Tag: biotechnology
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Gene Editing Creates Pigs Resilient to African Virus
23 February 2016. University and industry researchers edited the genomes of domesticated pigs to create a variety better able to withstand a deadly tick-borne virus. The team from University of Edinburgh and the biotechnology companies Sangamo BioSciences and Genus plc published its findings in yesterday’s (22 February) issue of the journal Scientific Reports. The team…
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Duchenne-Related Stem Cell Heart Therapy Trial Underway
22 February 2016. An early clinical trial testing a stem cell therapy for heart disease among individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy treated its first enrolled patient. The trial is conducted by Capricor Inc. in Los Angeles, developer of the treatments code-named CAP-1002, for cardiomyopathy or heart failure related to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is…
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Pain Medication Given FDA Breakthrough Tag
22 February 2016. A new drug to treat moderate to severe pain, now in clinical trials, received a breakthrough designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The drug, oliceridine, is made by Trevena Inc. in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Oliceridine addresses the same pain signals as opioid drugs that affect areas of the brain…
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Multiple Myeloma Gene Therapy Trial Underway
19 February 2016. The biotechnology company bluebird bio began testing its experimental gene therapy for multiple myeloma in an early-stage clinical trial. The Cambridge, Massachusetts company — which spells its name in all lower-case letters — is also licensing the technology tested in the trial to the pharmaceutical company Celgene. Multiple myeloma is a cancer of…
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Bayer Funding Studies of Honey Bee Health, Management
18 February 2016. Bayer Crop Science is seeking research ideas for improving the health of honey bee colonies in the U.S. Proposals for studies in the $1 million program addressing urgent needs highlighted by Bayer’s Healthy Hives 2020 initiative are due by 1 March 2016. Bees, which play a key role in agriculture, are facing…
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Antibody Treatment Designed for MERS Virus
18 February 2016. The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS virus, is spreading throughout the Middle East and Asia, largely through person-to-person contacts, and with a fatality rate of 36 percent. A research team at University of Maryland, with colleagues from industry and government labs, developed antibodies from genetically-engineered cattle that protect lab mice…
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Vaccine Developed to Stop Synthetic Opioids
17 February 2016. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid drug for treating severe pain after surgery, and in some cases chronic pain, but is also highly addictive and increasingly abused, with growing numbers of overdose deaths. Researchers from Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California developed a vaccine that in lab mice prevents ingredients in fentanyl…
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Biotech Reviewing Stanford Immuno-Stem Cell Technology
16 February 2016. A biotechnology company in Los Angeles is evaluating a technology developed at Stanford University for transferring DNA of immune system cells to a patient’s own stem cells to produce immunotherapies for treating cancer. The agreement with Stanford gives ImmunoCellular Therapeutics Ltd. an option to license the technology from the lab of immunologist…
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Gene Editing Enlisted to Fight Citrus Greening
11 February 2016. Plant scientists at University of California in Riverside plan to use genome editing to develop varieties of citrus fruit resistant to a bacterial disease devastating crops in the U.S. and other parts of the world. The five-year research project led by UC-Riverside plant pathologist Wenbo Ma is funded by a $4 million…
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Genome-Editing Company Raises $94 Million in IPO
3 February 2016. Editas Medicine, developer of treatments for disease that harness editing of the human genome, is raising $94.4 million in its initial public stock offering. The company, trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol EDIT, issued 5.9 million shares priced at $16.00. As of 12 noon on 3 February, the stock is…