Science and Enterprise

Category: Joint ventures/collaborations

  • Merck, GE Healthcare Partner on Alzheimer’s Treatment Trial

    The pharmaceutical company Merck and GE Healthcare, the medical technologies unit of General Electric, are collaborating in a clinical trial of Merck’s drug candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The trial is testing Merck’s compound known as MK-8931, a beta amyloid precursor protein site cleaving enzyme inhibitor. The accumulation of beta amyloid proteins in…

  • University, Company Share Ion Detection Technology Patent

    University of Texas at Arlington and Dionex Corporation in Sunnyvale, California recently received a patent for a new process that detects the charge of ions in a solution, and can enable more sensitive testing for compounds in water, food, and chemicals. Patent 8,293,099 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was awarded in late October…

  • University Biotech Spinoff Secures $38M Venture Funding

    Naurex Inc., a spin-off company from Northwestern University creating neurological and psychiatric drugs, closed a $38 million series B venture round, the second financing cycle after start-up. Financing for the Evanston, Illinois biotechnology company was led by new investor Baxter Ventures, and joined by new investor Savitr Capital, as well as 10 current backers including…

  • Computer Model Shown to Predict Irregular Heartbeat

    Medical researchers at University of Rochester in New York, with computer scientists at IBM, built a computer model of the heart wall that can predict the risk of irregular heart rhythms and sudden cardiac death in patients. The results of this collaboration, led by Rochester cardiovascular professor Coeli Lopes, appear in a recent issue of…

  • Kidney Stone Monitor Boosts Treatment Effectiveness

    Engineers at University of Southampton in the U.K. tested a prototype monitoring device for ultrasound treatments of kidney stones that showed the device ready for full-scale clinical trials. The team led by Southampton engineering professor Tim Leighton published its findings yesterday online in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society A (paid subscription required). In…

  • MD Anderson, GlaxoSmithKline Partner on Cancer Immunotherapy

    MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, part of the University of Texas, and the global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline will jointly conduct research leading to new therapeutic antibodies that help the immune system fight cancer. The agreement over its full lifetime could earn MD Anderson as much as $335 million. The agreement gives GlaxoSmithKline exclusive worldwide…

  • Simple Process Developed to Remove Smokestack CO2 Emissions

    Researchers at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) in Québec City, Canada are developing an economical method for removing most carbon dioxide from emissions put out by large industrial plants. The project led by INRS environmental scientist Guy Mercier, is funded by a two-year, $300,000 grant from Carbon Management Canada, a federal Canadian…

  • FDA, Industry Group to Partner on Medical Device Regulation

    The Food and Drug Administration will collaborate with LifeScience Alley, an industry association based in Minneapolis, in the Medical Device Innovation Consortium, to advance regulatory science for medical devices. Medical Device Innovation Consortium is expected to create scientific tools for assessing the safety and effectiveness of medical devices. The consortium has nine corporate members, including…

  • International Consortium Sequences Bread Wheat Genome

    Researchers from the U.S., U.K., and Germany sequenced the genome of the strain of wheat used to make bread, an achievement that is expected to increase yields and enhance the nutritional value of this crop. The findings of the consortium, comprising researchers from 10 different institutions, appear today online in the journal Nature. U.S. Department…

  • University, Corporation Partnering on Paint-Stripping Robots

    National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and Concurrent Technologies Corporation in Johnstown, Pennsylvania are developing robotic systems with lasers to strip paint from aircraft. The two-year project is funded by a contract from the National Defense Center for Energy and Environment, part of the U.S. Department of Defense, with participation from the…