Tag: Asia
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Laser Activation Tested as Potential Cancer Drug Delivery
16 May 2014. Researchers from University at Buffalo in New York developed and tested in the lab a process harnessing lasers to activate drugs inside the body to kill cancer cells. Findings from the proof-of-concept study, led by Buffalo’s Paras Prasad with colleagues from universities in China and Korea, were published online earlier this week…
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Clinical Trial to Test Advanced Lung Cancer Immunotherapy
7 April 2014. EMD Serono, a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Merck in Rockland, Massachusetts, is beginning a clinical trial to test a vaccine-type therapy for advanced cases of non-small cell lung cancer. The late-stage trial is assessing the ability of tecemotide, an experimental drug designed to trigger an immune response against cancer cells, to…
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Daiichi Sankyo, UCSF Partner on Neurodegenerative Disorders
4 April 2014. The pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo in Tokyo and University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) are collaborating on discovering new drugs to treat neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. While funding amounts were not disclosed, the deal gives Daiichi Sankyo the option to license compounds discovered through the partnership,…
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Process Devised to Generate Stem Cells from Drop of Blood
20 March 2014. Researchers at Singapore’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology developed a process for deriving adult stem cells from small samples of blood, making it easier for donors to collect and bank their own blood samples. The team led by the institute’s Jonathan Yuin-Han Loh and funded by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology…
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Pharma Alliance Extends Cancer Antibodies to Eye Disorders
4 March 2014. Santen Pharmaceutical Co. in Osaka, Japan is licensing antibodies developed as a cancer therapy by Tracon Pharmaceuticals in San Diego as treatments for eye diseases. Tracon is expected to earn $10 million in an upfront payment from Santen, as well as undisclosed milestone payments and royalties. Tracon develops biologic therapies for cancer,…
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Early Trial Finds Vaccine Booster Covers Pandemic Flu Types
30 January 2014. An early-stage clinical trial shows an RNA agent being developed by Hemispherx Biopharma in Philadelphia extends the effectiveness of the standard nasal flu vaccine to cover pandemic influenza strains, like those found in Pacific Rim countries. Results of the trial were presented yesterday at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology…
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Simple, Sensitive Biosensors Derived from Engineered Viruses
Bioengineers at University of California in Berkeley developed a process for making sensors from genetically-engineered viruses simple enough to package in a smartphone app, yet can discriminate among volatile chemical vapors. The team from the lab of bioengineering professor Seung-Wuk Lee, with colleagues from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab — where Lee is also on the…
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Large Genomic Study Finds New Rheumatoid Arthritis Targets
An international consortium of 70 institutions and companies combined genome-wide analyses with current drug databases to uncover new genomic targets for rheumatoid arthritis, and identify drugs for other diseases with the potential to treat the disorder. The team led by Robert Plenge of Harvard Medical School and the Broad Institute and Yukinori Okada from the…
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Early Trial Tests Stem Cell Immunotherapy for Liver Cancer
An early stage clinical trial by California Stem Cell Inc. in Irvine tested a therapy harnessing the body’s immune system to treat a common form of liver cancer. The trial, conducted with eight patients in Shanghai, China, showed the treatments were safe for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and did not cause complications, according to the…
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Small-Scale Ceramics Materials Engineered for Flexibility
Materials scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore created a new type of ceramics material with the ability to bend like metal, but retaining its strength. The team from the lab of MIT’s Christopher Schuh published its findings today in the journal Science (paid subscription required). The MIT-Singapore researchers developed…