Month: March 2015
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Clinical Trial to Test Ketamine to Treat Rett Syndrome
23 March 2015. A clinical trial is planned to test an anesthetic used in surgery as a treatment for Rett syndrome, a rare developmental disorder affecting girls. The trial testing the anesthetic ketamine will be conducted by Case Western Reserve University medical school in Cleveland, funded by a $1.3 million grant from Rett Syndrome Research Trust.…
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Biotechs Partner on Cancer Stem Cell-Gene Therapies
23 March 2015. Two biotechnology companies are combining their expertise in neural stem cells and gene delivery to develop new cancer therapies that the parties say would be more effective with fewer side effects than chemotherapy drugs used today. While GenVec Inc. in Gaithersburg, Maryland will participate economically in the collaboration with TheraBiologics Inc. in…
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Alcohol Ignition Locks Seen Preventing 83% of DUI Deaths
20 March 2015. A statistical projection shows some 59,500 deaths over 15 years could be prevented if new cars in the U.S. had alcohol ignition locks that stop drunk drivers from starting their engines. Medical and transportation researchers at University of Michigan, led by professor of emergency medicine Patrick Carter, published their findings yesterday in…
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New Adaptive Aircraft Control System Flight Tested
20 March 2015. U.S. Air Force pilots tested a new flight control system designed by engineers at University of Illinois that automatically adapts aircraft to changing conditions faster than most human pilots can respond. The L1 adaptive control system is a product of the university’s Advanced Control Research Laboratory in Urbana, Illinois led by mechanical…
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Lilly Acquiring Treatment for Autoimmune Disorders
19 March 2015. The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company is acquiring from Hanmi Pharmaceutical, an experimental drug that blocks the actions of an enzyme associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. The deal can pay Hanmi, in Seoul, Korea, as much as $690 million. Autoimmune disorders are diseases where the body’s immune system…
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UC-Davis Spins Off Irrigation Technology Start-Up
19 March 2015. A graduate student in agriculture at University of California in Davis turned his research on irrigation technology into a new enterprise addressing the chronic drought conditions facing that state’s farmers. Tom Shapland started Tule Technologies Inc. in January 2014 that licensed his research measuring agricultural water use from the university. Tule (pronounced…
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Report: Affordable Care Act Remaking U.S. Health Sector
18 March 2015. As the U.S. approaches the fifth anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, a new report from consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers highlights five major trends transforming the country’s health care sector, including creation of 90 new companies. The report, “Healthcare reform: Five trends to watch as the Affordable Care Act turns five,” is available…
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Sensor-Bandage Device Detects Early Forming Bedsores
18 March 2015. A device with tiny electronic sensors in a flexible bandage is able to detect the earliest stages of tissue damage leading to pressure ulcers or bedsores, in tests with lab animals. The findings of research engineers from University of California in Berkeley and clinicians from University of California in San Francisco appear…
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Cloud Pharma, Univ of Florida Partner on Cancer Drug Design
17 March 2017. Cloud Pharmaceuticals, a company designing drug compounds with computer-based tools, and University of Florida’s medical school are collaborating on the design of new drugs limiting an enzyme implicated in the proliferation of cancer cells. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. The agreement calls for the university’s Department of Medicine and…
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U.K. Govt, Pharmas Form Dementia Research Fund
17 March 2015. A coalition of the United Kingdom government, five pharmaceutical companies, and the foundation Alzheimer’s Research UK are creating a $100 million fund to finance early research into treatments and cures for dementia. The U.K. health minister Jeremy Hunt is scheduled to unveil the Dementia Discovery Fund at a World Health Organization meeting…