Month: November 2014
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Report from Turkey: Transformation to Ignorance
A visit to a high school for science in Turkey reveals a plan by Turkey’s government to shut down a tutoring program for low-income children, apparently to punish political rivals. 25 November 2014. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (pronounced AIR-doo-wan) of Turkey made news this month, when he told a meeting of visiting Islamic clergy from…
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Coming Up: Reports from Turkey
13 November 2014. Science & Enterprise will be on the road for the next two weeks, on a press and study tour of Turkey, where we hope to report on initiatives involving entrepreneurship and research in this vital and sensitive part of the world. We expect to have fewer posts through the rest of November,…
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Human Longevity Accessing Twins Genomic Database
13 November 2014. Human Longevity Inc., a bioinformatics and genomics company for solving age-related medical problems, is getting access to a database of genome and gut microbe samples from twins in the U.K. to provide a broader analytical base for designing new diagnostics and therapies. Financial details of the agreement between the San Diego company founded…
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Cardiologists, Incubator Partner on Health Challenge
13 November 2014. American College of Cardiology is taking part in an international challenge to find start-ups developing breakthrough technologies, sponsored by 1776, an incubator and investment fund in Washington, D.C. The Challenge Cup, as the competition is called, takes place in 16 cities in 11 countries, with a total prize package of $650,000. Challenge…
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Type 2 Diabetes Technology Licensed in $1 Billion Deal
12 November 2014. Intarcia Therapeutics Inc., developing a drug and delivery mechanism to treat type 2 diabetes, licensed its technology to the pharmaceutical company Servier in a deal with a potential value of $1 billion. The agreement gives Servier exclusive rights to Intarcia’s diabetes treatment technology to regions outside of the U.S. and Japan. Intarcia’s…
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Trial Shows Engineered Antibody Relieves Psoriasis
11 November 2014. A late-stage clinical trial shows a monoclonal antibody, a type of engineered biological therapy, cleared more people of the skin condition plaque psoriasis than a placebo or a competitive treatment. The biologic drug, brodalumab, is developed by the biotechnology company Amgen and pharmaceutical maker AstraZeneca. Plaque psoriasis is the most common type…
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Takada Pharma, GE Healthcare to Partner on Liver Disease
11 November 2014. Takada Pharmaceutical Company and GE Healthcare are collaborating on research into scarring of liver tissue that happens when damage occurs, often from fat building up in the liver, an increasingly common condition. Financial terms of the partnership, announced today at a meeting of American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases in Boston,…
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Venture Launched to Reduce Chronic Hospitalizations
10 November 2014. Sentrian, a new enterprise in Aliso Viejo, California, announced its launch today to offer a system combining personalized remote patient monitoring and cloud-based analytics that reduces what it calls preventable hospitalizations. The company also raised $12 million in early-stage venture funds. A spin-off from Singularity University, a Silicon Valley technology training organization and…
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Challenge Seeks Preclinical Models for Macular Degeneration
7 November 2014. A new challenge on InnoCentive asks for novel methods to test therapies for age-related macular degeneration in the lab, before being tested on humans. The competition has a total purse of $50,000 and deadline of 12 January 2015, where winners can also compete in a subsequent design challenge with a prize pool…
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Biosimilars Developer Lands $85 Million in IPO
7 November 2014. Coherus BioSciences Inc., a company developing medications comparable to brand-name biologic therapies, raised $85 million yesterday in its initial public stock offering. The Redwood City, California company trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol CHRS. Coherus valued its 6,296,300 initial shares at $13.50. The stock opened today at $12.74 a share,…