisson, a biotechnology analyst with Hambrecht & Quist in New York.

Maryland, the state that gave the world Babe Ruth, the Star Spangled Banner and hot crabs, appears poised to offer another lasting contribution: revolutionary vaccines targeting some of the world's most vexing diseases.Quietly, but surely, the Baltimore-Washington region has emerged as a hotbed of vaccine research and development.That trend is the result of larger phenomena, say experts like Dr. James B. Kaper, chief of the bacterial genetics division at the University of Maryland's Center for Vaccine Development.

WASHINGTON -- Senior members of Congress from both parties are working feverishly on legislation that could give consumers access to lower-cost copies of biotechnology drugs that now cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Prospects for the legislation have increased since Democrats took control of Congress this year. Consumer groups, employers and insurers are lobbying for the bill, which they see as a way to hold down health costs. The proposal faces formidable scientific and political obstacles.

Evidence of a stable economy and investor excitement about the impending announcement that scientists have assembled the human genome - the genetic directions for running a human body - continued to fuel a rebound in biotechnology stocks yesterday. Gains were especially strong among stocks closely associated with genetics, with Rockville-based Human Genome Sciences gaining $22, or 18.7 percent, to close at $139.5625. Celera Genomics Group, also of Rockville, jumped $14.25, or 15.16 percent, to close at $108.

In an effort to support Baltimore's growing biotechnology industry, Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke has asked a panel of community leaders to look at whether the city should establish a life-sciences high school.Creation of a new school would help fill an expected need of the city's medical institutions and biotechnology companies for employees trained in the sciences -- from Ph.D.s to laboratory technicians and manufacturing workers. And proponents believe the work force should be home-grown rather than imported from other regions of the nation.

The biotechnology company, Genentech, as expected, turned down a buyout offer yesterday from its majority owner Roche, saying the bid of $89 a share was far too low. But in a statement, a special committee of Genentech's board said it would consider a higher offer, which some analysts took as suggesting a deal would eventually be done. The committee also approved a "broad-based" employee retention program, an indication that Genentech executives, and Roche executives as well, were worried that employees would leave amid the uncertainty of whether Genentech might lose its status as an independent company.