Month: October 2012
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University Licenses Taste-Masking Technology to Pharma
New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark agreed to license its discoveries that can mask the taste of drug particles to Catalent Pharma Solutions, a drug manufacturer in Somerset, New Jersey. Catalent funded the research by NJIT engineering professor Rajesh Dave (pictured left) that led to the development of this technology. Dave’s research at NJIT…
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Simple, Hand-Drawn Carbon Nanotube Sensor System Devised
Chemistry researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge developed a safer method of building hazardous gas sensors from carbon nanotubes that is literally as easy as drawing by hand. The system designed by MIT postdoctoral fellow Katherine Mirica and colleagues is described online in the journal Angewandte Chemie (paid subscription required). Harmful gases in…
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Sanofi, Mass. General to Partner on Cancer Treatments
The global pharmaceutical company Sanofi and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston agreed to collaborate on translational research into treatments for cancer involving blood and solid (organ-related) tumors. The parties did not disclose financial aspects of the two-year deal. The partnership aims to maximize the strengths of academic and corporate labs; Mass General is a teaching…
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Resourceful Robot for High-Level Tasks in Development
A research team at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta is building a robot with the ability to use objects in its environment to accomplish high-level tasks. The three-year project, being led by computer scientist Mike Stilman, is funded by a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research. “We want to understand the…
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Universal Prescription Drug Label Standards Issued
The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), a scientific standards-setting organization, released new standards that the group says for the first time provide a universal labeling format for medicines in containers dispensed by pharmacists. The standards are expected to be published next month. The standards (free registration required) — known formally as General Chapter <17> Prescription Container…
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AstraZeneca Licenses Kidney Disease Complications Treatment
AstraZeneca, a global pharmaceutical company based in the U.K., agreed to license a compound to treat complications of chronic and end-stage kidney disease from Ardelyx in Fremont, California. The deal that provides AstraZeneca with an exclusive worldwide license has a value of at least $272.5 million. Ardelyx develops small molecule drugs that restrict absorption in…
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Immunotherapy Developer Gains $4.9M in Series B Funds
Gliknik Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in Baltimore, raised $4.9 million in series B funds, the second series of financing after initial start-up. Baxter Ventures led the funding round, joined by the company’s existing investors. Gliknik is a developer of therapies for patients with cancer and immune disorders that use the power of the immune system…
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Enhanced MRI in Development for Faster Alzheimer’s Diagnosis
Researchers at University of York in the U.K. are developing a new process that increases the sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to diagnose molecular events behind disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. York’s Signal Amplification by Reversible Exchange or SABRE project conducting the research recently received a £3.6 million ($US 5.8 million) Strategic Award…
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CT Image Analytics Adapted for COPD Diagnosis
Medical researchers at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor adapted computed tomography (CT) image analysis techniques to more precisely diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The research team led by Michigan radiologist Brian Ross appears online in the journal Nature Medicine (paid subscription required). Ross and colleagues also founded a company that is taking…
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GE Expands Geron Corp. Stem Cell Licensing Deal
GE Healthcare, a division of General Electric Company, is expanding its licensing agreement with biopharmaceutical company Geron Corp. in Menlo Park, California for stem cell tests used in drug discovery. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. In 2009, Geron agreed to license its human embryonic stem cells technology to GE Healthcare for the…