Category: Intellectual property
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Pfizer, Opko Partner on Growth Hormone Drug
16 December 2014. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer is licensing an engineered compound to treat human growth hormone deficiency in adults and children from Opko Health Inc., a provider of therapeutics and diagnostics. The deal has a potential value to Opko of $570 million, plus royalties from sales. Opko Health, based in Miami, offers drugs and…
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Pfizer, Biotech Partner on Hemophilia B Gene Therapy
8 December 2014. Spark Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm in Philadelphia, is collaborating with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to commercialize Spark’s gene therapy technology as a treatment for hemophilia B. Spark Therapeutics can gain as much as $280 million in the deal that involves sharing worldwide rights to Spark’s technology for hemophilia B with Pfizer. Hemophilia…
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Patent Awarded for Macular Degeneration Eyedrop Technology
4 December 2014. SciFluor Life Sciences LLC, a biopharmaceutical company in Cambridge, Massachusetts received a patent on a fluoride formulation for treating diseases of the retina with eyedrops rather than injections into the eye as often required. Patent 8,901,144 was awarded on 2 December by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to four inventors, including…
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Genome Editing Company Licenses University Technologies
1 December 2014. Editas Medicine, a Cambridge, Massachusetts start-up, licensed technologies developed by the company’s scientific founders and others that allow for editing the human genome to create new therapies. Financial terms of the exclusive licensing deals with Harvard University, MIT, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Duke University were not disclosed. Editas Medicine, founded in 2013,…
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Type 2 Diabetes Technology Licensed in $1 Billion Deal
12 November 2014. Intarcia Therapeutics Inc., developing a drug and delivery mechanism to treat type 2 diabetes, licensed its technology to the pharmaceutical company Servier in a deal with a potential value of $1 billion. The agreement gives Servier exclusive rights to Intarcia’s diabetes treatment technology to regions outside of the U.S. and Japan. Intarcia’s…
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Patent Awarded for Replacement Pancreas Cell Processes
6 November 2014. ViaCyte Inc., a biotechnology company in San Diego, received a patent for its processes in making early stage pancreatic cells to replace defective cells in patients with type 1 diabetes. Patent number 8,859,286 was awarded in mid-October by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to inventor Alan Agulnick, a researcher at ViaCyte, and…
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High-Speed Artery Imaging Technology in Development
5 November 2014. A process to capture high-speed three-dimensional images of plaque deposits in arteries and analyze their chemical makeup for diagnosing heart conditions is being developed by Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The team from the lab of Purdue biomedical engineer and chemist Ji-Xin Cheng, with colleagues from Indiana University School of Medicine,…
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Patent Issued for Engineered Peptides Forming Hydrogels
4 November 2014. Bioengineers at Kansas State University received a patent for their invention of a peptide, a protein-like compound, that turns into water-based gels for a number of medical applications. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent number 8,835,395 to Xiuzhi (Susan) Sun, professor of grain science and bioengineering at Kansas State, as well…
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Biotech, McGill Univ Partner on Soil Enhancement Microbes
23 October 2014. Inocucor Technologies Inc. and McGill University are collaborating on development of new types of microbes that improve soil for greater yields of large-scale crops such as corn and soybeans. Financial details of the research and licensing agreement between the company and university, both in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, were not disclosed. Inocucor Technologies…
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Astellas, Harvard Partner on Retinitis Pigmentosa Targets
14 October 2014. Astellas Pharma Inc. in Tokyo is collaborating with a genetics and ophthalmology lab at Harvard University to discover more about the onset of the eye disease retinitis pigmentosa and identify therapy targets. Financial details of the three-year deal with Harvard were not disclosed. Retinitis pigmentosa is a family of inherited eye disorders…