Month: February 2014
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Asthma Drug Helps Desensitize Multiple Food Allergies
28 February 2014. Medical researchers at Stanford University in California and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore found in an early-stage clinical trial that an asthma drug dramatically reduces the time needed for patients to lower their sensitivity to several food allergies at one time. The team led by Stanford’s Kari Nadeau and Johns Hopkins’s Robert Hamilton…
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Life Sciences Investment Company Closes New Fund
28 February 2014. Abingworth LLP, an investment company based in London, closed its 10th fund designed for financing life sciences and health care enterprises. The company says its Abingworth Bioventures VI fund raised £225 million ($375 million), exceeding its target of £200 million. Abingworth expects its Bioventures VI fund to invest in life sciences companies in Europe…
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Mobile Low-Power Gesture-Recognition System Developed
27 February 2014. Computer scientists and engineers at University of Washington in Seattle developed an inexpensive gesture recognition system for mobile devices that consumes minimal power, with potential applications in robotics and “Internet-of-things” computing. The team led by Shyam Gollakota, director of the university’s Networks and Wireless Lab, presents its work on 3 April at the…
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Clinical Trial Testing New, Current Breast Cancer Drugs
27 February 2014. The global pharmaceutical company Eisai Inc. is starting a late-stage clinical trial of its drug eribulin mesylate to treat certain types of recurring or metastatic breast cancer, compared to the current chemotherapy drug paclitaxel. The trial is a joint project of Eisai’s U.S. subsidiary, in Woodcliff Lakes, New Jersey, and Academic and…
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Zoetis Funding Cat Health Foundation Research Awards
26 February 2014. Zoetis Inc., an animal health company in Florham Park, New Jersey, is funding grants to researchers for studies into pain, joint health, and kidney disorders in cats. Grants totaling $100,000 will be made available through the Winn Feline Foundation, with a due date for proposals of 21 April 2014. The company says…
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Walgreens, UCSF Partner on Patient Medication Management
26 February 2014. The Walgreens pharmacy chain and University of California in San Francisco are collaborating on new pharmacy services that help patients manage medications to improve their overall health. The company and university are testing this new retail model in a Walgreens store located near the UCSF campus, but financial aspects of the arrangement…
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Implanted Heart Membrane Device Created by 3-D Printer
25 February 2014. Engineers and medical researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and University of Illinois in Champaign used a three-dimensional printer to create a membrane that fits over the heart, with electronic components to monitor its functions. The team led by Washington University’s Igor Efimov and Illinois’s John Rogers published its findings today…
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Paper Test Strips Devised to Diagnose Cancer, Blood Clots
25 February 2014. Biomedical engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed and tested with lab mice a simple, inexpensive paper test strip system to diagnose non-communicable diseases. The team led by medical engineering professor Sangeeta Bhatia published its findings online yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). Early…
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Gene Modified Potatoes Developed with Blight Resistance
24 February 2014. Researchers at The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich, U.K. developed and field tested a new type of potato with greater genetically modified resistance to late blight, a long-time scourge of potato growers. The team led by Sainsbury plant biologist Jonathan Jones reported its findings online last week in the journal Philosophical Transactions of…
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Natural Regenerative Cellular Matrix Frame Grown in Lab
24 February 2014. Biomedical engineers at Michigan Technological University in Houghton and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina developed a process for creating a framework needed to turn stem cells into engineered regenerative tissue. The research team led by Michigan Tech professor Feng Zhao published its findings online in a recent issue of the journal…