Month: January 2014
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Columbia Team to Study Electric Power Switching Transistors
An engineering research group at Columbia University in New York received a $3 million grant from U.S. Department of Energy to create high-power electric switching devices with the speed and efficiency of electronic transistor circuits. The team led by electrical and biomedical engineering professor Ken Shepard — that includes members from MIT, IBM, and the…
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MedImmune, Biotech to Partner on Cancer Immunotherapies
MedImmune in Gaithersburg, Maryland, the biologics division of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and Immunocore Ltd. in Oxford, U.K. will develop cancer treatments that harness the body’s immune system, based on Immunocore’s technology. The deal will pay Immunocore, for each therapy program licensed by MedImmune, $20 million initially and another $300 million in milestone payments, as well…
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Diabetes App Developer Files for FDA Pre-Market Clearance
LabStyle Innovations Corp. in Caesarea, Israel, developer of a mobile and cloud-based system for diabetes management, filed for pre-market notification of its system with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pre-market notification, once granted by FDA, clears medical devices for marketing in the U.S. LabStyle Innovations created the Dario system that combines a small glucose…
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Becton Dickinson Acquires Point-of-Care Diagnostics Maker
Becton, Dickinson and Company, a medical device manufacturer in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey is buying Alverix Inc., a developer of point-of-care diagnostics equipment in San Jose, California. The purchase price is $40 million, according to a Becton Dickinson statement. Alverix designs testing equipment for physician’s offices, retail and mobile clinics, rural settings, and homes that…
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Cancer Surgery Complications Generate High Costs
Economists and medical researchers at Rice University and MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston found complications experienced by cancer surgery patients, while infrequent, can result in very high financial costs. Health economist Vivian Ho, at Rice’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, with Baker Institute research analyst Marah Short and MD Anderson cancer surgeon Thomas Aloia, published…
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Stem Cell Therapy Aids Patient with ALS, Myasthenia Gravis
BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc., in New York and Israel, reports a patient with the neurodegenerative diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and myasthenia gravis responded with improved motor and cognitive functions after stem cell treatments developed by the company. Researchers from Israeli medical centers and research institutes, and the Mayo Clinic in the U.S. report the…
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U.S., Europe Pharma Industries Implement Trial Data Sharing
Pharmaceutical industry associations in the U.S. and Europe began implementing their agreement from this past summer to provide more access to data from clinical trials conducted by their member companies. One of those companies, Paris-based Sanofi, released its procedures today for accessing its clinical trial data. The new processes are a result of a set…
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Patch Finds More Heart Rhythm Problems Than Holter Monitor
Researchers at Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla, California found a small adhesive patch worn over the heart outperformed the conventional Holter monitor in detecting abnormal heart rhythms. The team led by Scripps cardiologist Eric Topol published its findings online in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Medicine. Topol and colleagues tested…
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MRI Technique Developed to Capture Wrist Anatomy in Motion
Medical researchers at University of California in Davis designed a technique based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that makes it possible to display the complex anatomy of the wrist in motion, offering a better method for diagnosing orthopedic injuries. A team led by Davis radiology professor Abhijit Chaudhari published the results of its first test…
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FDA Lifts Hold on Blood Cancer Therapy Clinical Trials
Cell Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in Seattle developing cancer treatments, says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifted a six-month hold on tests of its experimental drug tosedostat to treat blood-related cancers. The intermediate-stage clinical trial is testing the drug in elderly patients with newly diagnosed and relapsed acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic…