Tag: Europe
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U.S. Patent Awarded for Flexible Spinal Fusion Device
FBC Device ApS, a medical device company in Aarhus, Denmark, has received a U.S. patent for its two-piece disc implants that help spinal surgery patients achieve a more natural alignment. Patent 8,007,536 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was officially awarded on 30 August. The invention covers the company’s technology for total disc replacement,…
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Nanoparticle Size Affects Hydrogen Release in Fuel Cells
Researchers at Delft University of Technology and VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands have shown that the size of a metal alloy nanoparticle influences the speed with which hydrogen gas is released when stored in a metal compound containing hydrogen. The team led by Delft materials scientist Bernard Dam published its findings in the October…
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Genomics Consortium Adds Two Members, Gains $49 Million
The Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC) says it added two new pharmaceutical companies as members and $48.9 million in new funding. The partnership of drug companies and science funding agencies conducts basic drug discovery research, with its findings released to the public domain. SGC added Eli Lilly Canada and Pfizer Inc. to its membership that also…
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U.S. Biotech Gets Approval for Stem Cell Trial in Europe
Advanced Cell Technology Inc. in Marlborough, Massachusetts has received clearance from authorities in the U.K. to begin treating patients with compounds derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) as part of a clinical trial. The approval from the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency involves a test of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) from hESCs…
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U.K. Grant Awarded to Develop Non-Rare Earth Electric Engine
The Technology Strategy Board in the U.K. has awarded a grant to two companies and a university to develop an engine not dependent on rare earth metals for electric vehicles. The funding worth £518,000 ($US 821,000) to companies Sevcon and Cummins Generator Technologies, and Newcastle University is aimed at building a new type of engine…
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Superbug Therapy Based on University Research in Development
MGB Biopharma, a biotechnology company in Glascow, U.K., is developing a new antibiotic treatment for resistant infections including MRSA and Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff.) bugs. The company licensed the discoveries from labs at University of Strathclyde, also in Scotland, that they are developing into oral and IV -administered drugs. C. Diff. is a bacterium that…
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Sanofi Division, Max Planck to Partner on Retinal Research
Max Planck Society in Germany and Fovea Pharmaceuticals in Paris have agreed to a research and licensing agreement on therapies for restoring vision to patients with diseases affecting the retina. Fovea is the ophthalmology division of the French drug company Sanofi-Aventis. Fovea’s team plans to work with the Max Planck Institute of Biophysics in Frankfurt…
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Review: Reminder Packaging Can Help Medication Adherence
A review of studies conducted in the past few years shows instruction reminders on medication packaging helps some patients more closely follow those instructions. The review, led by health sciences professor Kamal Mahtani of Oxford University in the U.K., appears in the current issue of The Cochrane Library (paid subscription required). The analysis by Mahtani…
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CE Mark Approved for Migraine Implant Therapy
St. Jude Medical in St. Paul, Minnesota says it received the European CE Mark approval for its implanted neurostimulation device for patients with chronic migraines. The CE marking (an acronym for the French “Conformite Europeenne”) certifies that a product has met EU health, safety, and environmental requirements for consumer safety. The company’s Genesis system for…
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New Method Can Increase Commercial Antibiotic Yields
Researchers from the U.K. and Japan have devised a new method for increasing the yields of antibiotic compounds from bacteria. The process, which has practical applications in commercial pharmaceutical production, is scheduled to be described this week in an online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Most known antibiotics are…