Category: Finance

  • Challenge Seeks New Uses for Trial-Tested Drug Compounds

    28 March 2014. A new challenge on InnoCentive asks the medical research community for additional uses for drug compounds previously tested in clinical trials by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The challenge has a prize of $15,000, and a deadline for submissions of 31 May 2014 (free registration required). InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts conducts open-innovation, crowd-sourcing…

  • Investments Added to Breakout Labs Life Science Seed Grants

    26 March 2014. NetScientific in Cambridge, U.K. is adding investment funds for qualified life science enterprises taking part in Breakout Labs to help them advance beyond the initial start-up phase. Under the deal, Breakout Labs portfolio companies fitting into NetScientific’s investment priorities will qualify for $250,000 in follow-on investment beyond Breakout Labs’ $350,000 in seed…

  • Genetics Group, Analytics Firm Collaborate on Diagnostics

    19 March 2014. A genetics research center at University of Utah in Salt Lake City and Omicia Inc., a genomic analytics company in Oakland, California are developing systems to make genomic analysis a routine medical diagnostic procedure. The $6 million in funding for the USTAR Center for Genetic Discovery comes from the university and Utah…

  • Janssen, Univ. of Alberta Partner on Diabetes Research

    19 March 2014. Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, a division of Johnson & Johnson, is joining with University of Alberta in Edmonton to fund research on diabetes with commercial potential. The $600,000 fund, with contributions from Janssen and matched by the government of Alberta and Alberta Diabetes Foundation, will support studies on type 1 and type 2…

  • Bristol-Myers Squibb, Biotech in Cancer Drug Discovery Deal

    17 March 2014. Bristol-Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company in New York, and Five Prime Therapeutics in South San Francisco, California are collaborating in discovery of cancer immunotherapies. The deal can be worth as much as $350 million to Five Prime Therapeutics, in which Bristol-Myers Squibb will also get a 5 percent stake. Five Prime Therapeutics…

  • Virtual Fish in Development for Environmental Toxin Testing

    13 March 2014. Researchers at Plymouth University in the U.K. and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca are developing a technique to gauge potential toxic effects of chemicals in rivers and oceans using cells from fish configured into a testing device. The three-year, £600,000 ($998,000) project of biologist Awadhesh Jha with colleagues from Plymouth and AstraZeneca is funded by U.K. science…

  • Study to Evaluate Spatial Repellents to Control Mosquitos

    13 March 2014. Biologists at University of Notre Dame in Indiana are evaluating area-wide techniques for repelling mosquitoes as a way to control diseases like malaria and dengue fever. A grant of $23 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is funding a five-year project on spatial repellency methods led by biologists Nicole Achee and Neil…

  • Smartphone Obstetrics App Gains $2M Angel, Public Funding

    10 March 2014. LionsGate Technologies, a medical device developer in Vancouver, British Columbia, received $2 million in private and public financing for its smartphone app measuring blood oxygen levels in pregnant women. The funds will support clinical trials and scaling up for production of LionsGate’s Phone Oximeter, a device that checks for risks of developing high blood pressure…

  • University, Spin-Off Partner on Enviro Flying Robotic Device

    6 March 2014. University of Nevada in Reno and NevadaNano, a spin-off company from the university, are developing an aerial robotic device for environmental sensing and reporting over a large area. The project is funded by a $150,000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the U.S. Army. The project combines the university’s expertise in autonomous…

  • Life Sciences Investment Company Closes New Fund

    28 February 2014. Abingworth LLP, an investment company based in London, closed its 10th fund designed for financing life sciences and health care enterprises. The company says its Abingworth Bioventures VI fund raised £225 million ($375 million), exceeding its target of £200 million. Abingworth expects its Bioventures VI fund to invest in life sciences companies in Europe…