Science and Enterprise

Month: October 2010

  • UConn, United Technologies Develop Gold Substitutes

    Researchers at University of Connecticut (UConn) in Storrs, partnering with engineers from the United Technologies Corporation (UTC) Research Center in East Hartford, Connecticut, have modeled and developed new classes of alloy materials for electronic devices that can reduce reliance on costly gold and other precious metals. With the price of gold hovering around $1,370 per…

  • Grant Funds Company Clinical Trial of Addiction Drug

    Omeros Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company  in Seattle, Washington, said today that the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of National Institutes of Health, has provided an additional grant to fund clinical studies for the company’s addiction program. The grant will fund a clinical trial of the company’s drug on addiction to heroin and cigarettes.…

  • Patent Issued to Biotech for DNA Libraries

    Dyadic International Inc.,  a biotechnology company in Jupiter, Florida says it has been issued Patent No. 7,794,962 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on its method for the expression and subsequent screening of DNA libraries in filamentous fungal hosts. The company says the patented technology can help speed up the discovery of genes…

  • BARDA Awards Contract for Smallpox Antiviral Drug

    SIGA Technologies Inc. in New York, New York said today it received notice that the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), intends to award a contract for the company’s smallpox antiviral for the strategic national stockpile. SIGA says a protest from another company…

  • Biotech Develops Faster Bacteria Diagnostics

    NanoLogix Inc., a biotechnology company in Hubbard, Ohio has unveiled a new line of tests to detect and identify aerobic live-cell bacteria. NanoLogix’s Quick-Tests, says the company, offers the research community high-sensitivity analysis results in reduced time with lower costs than traditional technologies. NanoLogix says its Quick-Tests detect and identify live-cell bacteria, such as E.coli,…

  • Ozone Technology to be Tested in Soil Cleanup Demo

    Civil and environmental engineering professor Andy Hong at University of Utah in Salt Lake City has partnered with Chinese environmental cleanup company Honde LLC to use Hong’s method of heightened ozonation treatment (HOT) to clean metals and other contaminants from polluted soil along the shores of Lake Taihu near Wuxi, China. Hong’s HOT technology infuses…

  • Biopharm Company Consolidates, Cuts 25% of Workforce

    Halozyme Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in San Diego, California said on Monday it would reduce its new research and development work to concentrate on existing drug products and commitments to pharmaceutical manufacturers. This consolidation will result in the company cutting its workforce by 25 percent. The company’s announcement noted Halozyme Therapeutics will focus its…

  • University of Minnesota Spins-Off Medical Device Startup

    University of Minnesota has helped launch a startup company based on the research of a professor in the university’s medical school in Minneapolis. The company, XO Thermix Medical, in nearby Wayzata, Minnesota will develop a device that treats chronic venous insufficiency (CVI). CVI is a condition affecting 2 to 5 percent of Americans, triggered by…

  • Biofuels Developer to Build North Carolina Refinery

    Maverick Biofuels in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, said today it plans to build a pilot scale biorefinery to produce mixed-alcohol biofuels from biomass and municipal solid waste. The pilot scale biorefinery, says the company, is the next step towards design and construction of a large-scale commercial facility. Maverick says it is raising its first round…

  • Patent Issued for Dupuytren’s Contracture Drug

    Auxilium Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Malvern, Pennsylvania, a developer of specialty biopharmaceuticals, said today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued U.S. Patent No. 7,811,560 covering purified collagenase, the active component in Auxilium’s drug Xiaflex. The drug is a treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture a thickening of the palm’s deep connective tissue. The patent, says…