Tag: biotechnology
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Protein Gels Being Devised to Simulate Human Functions
12 August 2015. New York University’s engineering school is developing a new type of protein-based gel materials that respond to and replicate natural biochemical processes. The three-year project, led by chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Jin Kim Montclare, is funded by a $368,000 grant from the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. Montclare and colleagues, at NYU’s…
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University Faculty Design Mood-Tracking Mobile App
11 August 2015. Faculty at University of Missouri in psychiatry and computer science built a smartphone app that allows people with depression to track their moods and share the data with their psychiatrists. The app, known as MoodTrek, is available free of charge on Android phones. An iPhone version is planned for the future. The…
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Trial Shows Fertility Treatment Boosts IVF Pregnancy Rate
11 August 2015. A clinical study of cellular treatments for women using in-vitro fertilization shows the treatments increased pregnancy rates compared to women receiving standard IVF alone. Findings from the study that tested treatments developed by IVF technology company OvaScience Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts are scheduled to be published on 25 August in the Journal…
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Intrexon Acquires Oxitec, Partners on Genetic Disorder
10 August 2015. Intrexon Corp., a biotechnology company specializing in synthetic biology, is acquiring Oxitec Ltd., a designer of genetically modified insects to control the spread of disease-bearing and agricultural pests for $160 million. Intrexon is also partnering with Synthetic Biologics Inc. to develop therapies for phenylketonuria, a genetic metabolic disorder. Intrexon, in Gaithersburg, Maryland…
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Crop Biotech Acquires Genomic Engineering Technology
29 July 2015. Calyxt Inc., a biotechnology company developing new varieties of food crops, is licensing technology from University of Minnesota for more efficient modification of plant genomes. Financial details of the agreement between Calyxt, in New Brighton Minnesota, and the university were not disclosed. Calyxt — until recently known as Cellectis Plant Sciences —…
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FDA Clears Trial of Fibrosis Drug for Muscular Dystrophy
24 July 2015. Biotechnology company Fibrogen Inc. says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an application to test its fibrosis drug candidate in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The company says FDA’s approval was part of a new drug application for its candidate, code-named FG-3019, already in intermediate-stage clinical trials as a therapy for…
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Allergan Acquires Depression Therapy Developer for $560M
27 July 2015. Pharmaceutical maker Allergan plc is acquiring Naurex Inc., a designer of fast-acting therapies for depression and other neurological disorders, for $560 million. The deal covers Naurex’s products now in clinical trials, with the company’s technology platform and preclinical research spun-off into a new enterprise. Naurex, a spin-off company from Northwestern University in…
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Cancer Specialists Offer Plan to Reduce Drug Prices
23 July 2015. A group of 118 cancer specialists proposed steps to reduce the cost of drugs to cancer patients, calling the current system of drug pricing “unsustainable and not affordable for many patients.” Their recommendations appear today in a commentary published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Pharmaceutical industry representatives, however, say drugs play…
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Trial Shows Engineered T-Cells Act on Multiple Myeloma
21 July 2015. An early-stage clinical trial shows immune system cells from patients with the blood-related cancer multiple myeloma — modified to attack a protein suspected of helping the cancer grow — generated a positive clinical response in most of the participants. The team from University of Pennsylvania cancer center, University of Maryland medical school,…
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Early Test Shows Alzheimer’s Candidate Lowers Brain Deposits
20 July 2015. A drug developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease reduced a large percentage of accumulated harmful peptides and proteins in brains of laboratory mice induced with the disorder. Results of the tests were reported today by the biotechnology company Treventis Corp. in Philadelphia, developer of the drug code-named TRV-101. Alzheimer’s disease is progressive neurodegenerative…