Science and Enterprise

Month: December 2010

  • Merck To Acquire Biotech for Diabetes Treatment Technology

    Merck & Co. Inc., a global pharmaceutical manufacturer, says it will acquire SmartCells Inc., a biotechnology company in Beverly, Massachusetts developing a glucose responsive insulin formulation for the treatment of diabetes. The SmartCells process was first developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology by its president, Todd Zion. SmartCells says its technology makes it possible to…

  • Start Up Licenses University Mining Sensor Technology

    United Science, a start up company in Center City, Minnesota, has licensed sensor technology developed at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis that could prevent toxic byproducts of copper and iron mining, and potentially other industries, from ending up in the environment. Chemistry associate professor Philippe Buhlmann developed the ion selective electrode (ISE) sensor membrane.…

  • Grant Boosts Research Commercialization Group

    The Maryland Proof of Concept Alliance — a consortium of Maryland university research institutions and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory — has received a $5.1 million federal grant to support its work moving research findings from the lab to the marketplace. The Alliance helps researchers through the often tricky and (to the researchers) unfamiliar process…

  • Univ of Washington Sues GE for Patent Infringement

    The University of Washington in Seattle filed suit in federal court against global manufacturer General Electric Company and its subsidiary GE Healthcare for infringing on a patent held by the university for registering images from ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sources. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued the patent to the university in…

  • Baxter, Takeda Complete Deal on Influenza Vaccines

    Baxter International Inc. in Deerfield, Illinois and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company in Osaka, Japan said today they completed a development, license, and technology transfer agreement to bring Baxter’s Vero cell culture-based influenza vaccines to the Japanese market. This agreement expands on the companies’ current collaborations involving cell-based flu vaccines. Under the agreement, Baxter will exclusively license…

  • FDA Approves Two-Minute IV for Superbug Skin Complications

    Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts says that its currently-marketed antibiotic Cubicin (daptomycin for injection) has been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for once-a-day dosing as a 2-minute intravenous (IV) injection. The company says Cubicin is the only approved 2-minute IV injection for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) complicated…

  • Mathematical Patterns Found to Forecast Spanish Earthquakes

    Researchers in Spain have found patterns of tectonic behavior that occur before an earthquake on the Iberian peninsula. The team, from University of Seville and Pablo de Olavide University in Seville used mathematical clustering techniques to forecast medium to large seismic movements when certain conditions coincide. The research will be published this month by the…

  • Arthritis Drug Protects Against Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer

    A widely used arthritis drug reduces the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers according to a study published this week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib, approved for the treatment of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and acute pain in adults, led to a 62 percent reduction in non-melanoma skin cancers, which…

  • Study: Pediatric Drug Labeling Tough to Understand

    Instructions on over-the-counter (OTC) medicines for children in the U.S. are confusing and hard for parents to understand and follow, according to a study in the 1 December issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Researchers at New York University’s School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, University of…

  • Radar in Shoes Can Step In When GPS Fails

    A global positioning system (GPS) is handy if you’re in a location where the device can access the positioning satellite, but at other times, such as in a building or underground, it doesn’t do much good. An engineering team at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…