8-K

                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             Washington, D.C. 20549


                                    FORM 8-K


                                 CURRENT REPORT


                       PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF
                     THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

                        Date of Report: February 16, 1999

                        (Date of earliest event reported)


                                  OXiGENE, INC.
             ------------------------------------------------------
             (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

          Delaware                   000-21990                  13-3679168
- ----------------------------      ----------------        ----------------------
(State or other jurisdiction      (Commission File            (IRS Employer
     of incorporation)                 Number)            Identification Number)

One Copley Place, Suite 602, Boston, Massachusetts               02116 
- --------------------------------------------------              ----------
(Address of principal executive offices)                        (Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code:  (617) 536-9500



Item 5.  Other Materially Important Events

     On February 16, 1999,  the  Registrant  issued a press  release,  a copy of
which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1,  announcing its discontinuation of the
development of  Neu-Sensamide(TM) to focus its resources on three other products
in development.

Item 7.  Financial Statements, Pro Forma Financial Information and Exhibits

         (c)  Exhibits.

              99.1  Press release of the Registrant, dated February 16, 1999.



     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the  Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended,  the  registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf
by the undersigned herewith duly authorized.

Date:  February 17, 1999                    OXiGENE, INC.
                                            (Registrant)


                                            By:  /s/ Bo Haglund
                                                 -------------------------------
                                                 Bo Haglund
                                                 Chief Financial Officer



                                  EXHIBIT INDEX


Exhibit

99.1  Press release of the Registrant, dated February 16, 1999.

EX-99.1

            OXiGENE DISCONTINUES NEU-SENSAMIDE(TM) PROJECT; FOCUSING
                RESOURCES ON THREE OTHER PRODUCTS IN DEVELOPMENT

Boston, MA, and Stockholm,  Sweden,  February 16, 1999 -- OXiGENE, Inc. (Nasdaq:
OXGN, SSE: OXGN), announced today the decision to discontinue the development of
Neu-Sensamide(TM)  in order to focus its  resources  on  products  with  greater
commercial promise. Neu-Sensamide(TM), a project within the Company's DNA repair
inhibitor  program,  was being  developed for use in conjunction  with radiation
therapy  in  patients  with  non-small  cell lung  cancer and in  patients  with
glioblastoma.  The Company believes that its recent clinical studies lead to the
conclusion that the drug's profile limits its commercial potential.

The financial  resources that had been designated for the further development of
the  Neu-Sensamide(TM)  project will be used to fund product  development across
the Company's  three small  molecule  compound  technology  platforms.  Clinical
studies ongoing include:  three Phase I clinical trials in the US and the UK for
OXiGENE's  anti-tumor  vascular  targeting agent,  Combretastatin A-4 Prodrug in
patients with advanced stage cancer;  two Phase I/II studies of Declopramide,  a
DNA repair  inhibitor  designed to  minimize  the  central  nervous  system side
effects seen in previous  generations of this  platform;  and a Phase I trial of
the  nucleoside  analog,   Cordycepin,  in  patients  with  acute  lymphoblastic
leukemia.

"We are very excited about the  prospects  for our ongoing  products and believe
that  it is in the  best  interest  of  the  Company  and  our  shareholders  to
discontinue the Neu-Sensamide(TM) project so that we can reallocate resources to
those products in the pipeline that we believe will have  substantially  greater
chances of commercial  success," said Bjorn Nordenvall,  Ph.D., M.D.,  President
and CEO of OXiGENE.  "To date, the ongoing product candidates within each of the
Company's three technology  platforms have demonstrated  promising progress.  We
look forward to their continued advancement in the clinic."

OXiGENE  is an  international  biopharmaceutical  company  developing  a diverse
portfolio of innovative products to combat cancer and other major diseases.  The
Company's  mission  is  to  develop  new  therapeutics  that  will  enhance  the
effectiveness  of  traditional  cancer  treatments  and to introduce  innovative
therapies that attack cancer in new ways.

This press release  contains  forward-looking  statements that involve risks and
uncertainties  that may  cause  the  Company's  (OXiGENE's)  actual  results  or
outcomes to be materially different from those anticipated and discussed in this
press  release.  Factors that may cause such a difference  include,  but are not
limited  to,  those  risks  and  uncertainties  associated  with the  regulatory
approval of the Company's  proprietary  drugs,  and other risks  included in the
Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in the Company's other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission during the past 12 months.