Cell Research Draws Drug Maker’s Interest : Pharmaceuticals: Rhone-Poulenc Rorer will pay $113 million for a 37% stake of a biotech firm on the cutting edge of science.

Pharmaceutical maker Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc. will invest $113 million in a small California biotech company specializing in sophisticated cell and gene therapies, the companies said Thursday.

The deal, which gives Rhone-Poulenc Rorer a 37% stake in Santa Clara-based Applied Immune Sciences Inc. as well as the option to acquire another 23%, is the latest example of a big drug company buying access to cutting-edge science.

In over-the-counter trading, AIS jumped $3.87 1/2 a share to $22.87 1/2. Rhone-Poulenc Rorer slipped 50 cents to $52.87 1/2 a share in late trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The newest technology involving cells “moves from treating the symptoms (of a disease) with traditional pharmaceuticals to preventing or curing the disease,” Rhone-Poulenc Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Cawthorn said.

Besides collaborating on cell therapy research and development, the two companies plan a global network of Cell Therapy Centers, at which scientists and technicians will treat and alter cells so they can be infused into patients to strengthen their ability to fight crippling diseases such as cancer and AIDS.

Rhone-Poulenc Rorer estimates an additional investment of up to $30 million to establish a network of nine centers worldwide over the next several years.

AIS already operates one center in San Francisco and plans another one in Los Angeles early next year, said Thomas Okarma, the company’s chief executive.

But current cell processing at the center is done on a kind of clinical trial basis. AIS is not likely to receive approval to process cells as a commercial service for another three to five years, said Paul Boni, an analyst with the firm Mehta & Islay.

Using the tools of molecular biology and genetics, researchers at several companies are developing techniques that can isolate cells and alter their structure either by using drugs or inserting genes.

A sample of a patient’s blood is sent to a Cell Therapy Center, which is like a hospital for cells. There, cells culled from the blood are modified over several days or weeks, then returned for intravenous infusion into the patient.

The new, altered cells are expected to boost the immune system so the body can fight cancerous tumor cells and other diseases. Ultimately, cell therapy could make some pharmaceuticals obsolete.

Cell therapy can also be used to teach cells to respond to a particular drug or to resist drugs. That could enhance the performance of some drugs that Rhone-Poulenc Rorer is developing.

Last year, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer decided to tighten its research and development focus, said Ken Kulju, an analyst with UBS Securities. “They decided to get rid of the me-too-type products.” The AIS collaboration “complements the work they’re doing in cancer and the infectious disease areas,” he said.

One of the most prominent drugs in Rhone-Poulenc Rorer’s pipeline is Taxotere, which inhibits cell division in cancer patients and is now in clinical trials. The company is also developing a drug that stimulates an immune response in AIDS patients.