Month: June 2015
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Report Evaluates Industry-Academic Biotech Partner Roles
16 June 2015. A report released today by Biotechnology Industry Organization, or Bio, indicates academic research labs are playing an increasingly key role in research and development of new therapies, but it also highlights areas where partnerships between academia and industry are still evolving. Bio released the report, Advancing Translational Research for Biomedical Innovation: Measuring…
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Patent Awarded for Early, Pre-Symptom Cancer Tests
16 June 2015. Three researchers at Kansas State University in Manhattan received a patent for an early-stage test that the inventors say can diagnose some solid tumor cancers well before symptoms develop. Kansas State chemistry professor Stefan Bossmann and anatomy-physiology professor Deryl Troyer, with postdoctoral fellow Matthew Basel, received U.S. patent number 8,969,027 in March…
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On the Road Again
10 June 2015. Science & Enterprise is taking a break from blogging for a few days. We’ll return on Tuesday, 16 June. * * *
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Intel Begins $125M Diversity Investment Fund
10 June 2015. The venture capital division of semiconductor manufacturer Intel unveiled a fund to invest in technology start-ups founded by women and under-represented minorities. Intel Capital announced as well the first four investments from its Capital Diversity Fund, which expects to distribute some $125 million over the next 5 years. Intel cited data showing…
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Trial Underway Testing Immunotherapy for Gout
10 June 2015. An early-stage clinical trial is recruiting patients to test the safety of a treatment for severe gout that harnesses the immune system, but still avoids unwanted immune responses. The trial is conducted by the biotechnology company Selecta Biosciences at two sites in the U.S.: Altoona, Pennsylvania and Dallas, Texas. Gout is a…
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Grant Funds Exosome Cancer Research, Optioned to Spin-Off
9 June 2015. A new $1.7 million grant from National Cancer Institute is funding research at University of New Mexico on harnessing exosomes as potential cancer therapies, with a spin-off company already optioning the technology for commercial development. The alliance between the university and spin-off company, Exovita Biosciences, includes an agreement between the university and…
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Injectable Neuro-Electronic Wire Mesh Demonstrated
9 June 2015. Researchers at Harvard University developed a tiny electronic wire mesh that can be injected into the brain and demonstrated its diagnostic and therapeutic potential with lab mice. The team from the lab of chemistry professor Charles Lieber published its findings yesterday in the journal Nature Nanotechnology (paid subscription required, but full text…
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Companies Form Fertility Treatment Technologies Alliance
8 June 2015. An alliance of drug, genomic, and assisted fertility technology companies are collaborating on processes and standards that encourage more consistency in results from assisted reproductive treatment labs. Financial details of the Global Fertility Alliance joining Illumina, Merck, and Genea were not disclosed. The three companies aim to improve outcomes in fertility clinics…
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Biotech Adds Antibiotic Program, Raises $30 Million
8 June 2015. Spero Therapeutics, a developer of antibiotics, is adding a new class of anti-infection drugs to its pipeline, and raised another $30 million to its first venture funding round. The Cambridge, Massachusetts biotechnology company, a spin-off from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, was founded in April 2014 to develop therapies addressing the growing…
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FDA Approves Pediatric HIV Drug Formulation
5 June 2015. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an application for a current HIV drug formulated to better treat infections in infants and young children, especially in limited resource regions. The formulation is a combination of lopinavir and ritonavir in pellet form designed to mix with food, and manufactured by the generic drug…