Science and Enterprise

Month: August 2012

  • Feasibility Demonstrated of Tiny Wireless Cardiac Implants

    Engineers at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California showed that millimeter-sized implanted cardiac devices could be powered by radio waves transmitted from outside the body. The findings from the team led by electrical engineering professor Ada Poon (pictured right) appear online in the journal Applied Physics Letters; paid subscription required. Poon, with doctoral candidates Sanghoek…

  • Methods Developed to Detect, Remove Ice from Aircraft Wings

    Engineers at two Fraunhofer Institutes in Germany are devising new solutions for dealing with ice accumulating on aircraft wings in flight, a serious safety concern. The technologies developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability in Darmstadt and Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Advanced Materials in Bremen will be discussed at the…

  • Biopharma Start-Up Secures $27 Million in Venture Funding

    Aerpio Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company in Cincinnati, closed a $27 million series A financing deal, the first round of funding after initial start-up. The round was led by Novartis BioVentures with Venture Investors LLC, Triathlon Medical Ventures, Kearny Venture Partners, Athenian Venture Partners, and AgeChem Venture Fund. The company began in January 2012 as a…

  • Clinical Eye Testing Simulation Software Developed

    Physicists at University of Tennessee Space Institute in Tullahoma developed a computer model to simulate human eye behavior for testing potential eye treatments. The system written by space institute physics faculty member Ying-Ling Chen (pictured left) aims to improve the efficiency and reduce the time needed by clinical trials involving human eyes. Clinical trials of…

  • University to Develop, Commercialize HIV/AIDS Nanomedicines

    Researchers at University of Liverpool in the U.K. are developing nanoscale therapies to treat HIV and AIDS, and collaborating with a company to take the drugs to market. The project is funded by a £1.65 million ($US 2.61 million) grant from the U.K.’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The aim of the project is…

  • Janssen Licenses Biotech’s Antibody for Multiple Myeloma

    Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, a division of Johnson & Johnson in Horsham, Pennsylvania, agreed to license a cancer drug targeting multiple myeloma made by biotechnology company Genmab A/S in Copenhagen, Denmark. The agreement has a total potential value of $1.1 billion from upfront, milestone, and royalty payments, as well as an equity investment in Genmab. The…

  • Nanotech Solution Could Block Laser Beams from Aircraft

    Researchers at University of Central Florida in Orlando and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh created a new material based on nanotechnology that could keep lasers from affecting aircraft pilots and sensitive equipment. Optical science professor Jayan Thomas of Central Florida’s NanoScience Technology Center (pictured right) led the team, which published its findings last month in…

  • EU Grant Funds Research on Programmable Chemical Systems

    The European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme is funding a project to build autonomous self-assembling electronic microreagents that can exchange chemical and electronic information. Biochemistry professor John McCaskill at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany (pictured left) with colleagues at Bochum and teams from Europe, Israel, and New Zealand, will take part in the three-year, €3.4 million…

  • New Process Simplifies Protein Production for Drug Companies

    A chemical engineer at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville developed a new method for producing high quality proteins used in drugs for treating an assortment of disorders. Doctoral candidate Ellen Brune (pictured right) also founded a company, Boston Mountain Biotech, to commercialize the technology. Current industry methods for protein manufacturing require separating out the background…

  • Health Care Technology Accelerator Boosts Seed Funding

    Rock Health, an organization that provides seed funding, training, and mentoring for start-up companies in health care technology, says its next class of companies will each receive a $100,000 investment. The funds for these start-ups are being provided by the Mayo clinic and three venture capital firms: Aberdare Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and…