BUSINESS BRIEFS : DEVELOPMENTS.

Seagate Technology Corp. will lay off 500 employees as the Scotts Valley-based computer storage manufacturer absorbs former rival Conner Peripherals Inc. Employees being let go may be hired at other Seagate locations. The company has about 112 openings in Simi Valley. The layoffs result from redundancy between Seagate and San Jose-based Conner's engineering and corporate staffs.

DEALS View Engineering Inc., a privately owned manufacturer of laser systems in Simi Valley, is negotiating the sale of the company to Watertown, Mass.-based General Scanning Inc. If the deal is approved by the two companies, General Scanning would issue 1.6 million shares of stock in exchange for all outstanding View Engineering stock, options and warrants.

REAL ESTATE

Sands Group, the auction company affiliated with Fred Sands Realtors, will auction 208 Freddie Mac homes in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange counties on May 5 at the Marriott Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport. The auction will begin at 11 a.m. with registration starting at 9 a.m. All properties will be open for viewing from noon to 4 p.m. this coming weekend. For more information, call [phone].

PRODUCTS

Biopool International Inc. in Ventura received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to market the company's new clotting reagent called Venom-Time. The product is used in clinical laboratory settings to detect abnormal or low levels of fibrinogen, a protein essential to the formation of blood clots.

FINANCES

Amgen Inc. has purchased 3 million shares of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. common stock along with warrants to purchase an additional 700,000 shares at $16 each for a total purchase price of $48 million. This share purchase brings Amgen's holdings in Regeneron to slightly more than 4.4 million shares, representing more than 17 percent of Regeneron's total outstanding shares. Exercise of the warrants would bring Amgen's holdings to just under 20 percent. Thousand Oaks-based Amgen and Regeneron are developing two products currently in clinical trials.

DEVELOPMENTS

Amgen Inc. has begun initial human clinical trials of tumor necrosis factor-binding protein to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The trial is designed primarily to evaluate safety and tolerability. TNF-bp is one of several product candidates that the Thousand Oaks-based pharmaceutical company acquired in its December 1994 acquisition of Synergen and is part of Amgen's inflammatory and auto-immune disease program.

EARNINGS

Interlink Electronics reported net income of $53,000 (1 cent per share) for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with a net loss of $71,000 (2 cents) for the like quarter a year ago. Quarterly revenue for the Camarillo-based manufacturer of keyboard pointing devices totaled $2.8 million, compared with $2.3 million a year ago.

Xircom Inc. reported net income for the second quarter ended March 31 of $1.37 million (7 cents per share), compared with $2.48 million (15 cents) for the same quarter a year ago. The Thousand Oaks-based manufacturer of computer products reported net sales for the quarter of $45.33 million, compared with $39.97 million a year ago.

Ventura County National Bancorp reported net income of $326,000 (4 cents per share) for the first quarter ended March 31, compared with $273,000 (3 cents) for the same quarter a year ago. The earnings-per-share calculation was affected by the issuing of 1.89 million through a rights offering in the second quarter of 1995. The Oxnard-based bank holding company reported total assets of $267.57 million at the end of the quarter, compared with $253.51 million a year ago.

MARKETING

Vitesse Semiconductor Corp. has introduced its True Service Distribution channel for Vitesse customers with either sampling or small production requirements. The program allows domestic customers of the Camarillo-based electronics firm to evaluate Vitesse products quickly for rapid design-in decisions. True Service also provides emergency-level responses to small production needs.

Murdoch Communications, a Camarillo-based public relations firm, has established a home page on the World Wide Web at http://www.prmurdoch.com.

DEBUTS Village at Moorpark, a retail center developed by Caruso Affiliated Holdings, has opened at Moorpark Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The tenant list includes Blockbuster Music, The Men's Wearhouse, Starbucks, Noah's New York Bagels, Super Crown, 1st Nationwide Bank and Jamba Juice.

Seeley Co., a commercial real estate firm, has opened a regional office in Ventura County at 1901 N. Solar Drive in Oxnard. Grant L. Harris of Camarillo and John Ochoa of Santa Barbara will direct operations of the new office.

Pacific Coast Lending, a real estate lending firm, has opened an office in Agoura Hills at 28720 Roadside Drive, Suite 250.

CHARITY

BTR Inc., a Conejo Valley firm that operates 10 area Domino's Pizza stores, has launched a Domino's Cares charitable giving program that brings the firm's previous activities under one name. The program will conitnue to support the Wellness Center in Westlake Village, the Conejo Valley Unified School District, Community Conscience and Conejo Valley Youth Employment Services.

PEOPLE

Jose Hernandez, president of J. Hernandez & Co. Inc., a Ventura-based insurance brokerage firm, has been elected to the board of Boy Scouts of America, Ventura County Council.

Pat Elias has been named director of Education for Sylvan Learning Center in Simi Valley.

MEMO: Please submit items for Business Notes by FAX at [phone] or by mail C/O Business Notes, Daily News, 1197 Los Angeles Ave., Suite E, Simi Valley, CA 93065.

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Photo

Photo: The Village at Moorpark mall had its grand opening S aturday.

Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News