Month: May 2014
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Genetic Blood Transfusion Diagnostic Approved by FDA
23 May 2014. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a molecular diagnostic test to help determine genetic compatibility for blood transfusions, a particular need for people requiring frequent transfusions. The PreciseType HEA Molecular BeadChip Test is made by BioArray Solutions, a subsidiary of Immucor, a developer of diagnostics for transplants and transfusions in Norcross,…
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Diagnostic Software Developed to Analyze Video for Autism
22 May 2014. Computer scientists and medical researchers at Duke University in North Carolina developed software that uses computer vision to analyze video of an infant’s behavior for signs of autism spectrum disorder. The team from the lab of Duke computer engineering professor Guillermo Sapiro — with colleagues from Duke, University of Minnesota, and University…
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Pfizer, Biotech to Partner on Brown Fat Cell Research
22 May 2014. BioRestorative Therapies Inc. in Jupiter, Florida and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. in New York are conducting a joint study of human brown fat tissue and cell lines, to discover more about their use as a platform for therapies for type 2 diabetes and obesity. Financial and intellectual property aspects of the…
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Engineered Microbes Created to Clean Biodiesel Waste
21 May 2014. Microbiologists at Michigan State University in East Lansing created a process with two types of genetically-engineered bacteria that work together to clean up the waste water in the production of biodiesel, and generate ethanol as a byproduct. The team led by Michigan State’s Gemma Reguera published its findings online earlier this month…
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Students Invent Germ-Killing Catheter, Start Company
21 May 2014. Five medical and engineering students at University of Utah in Salt Lake City invented a new type of catheter that emits high-intensity light killing bacteria before they cause an infection in the patient. The students also formed a new company, Veritas Medical LLC in Salt Lake City to take the invention to…
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Patent Awarded for Spinal Disc Regeneration Technology
20 May 2014. Techniques for regrowing new spinal disc cartilage tissue in the body from a person’s own skin cells received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patent number 8,728,495 was awarded today to inventors Lionel Sevrain and Sylvie Sevrain-Verdier and assigned to SpinalCyte LLC in Houston. Sevrain and Sevrain-Verdier are principals…
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Wireless Power System Invented for Miniaturized Implants
20 May 2014. Engineers and medical researchers at Stanford University in California designed a wireless system that can transfer electric power deep inside the body for miniaturized implants and other therapies. The work of a team led by electrical engineering professor Ada Poon was published online yesterday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid…
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Engineered Antibody Given FDA Breakthrough Tag for Myeloma
19 May 2014. Bristol-Myers Squibb in New York says its engineered antibody elotuzumab received a breakthrough therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat multiple myeloma, when used with two other cancer drugs. Elotuzumab is being developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and AbbVie, in North Chicago, Illinois. Multiple myeloma is a progressive cancer…
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Antibody Developer Secures $40M from Foundation Investors
16 May 2014. Kymab Ltd., a developer of human antibodies from mouse genomes, raised $40 million in its second round of venture investment from the Wellcome Trust, an original backer of the company, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Kymab, based in Cambridge, U.K., is also collaborating with the Gates Foundation in research on discovery…
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Laser Activation Tested as Potential Cancer Drug Delivery
16 May 2014. Researchers from University at Buffalo in New York developed and tested in the lab a process harnessing lasers to activate drugs inside the body to kill cancer cells. Findings from the proof-of-concept study, led by Buffalo’s Paras Prasad with colleagues from universities in China and Korea, were published online earlier this week…