Science and Enterprise

Category: Joint ventures/collaborations

  • Baxter, Momenta to Partner on Biosimilars

    Pharmaceutical and medical device maker Baxter International and biotechnology company Momenta Pharmaceuticals have agreed to collaborate on development of follow-on biologic drugs, also known as biosimilars. The deal valued at at least $33 million is expected to close in the first quarter of 2012. Under the agreement, Baxter in Deerfield, Illinois, will make an up-front…

  • Engineered HIV/AIDS Vaccine Approved for Clinical Trials

    A vaccine designed to prevent HIV infection based on a genetically engineered virus has received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to start clinical trials. The vaccine is a product of a joint venture between Universiy of Western Onatrio in London and the Canadian subsidiary of Korean pharmaceutical venture company Sumagen. Chil-Yong Kang…

  • Algae Protein Electrodes Boost Photosynthesis Process

    Researchers from the Swiss research institute Empa, University of Basel in Switzerland, and Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago have developed electrodes made from algal protein that mimic a key process in photosynthesis used to directly generate hydrogen from water. The team describes their findings in the online issue of the journal Advanced Functional Materials (paid…

  • Battery Developer, Utility to Partner on Grid Energy Storage

    Lithium-ion battery developer A123 Systems in Waltham, Massachusetts and Massachusetts electric power company NSTAR have agreed to pilot test A123 batteries as storage devices in a suburban power grid. The pilot project will study and document the performance and reliability of A123 batteries at a substation in Medway, Massachusetts and is expected to become operational…

  • UCLA, Korean Institute Collaborate on Smart Grid R&D

    The engineering school at University of California at Los Angeles and the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) have begun a 10-year partnership to collaborate on smart-grid research and the development of new related technologies. The project, funded on the U.S. side by the Department of Energy and the Los Angeles Department of Water and…

  • FDA, Ohio Consortium to Partner on Biomaterials Regulations

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) are collaborating on the development of regulations affecting biomaterials in medical devices. The consortium of Akron, Ohio area hospitals, universities, and foundations signed the partnership agreement with FDA yesterday. The FDA and ABIA established the partnership to develop the research protocols…

  • GSK, University of Dundee Partner on Huntington’s Disease

    University of Dundee in Scotland and the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will collaborate in research to tackle Huntington’s disease, an inherited brain disorder. The joint project is valued at more than £1 million ($US 1.6 million). Dundee medical professor Susann Schweiger, who has discovered a mechanism that controls production of the disease-causing protein involved in…

  • Stratolaunch Systems to Build Aircraft-Based Space Launcher

    Stratolaunch Systems in Huntsville, Alabama announced plans to build a space launch aircraft and booster rocket with the capacity to replace the recently retired NASA space shuttle. The company, started by Microsoft founder Paul Allen, will partner with aircraft manufacturer Scaled Composites, space vehicle developer Space Exploration Technologies, and aerospace engineering company Dynetics. The entire…

  • New Method Tests Natural Toxins to Help Wheat Battle Pest

    A research team from Purdue University in Indiana and U.S. Department of Agriculture have devised a method of finding natural toxins to build wheat’s resistance to an insect pest. The researchers’ results appear online in advance of publication in the Journal of Insect Physiology (paid subscription required). Larvae from the Hessian fly attack and feed…

  • GE, Acorn Research to Partner on Molecular Cancer Testing

    Clarient Inc., a division of GE Healthcare in Aliso Viejo, California, and ACORN Research in Memphis have agreed to collaborate on molecular testing of tumor samples to result in standardized molecular profiles that improve the link between testing and treatment. These processes, say the companies, can eventually improve cancer treatment and research by delivering targeted…