Month: June 2015
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Gene Editing Modifies Tree Genomes to Reduce Lignin
5 June 2015. Plant scientists at University of Georgia used an emerging technique for gene editing to modify the genomes of poplars and related trees to make those varieties better suited for biofuels. The team from the lab of plant biologist Chung-Jui Tsai in Athens published its findings in a recent letter to the journal…
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Life Sciences Commercialization Firm to Crowdfund IPO
4 June 2015. Innovation Economy Corporation is going public by skipping the usual route of hiring an investment bank, and instead will use crowdfunding to attract investors to its initial public offering of stock. The Riverside, California enterprise, that goes by the trade name ieCrowd, licenses life science and health-related technologies from university research labs…
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Trial Shows Immunotherapy Reduces Rheumatoid Arthritis
4 June 2015. A clinical trial of an immune system therapy shows one treatment reduces levels of harmful immune activity and joint inflammation in people with rheumatoid arthritis. The early-stage trial led by researchers at University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia is reported yesterday in the journal Science Translational Medicine. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, where…
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Antibiotic Developer Adds $9.2 Million in Early Funds
3 June 2015. Auspherix Limited, a start-up developer of new antibiotic drugs, raised £6 million ($US 9.2 million) in early-stage venture financing. Funding for the two year-old enterprise, located in a pharmaceutical and biotechnology incubator at Stevenage, U.K., was led by technology commercialization company Imperial Innovations plc, with earlier investor Australia’s Medical Research Commercialisation Fund.…
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GE, Institute to Design Digital Manufacturing Platform
3 June 2015. Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute in Chicago is developing a technology platform to make it easier for manufacturing companies to share technical data with their customers and suppliers, adapting concepts proposed by General Electric, which was chosen to lead the project. The platform, known as digital manufacturing commons, is expected to…
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Spin-Off Biotech Formed for Autoimmune Disorders
2 June 2015. Drug maker Astellas Pharma Inc. in Tokyo and Anokion SA, a biotechnology company in Lausanne, Switzerland, are forming Kanyos Bio Inc., a spin-off enterprise to develop therapy candidates for autoimmune diseases. The deal could bring Kanyos Bio, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as much as $760 million, as well as an equity investment…
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Trial to Test Cancer Drugs Matched to Gene Mutations
2 June 2015. A new clinical trial will test 20 cancer drugs and drug combinations targeted to specific genetic mutations, regardless of cancer type. The study, known as NCI-Match is a joint project of National Cancer Institute, an agency of National Institutes of Health, and the Ecog-Acrin Cancer Research Group, and announced yesterday at the…
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Mini Gamma Camera Developed, Spin-Off Company Formed
1 June 2015. Physicists and medical researchers at two universities in the U.K. designed a hand-held camera that performs gamma ray imaging, normally requiring a powerful room-sized device for diagnosing tumors and other medical functions. The team from Universities of Leicester and Nottingham also formed a spin-off company, Gamma Technologies Ltd., to take the device…
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Antibody Improves Lung Cancer Survival Time in Trial
1 June 2015. A late-stage clinical trial shows an engineered antibody that harnesses the immune system increases the survival time of people with a common form of lung cancer compared to standard chemotherapy. The study of the drug nivolumab, marketed as Opdivo by Bristol-Myers Squibb, was reported yesterday at the annual meeting of American Society…