Tag: biotechnology
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GMO Database Begun for European Regulators
30 November 2015. A database of DNA sequences found in genetically modified organisms or GMOs opened on Friday to help European regulators detect GMOs in food and feed products. The GMO-Amplicons database, available to the public, is run by the Joint Research Centre, the in-house science policy service of the European Commission. Europe now grows…
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FDA Approves Antibody Treatment for Lung Cancer
25 November 2015. U.S. Food and Drug Administration yesterday approved necitumumab, an engineered antibody to treat squamous non-small cell lung cancer that spreads to other parts of the body. Necitumumab is marketed under the brand name Portrazza by Eli Lilly and Company. Worldwide, lung cancer causes some 1.6 million deaths, according to World Health Organization. Non-small cell lung…
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Antibodies to Treat Staph Infections in Early Trial
24 November 2015. A study testing the safety of antibodies to prevent and treat Staphylococcus aureus infections, including those contracted in hospitals, is underway in Vienna, Austria. The clinical trial is evaluating an experimental biologic drug for the prevention and treatment of S. aureus or staph infections made by Arsanis Biosciences, a biotechnology company in…
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Exosome Therapy Start-Up Launches, Raises $80M
17 November 2015. A new biotechnology company developing therapies that use tiny cellular containers to deliver their payloads is spun off from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and raising $80 million in early venture funding. Codiak Biosciences, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts is founded and licensing research by Raghu Kalluri, chair of M.D. Anderson’s cancer biology department.…
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Licensing, Research Deal Aims at Chronic Wound Treatments
16 November 2015. Umeå University and the pharmaceutical company Prometic are partnering on development of new treatments for chronic wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers and bed sores. The agreement gives Prometic, in Laval, Quebec, Canada an exclusive license to the university’s research on the blood plasma protein plasminogen, with the company funding further studies…
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Penn, Epic Sciences Partner on Liquid Biopsies
13 November 2015. University of Pennsylvania’s medical school plans to apply liquid biopsy technology developed by Epic Sciences to gain a more detailed understanding of different cancers for individual patient therapies. Financial terms of the agreement between the university and the San Diego biotechnology company were not disclosed. Epic Sciences’s technology detects and analyzes circulating…
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Gene Therapy Company Raises $70 Million in IPO
11 November 2015. Voyager Therapeutics, a company less that two years old developing gene therapies for central nervous system disorders is raising $70 million in its initial public stock offering. The Cambridge, Massachusetts enterprise, trading on the Nasdaq exchange (symbol: VYGR), offered 5 million shares yesterday at $14.00. Shares closed today at $17.75, a gain…
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USC, Biotech Edit Genes in Stem Cells for HIV Therapy
10 November 2015. A lab at University of Southern California and biotechnology company developed a technique for editing genomes in blood-forming stem cells as a potential treatment for HIV infection. The team from the lab of USC medical school professor Paula Cannon and Sangamo BioSciences in Richmond, California published its findings yesterday in the journal…
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Biotech Targets “Undruggable” Cancer Gene
9 November 2015. A biotechnology company says it plans to focus its technology platform on a cancer-causing gene previously considered beyond the direct reach of today’s cancer drugs. Warp Drive Bio, in Cambridge, Massachusetts told an American Association of Cancer Research meeting in Boston on Saturday the company plans to target the Ras oncogene, a…
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Platelets Engineered to Deliver, Transcribe RNA
5 November 2015. A biochemistry lab at University of British Columbia developed a technique for supercharging blood platelets with genetic material, enabling these cells to deliver therapies through the blood stream. The team led by biochemist and molecular biologist Christian Kastrup published its findings this week in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition (paid subscription required).…