Month: November 2010
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European Venture Deals Decline, Euro Volume Up
Dow Jones VentureSource reports that venture capitalists put €916 million ($1.3 billion) into 198 deals for European companies in the third quarter in 2010, the lowest quarterly deal count for Europe since Dow Jones VentureSource began tracking the region ten years ago. Investment volume rose 6 percent from €866 million, despite the 25 percent drop…
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Researchers Develop New Solid Materials Shaping Process
Scientists at New York University (NYU) in New York City have developed a method to shape solid materials using a corn starch solution. While manufacturers today can use lasers or high-speed water jets for this purpose, these current methods are not very precise. The corn starch solution developed at NYU offers a rudimentary alternative (illustrated…
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Biotechs Awarded Michael J. Fox Foundation Grants
Two biotechnology companies report today awards of grants from the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF). The foundation supports research on therapies for Parkinson’s disease. Adolor Corporation in Exton, Pennsylvania says it received a second round of funding by MJFF to support the development of treatments for levadopa (l-DOPA)-induced dyskinesia (LID) associated with Parkinson’s disease. The…
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E. Coli Found Near Plant Roots, Affects Young Crops
A study at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana shows the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) can live for weeks around the roots of produce plants and transfer to the edible portions. Researchers discovered, however, that the threat can be minimized if growers don’t harvest affected crops too soon. E. coli make up a large…
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IRS Posts Therapeutic Discovery Project Awards
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) posted the complete list of companies receiving Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project credits and grants under a provision of the Affordable Care Act enacted on 23 March 2010. The Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project program is targeted to projects that show potential to produce new therapies, reduce long-term health care costs, or…
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Device, Medication Control Cattle Fever Ticks
Scientists at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have developed two methods to combat cattle fever ticks that cross the border from Mexico into the U.S. Cattle fever ticks transmit Texas cattle fever (bovine babesiosis), a deadly disease of cattle caused by singled-celled organisms. Scientists at the ARS facility in Kerrville, Texas, are developing and testing…
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Biotech Company Consolidates, Cuts Workforce 13%
Biogen Idec, a biotechnology company in Weston, Massachusetts, says it will focus its R&D and manufacturing efforts in the field of neurology, cutting its expenses and workforce in the process. The restructuring announced today (3 November) will mean closing its San Diego, California site, and consolidating its Massachusetts operations. The company says it will concentrate…
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Global R&D Spending Among Innovators Declines in 2009
Total R&D spending among the world’s top spenders on innovation dropped in 2009 for the first time in the 13 years studied, according to the annual survey by management consulting firm Booz & Company. At the same time, most science-related companies, especially those in the health care industry, increased their R&D spending, with the pharmaceutical…
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U.S. PTO to Continue Gene Patents, BIO and AUTM File Brief
The Dow Jones news service reports today (2 November) that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO) will continue to consider applications for gene-related patents, while the Justice Department has come out against such patents in a friend-of-court brief filed late on Friday in a case challenging them. David Kappos, undersecretary of commerce for…
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University, Company Develop Nanotech Conducting Polymer Film
A team of chemists and engineers from University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and Fibron Technologies Inc. in Inglewood, California has developed a new method for coating large surfaces with nanofiber thin films that are both transparent and electrically conductive. Their method calls for the vigorous agitation of water, dense oil, and polymer nanofibers,…
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