Science and Enterprise

Month: April 2012

  • Degradable Stent Found Safe for Long Term Coronary Treatment

    Researchers in Japan and the Netherlands completed a 10-year study that found a stent that degrades and is absorbed into the blood vessel tissue to be safe for patients with coronary artery disease. The findings are published online ahead of print in the journal Circulation. Stents are mesh tubes inserted to prop open coronary arteries…

  • Nutritional Enzyme Maker Secures $10M Early-Stage Financing

    Alcresta, in Newton, Massachusetts, has closed a $10 million series A financing round, the first funding installment after start-up. Investors are led by the venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners, Frazier Healthcare, and Third Rock Ventures. The company develops and commercializes enzyme-based nutritional products designed to improve the health of and manage disease for infants,…

  • Quarter of Grandparents Keep Meds Where Kids Can Find Them

    A survey by the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor shows nearly one quarter of grandparents in the U.S. of children age 1 to 5 say they keep their prescription medicines in easily accessible containers or locations. The findings were part of the hospital’s National Poll on Children’s Health conducted in…

  • Boron Added to Carbon Nanotubes Produce Super Oil Sponge

    Materials scientists at Rice University in Houston have devised a material that can absorb large quantities of oil by adding the element boron to carbon nanotubes. The Rice researchers, joined by colleagues in the U.S., Belgium, Japan, Spain, and Mexico published their findings Friday in the journal Scientific Reports. Rice graduate student Daniel Hashim (pictured…

  • Piramal Healthcare Buys Bayer Molecular Imaging Portfolio

    Piramal Healthcare, a pharmaceutical and drug discovery company in Mumbai, India, says it has acquired rights to the molecular imaging research and development portfolio of Bayer Pharma AG in Leverkusen, Germany. The company has formed a new subsidiary, Piramal Imaging SA, to manage these assets. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed, but Piramal…

  • Infectious Disease Diagnostics Company Lands Series B Funds

    Molecular Detection Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania, a company developing tests for diagnosing infectious diseases, says it has completed a new $1.9 million round of series B financing, the second funding installment after initial start-up. All existing investors, says the company, took part in the round, including MentorTech Ventures, Robin Hood Ventures, Elm Spring Holdings, and…

  • Challenge Seeks Atmospheric Benzene, Butadiene Monitors

    A new challenge on InnoCentive seeks a process or technology that can quickly detect benzene and 1,3 butadiene gases in low concentrations in the air. The challenge has an award of $30,000 and a deadline of 4 June 2012. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts is a company the conducts open-innovation, crowd-sourcing competitions for corporate and organization…

  • Not-For-Profit Hospital Starts $10M Health Care Venture Fund

    Rex Healthcare, a not-for-profit health care system in Raleigh, North Carolina, has unveiled Rex Strategic Innovations that offers funding for start-up companies and organizations, including venture capital financing. The program is also devising ways to help individuals and organizations develop ideas for improving health care into real-life goods and services. The initiative includes Rex Health…

  • Engineers to Conduct Seismic Tests on Fire, Medical Systems

    Structural engineers at University of California in San Diego will begin two weeks of tests on a full-size building to gauge the impact of severe earthquakes on non-structural components, such as fire and elevator systems, as well as on medical facilities. The tests will involve a five-story building (pictured left) constructed on what the university…

  • AstraZeneca, NGO to Partner on Neglected Tropical Diseases

    The group Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-government organization in Geneva, and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have agreed to collaborate on drug-compound screening for three neglected tropical diseases. The three diseases — leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness — together affect nearly 10 million people worldwide. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will provide to…