Tag: biotechnology
-
Technique Developed to Extend Peptide Lifetimes
3 November 2015. A pharmacy lab at University of the Pacific developed a technique for extending the longevity of peptides, short amino acid chains found in many biologic drugs. The discovery from the lab of pharmacy professor Mamoun Alhamadsheh is described in this month’s issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, and earlier in Nature Chemical…
-
Biotech, Accelerator to Partner on Glaucoma Treatment
30 October 2015. A new eye-drop treatment for the underlying causes of glaucoma is being developed in a collaboration between a biotechnology enterprise spun-off from Northwestern University and a company that acquires biomedical research assets. Financial aspects of the deal between Mannin Research Inc. in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Q BioMed Inc. in New York…
-
Trial Underway Testing Breast Cancer Surgical Aid
29 October 2015. An early-stage clinical trial is recruiting participants to test a peptide that illuminates tumor cells to be removed in breast cancer surgery. The study is testing the experimental product made by Avelas Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company in La Jolla, California. The clinical trial is enrolling individuals with primary, non-recurring breast cancer,…
-
Gene Editing Licensed for Inherited Disease Treatments
26 October 2015. A Boston biotechnology company is licensing gene-editing technologies from a nearby start-up to design treatments for cystic fibrosis and inherited blood disorders, including sickle cell disease. Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in Boston, received rights to techniques known as CRISPR-Cas9 in a deal that could bring CRISPR Therapeutics, founded in April 2014, as much as…
-
Gene Editing Boosts Red Blood Cell Output in Lab
23 October 2015. A research team developed a technique with stem cells and gene editing to increase lab production of red blood cells by 3 times, a process that could help people with rare blood types needing transfusions. The researchers led by pediatrics professor Vijay Sankaran at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School published…
-
Gates Grant Funding Whooping Cough Antibody Test
21 October 2015. A protein engineering lab at University of Texas in Austin is evaluating the potential of an engineered antibody to prevent pertussis, also known as whooping cough, among newborn infants. The study and lab are led by chemical engineering professor Jennifer Maynard, who is testing the antibody under a $400,000 grant from the…
-
Immunotherapy Start-Up Gains $102M in Venture Funds
20 October 2015. A new enterprise founded by researchers in the U.S. and Europe that aims to provide personalized cancer therapies harnessing the immune system raised $102 million in its first round of venture financing. The company Gritstone Oncology — in San Francisco and Cambridge, Massachusetts — says it plans to focus initially on developing…
-
Novartis Licensing Depression Therapy Technology
19 October 2015. Luc Therapeutics, a biotechnology company designing treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders, is licensing part of its technology to the pharmaceutical company Novartis to develop treatments for depression. Dollar amounts paid under the agreement to Luc Therapeutics, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, were not disclosed. Depression is a widespread condition, which when it becomes…
-
Patent Awarded for Slower Digested Wheat
12 October 2015. A type of wheat digested more slowly than regular wheat, and thus releases glucose more slowly into the blood stream, received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patent number 9,150,839, titled “Wheat with increased resistant starch levels ,” was awarded on 2 October to four inventors and assigned to…
-
Harvard Spin-Off Commercializing Sepsis Treatment
9 October 2015. A new enterprise spun-off from Harvard University is developing a device for treating sepsis, a life-threatening infection often contracted in hospitals. The company, Opsonix Inc. in Boston, also raised $8 million in its first round of venture funding. Opsonix is licensing a technology for treating sepsis developed in Harvard’s Wyss Institute for…