Tag: biotechnology
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Allergan, AstraZeneca Partner on Drug-Resistant Bacteria
29 January 2016. Pharmaceutical companies Allergan and AstraZeneca are developing a new treatment for infections caused by a type of bacteria already resistant to antibiotics. Financial aspects of the collaboration between the enterprises were not disclosed. The agreement calls for the two companies to develop and commercialize ATM-AVI, a new drug that treats infections from…
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Eye Disease Gene Defect Repaired with CRISPR
27 January 2016. Gene editing techniques repaired a defective gene in stem cells from an individual with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease. The team from Columbia University and University of Iowa reported its findings in today’s (27 January) issue of Scientific Reports. Retinitis pigmentosa is a family of genetic eye disorders that result in damage…
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Material Hides Beta Cell Transplants From Immune Reaction
26 January 2016. Engineering and biochemical researchers developed a material that in lab animals holds and protects transplanted pancreatic beta cells against an immune reaction, a key advance in treatments for individuals with type 1 diabetes. Teams from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other institutions published their findings about the material in the 25 January…
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Safety, Activity Assessed in New Duchenne Drug
25 January 2016. An early-stage clinical shows an experimental drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy is safe for patients and produces the desired chemical activity in the body. Results of the trial, conducted by Catabasis Pharmaceuticals were released today. The Cambridge, Massachusetts company says it is now extending the study to test the drug against a…
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Bacterial Bonding Technique Devised to Simplify Vaccines
20 January 2016. Researchers at Oxford University developed and tested engineered proteins from bacteria that in lab tests make vaccine design simpler and more reliable. The team from the lab of biochemistry professor Mark Howarth published its proof-of-concept results in the 19 January issue of Scientific Reports. Howarth — with immunologists from Oxford’s Jenner Institute…
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Organovo, UC-San Diego Partner on 3-D Liver Tissue
15 January 2016. Organovo Holdings and University of California in San Diego are collaborating on isolating and better understanding human liver cells for the production of 3-D printed liver tissue. Financial and intellectual property aspects of the agreement were not disclosed. Organovo designs and produces human tissue for research and transplant, using its own bio-printing…
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Boehringer, Arena to Discover Neurological Drugs
13 January 2016. Pharmaceutical companies Boehringer Ingelheim and Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. are collaborating on discovery of new therapies for schizophrenia and other neurological disorders. The partnership could bring Arena, in San Diego, as much as $262 million. Arena Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for disorders related to G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, proteins…
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Gates Funding RNA Treatment for HIV Infection
12 January 2016. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is backing a biotechnology company’s early development of antibodies to treat human immunodeficiency virus or HIV based on RNA, nucleic acids expressed by a person’s genetic code. The foundation is supporting the work of Moderna Therapeutics, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an initial $20 million grant, and…
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Trials Show Safety, Benefit of Stem Cells to Treat ALS
11 January 2016. Two clinical trials testing stem cells to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, found the treatments are safe for patients, and can slow progression of the disease. Results of the trials testing the stem cell product known as NurOwn made by BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics in Petach Tikvah, Israel are reported today in…
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Juno Acquires Biotech, Licenses Cell Sequencing Tech
11 January 2016. Juno Therapeutics is gaining single-cell sequencing technology for cancer immunotherapies through the buy-out of biotechnology company AbVitro Inc., and licensing part of that technology to pharmaceutical company Celgene Corp. The AbVitro acquisition is valued at about $125 million, while financial details of the licensing deal with Celgene are not disclosed. Juno Therapeutics,…