Month: May 2011
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California Supporting Embryonic Stem Cell Clinical Trial
The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) awarded a $25 million grant to support the first FDA-approved clinical trial based on human embryonic stem cells. The award to Geron Corporation in Menlo Park, California, will support the company’s early phase trial, already underway, for people with spinal cord injury. CIRM, the state’s stem cell agency,…
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Unregulated Drug Market Hurting TB Public Health Efforts
The campaign against tuberculosis is generally considered a public health responsibility, but a new study indicates that private, unregulated TB drug sales may be hurting rather than helping those efforts. Results of the study appear in the new issue of the journal PLoS ONE. The research, conducted by the organization TB Alliance and health care…
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Grant Awarded for New Technology to Develop Polio Vaccine
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded University of Central Florida in Orlando a grant to develop a tablet-based vaccine for polio using a new technology that promises to make vaccines faster, safer, and less expensive. The $761,302 two-year grant will fund research by UCF biotechnology professor Henry Daniell (pictured left). Most vaccines are…
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Global Venture Capital Volume Up in Q1, Deal Number Down
The volume of venture deals for companies in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Israel, China, and India jumped 20 percent to $9.8 billion in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same quarter in 2010. However, the number of deals worldwide declined 7 percent in the first quarter, to 967. The data compiled by Dow…
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Diagnostics Companies Get European Grant for Bladder Cancer
Molecular diagnostics companies MDxHealth SA in Liege, Belgium and NovioGendix B.V. in Nijmegen, Netherlands have received a $1.1 million grant from Eurotrans-Bio to advance their bladder cancer program. NovioGendix is a spin-off company from Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre (RUNMC). Eurotrans-Bio is a European Commission initiative to encourage cross-border research and development between small companies…
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Researchers, Designer Develop Lighter Sound-Absorbing Fabric
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (French acronym EMPA), along with a silk weaving company and textile designer, have developed lightweight, translucent curtain materials that absorb room noise. The Swiss textile maker Weisbrod-Zürrer AG and designer Annette Douglas were part of the team. Sound absorbing surfaces that decrease sound wave…
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Clinical Trial: Glass Nanofibers Aid Wound Healing
A trial of super-thin glass fibers show the fibers helped heal venous stasis wounds in eight of 12 patients who had not responded to other treatments. Results of the small-scale early trial appear in the May issue of the American Ceramic Society’s Bulletin magazine. The fibrous glass material (pictured left) is produced by Mo-Sci Corporation…
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Dutch-Chinese Project to Simulate Shipping Port Traffic
Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands and Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China will develop a traffic model for shipping in congested port areas, which they hope will provide a better understanding of the ports’ capacity and improve safety. The project is part of a program by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific…
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UV Device Kills Computer Keyboard Bacteria
Environmental tests at University of Hertfordshire in the U.K. support claims that a device for killing bacteria on computer keyboards works as advertised. The university’s Biodet lab tested the Germ Genie made by Falcon Innovations in High Wycombe, U.K., and reported the results at recent industry and academic meetings. The results of the university’s tests…
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Grants to Fund Tech Commercialization in Maryland
The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) in Columbia has started a technology transfer program with funding for small businesses to commercialize U.S. government technologies. TEDCO’s Joint Technology Transfer Initiative (JTTI) will award $825,000 to 11 small businesses over two years. Grants of up to $75,000 will go to companies with plans to bring to market…