Science and Enterprise

Month: April 2012

  • Merck Investing in Life Sciences Venture Fund

    Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, Massachusetts says Merck’s venture arm has joined in a recent investment fund backing start-up life sciences companies. The amount of the investment, which was not disclosed, was made by Merck’s Research Ventures Fund in Flagship Ventures Fund IV that closed in January. Flagship says its Ventures Fund IV will be devoted…

  • Graphene Materials Faster, Cheaper at Cooling Electronics

    A materials scientist at North Carolina State University in Durham has created a new way of cooling high-temperature electronic devices with composites made of graphene. The work of Jag Kasichainula, a professor of materials science and engineering at NC State, appears in the journal Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B (paid subscription required). Graphene is a…

  • Undergrad Engineers Design Improved Neck Stabilizer Brace

    A team of mechanical and biomedical engineering students at Rice University in Houston, all undergraduates, have devised a prototype cervical collar that they say improves on neck braces now in use. The Rice team, called CivSAFE, is one of 10 finalists in the Innovation Showcase (iShow), a student engineering design competition held in Montreal in…

  • Venture Funds in U.S., Europe Raise More Cash in Q1

    More venture capital (VC) funds in the U.S. successfully hit their fund-raising targets in the first quarter of 2012, and like their counterparts in Europe, raised more cash in the process, according to Dow Jones LP Source, a financial industry research service. Tracking VC fund-raising offers an early indicator of investment money for start-up companies…

  • FDA Approves Brain Imaging Agent for Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

    Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Amyvid, a radioactive diagnostic agent made by its subsidiary Avid Radiopharmaceuticals. Amyvid is designed to work with Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans to reveal beta-amyloid plaques in patients with suspected cognitive impairment disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Amyvid is…

  • Advaxis, Karolinska Institutet to Collaborate on Allergies

    Advaxis Inc., a biotechnology company in Princeton, New Jersey says it will partner with a lab at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institutet on research leading to preventions or treatments for cat allergies. Financial terms of the collaboration were not revealed. The company plans to work with the lab headed by Marianne van Hage, a professor of immunology…

  • New PhD Grad, Professor Form Building Technology Company

    An engineering professor and recent PhD graduate at University of Toronto have developed a technology to protect tall buildings from high winds and earthquakes, and started a company to take the technology to market. Civil engineering professor Constantin Christopoulos and recent Ph.D. Michael Montgomery (pictured left) developed the technology over 10 years, and founded Kinetica…

  • Presage Biosciences, Millenium to Partner on Cancer Drugs

    Presage Biosciences, a biotechnology company in Seattle, and Millenium, a division of Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, say the two companies will collaborate on the development of new cancer therapies. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Millenium develops cancer drugs, focusing on disease pathways or processes that feed cancer cells. The agreement will…

  • Database Reveals Food Ingredient Fraud Hazards

    A study drawing on a database of reports on fraud and economically motivated adulteration in food shows that olive oil, milk, honey, and saffron are among the foods found most often with adulterated ingredients. The research appears online in the April Journal of Food Science (paid subscription required) that draws on a database offered by the…

  • Simulation Software Helps Optimize Utility Transport Grids

    Software developed by Fraunhofer Institute mathematicians and engineers can simulate the workings of utility grids and thus help managers of these facilities plan and operate their critical networks. Researchers from Fraunhofer’s Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing in Augustin, Germany will exhibit the software at the Hannover Messe technology trade show in Germany, 23-27 April.…