Month: August 2013
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U.S. University Research Commercialization Gains in 2012
American universities and research institutes report more research discoveries headed toward the marketplace in their 2012 fiscal year, with increases in discoveries disclosed, patents, licenses and licensing income, and start-up companies formed. The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), the group representing campus technology transfer specialists, released today highlights of its annual survey for institutions’…
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Bayer, Compugen to Partner on Cancer Immunotherapies
The pharmaceutical company Bayer HealthCare in Berlin and drug discovery company Compugen Ltd in Tel Aviv, Israel agreed on a development and licensing deal for two potential cancer therapies discovered by Compugen that harness the body’s immune system. The deal has a potential value to Compugen of at least $540 million. Compugen uses computational biology,…
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Smartphone App for Personal Psychosis Care in Development
Psychologists at University of Manchester in the U.K. are writing a smartphone app to help early-stage psychosis patients manage their own care at home. The research and app development are led by Manchester clinical psychology lecturer Sandra Bucci, funded by a £450,000 ($US 683,400) award from the Biomedical Catalyst program of U.K.’s Technology Strategy Board.…
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Genomics Therapy Company Secures $60M Venture Financing
Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc., in Watertown, Massachusetts, closed its third round of venture financing after start-up with $60 million in additional capital from new and current investors. Dicerna is a six year-old biotechnology company developing therapies harnessing genomic material to silence genes causing diseases. Dicerna’s technology is based on ribonucleic acid or RNA interference (RNAi), a…
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Early Human Trial Tests Ultrasound to Heal Venous Ulcers
Biomedical engineers at Drexel University in Philadelphia designed an ultrasound device, which early tests show can speed healing of venous skin ulcers that are normally slow to heal. The team led by engineering professor Peter Lewin expects to publish its findings later this month in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. Venous skin…
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Efficient Synthesis Process Developed for Skin Cancer Drug
Chemists at Scripps Research Institute in San Diego and Leo Pharma in Denmark devised a more efficient process to synthesize ingenol, a complex compound found in treatments for actinic keratosis, a precancerous skin condition. The team led by Scripps’s chemistry professor Phil Baran published its findings in this week’s issue of Science Express, the advance…
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Biotech Gets Small Business Funds for Universal Flu Vaccine
TechnoVax Inc., a biotechnology company in Tarrytown, New York, received a grant from National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of National Institutes of Health, to develop a vaccine that protects against a wide assortment of flu strains. The initial award of $300,000, made under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program at NIH,…
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Actelion to Acquire Developer of Rare Cancer Treatment
Actelion Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company based in Switzerland, acquired Ceptaris Therapeutics Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical developer in Malvern, Pennsylvania, in a deal with a potential value of at least $250 million. The acquisition, however, depends on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving Ceptaris’s only current product, a topical treatment for symptoms from a rare…