Tag: biotechnology
-
Drug Delivery Biotech Raises $101.8 Million in IPO
17 July 2015. Chiasma Inc., a biotechnology enterprise developing oral therapies to replace injected drugs, raised some $101.8 million in its initial public stock offering. The company — located in Newton, Massachusetts and Jerusalem, Israel — issued 6,365,000 shares at $16.00, and trades on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol CHMA. Shares in the company closed…
-
Genetic Engineered Variety Controls Destructive Moth
16 July 2015. A genetically engineered diamondback moth that prevents females of the species from maturing is found in greenhouse tests to quickly control populations of this destructive pest. Results of the tests, led by biotechnology company Oxitec Ltd., appear today in the journal BMC Biology. The diamondback moth — Plutella xylostella — is a…
-
Magnetic Nanoparticles Found to Boost Immunotherapy
15 July 2015. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University designed a process for making immunotherapy more practical as a cancer treatment by collecting cancer-fighting T-cells faster and easier with magnetic synthetic antigen nanoparticles. The team from the lab of Jonathan Schneck, professor of pathology at Johns Hopkins University medical center in Baltimore, published results of lab…
-
Process Adds Antimicrobial Silver Particles to Plants
14 July 2015. Engineers at North Carolina State University developed a process that adds biodegradable nanoparticles infused with silver to plant fibers that can kill a broad range of bacteria. A team from the lab of chemical engineering professor Orlin Velev, with colleagues from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and institutions in the U.K. and…
-
FDA Clears Biotech Cancer Therapies for Early Trials
13 July 2015. Biotechnology company Blueprint Medicines says U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted new drug applications on its two lead products, clearing the way for trials with humans. The Cambridge, Massachusetts enterprise is developing cancer therapies, with its lead products targeting liver and gastrointestinal tumors. Blueprint develops cancer therapies that limit the actions of…
-
Oxford, Ludwig Institute Launch Immunotherapy Start-Up
9 July 2015. University of Oxford in the U.K. and Ludwig Cancer Research Institute are forming a spin-off enterprise to commercialize research by an Oxford immunology professor for cancer therapies. Financial details of the partnership to create iOx Therapeutics were not disclosed. The new company is commercializing research from the lab of Oxford immunologist Vincenzo…
-
Antibodies Isolated for Chikungunya Virus
9 July 2015. Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville isolated 13 antibodies from a person infected with the chikungunya virus shown to possibly prevent and treat infections in lab mice. The team led by James Crowe, director of Vanderbilt’s Vaccine Center, published its findings yesterday in the journal Cell Host & Microbe. Chikungunya is a disease…
-
Arcadia Bio, Partners to Produce Stress-Tolerant Soybeans
7 July 2015. Arcadia Biosciences, an agricultural biotechnology company, will develop a new variety of soybeans engineered for greater tolerance of environmental stresses, with partners in Brazil and Argentina, two major soybean growers. Financial details of the collaboration between the Davis, California company and Bioceres S.A. in Rosario, Argentina, and Tropical Melhoramento e Genética Ltda,…
-
FDA Grants Orphan Status to Brain Cancer Surgery Aid
7 July 2015. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is granting orphan drug status to an engineered peptide that illuminates brain cancer cells making them easier to surgically remove. The treatment, code-named BLZ-100, is made by Blaze Bioscience, a biotechnology company in Seattle. Blaze Bioscience is a spin-off enterprise from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,…
-
Engineered Mosquitoes Sharply Reduce Dengue Carriers
2 July 2015. A variety of mosquito, engineered to produce offspring that die before maturity, was found to reduce the dengue mosquito population in a city in Brazil by 95 percent, well below the level needed to spread the disease. The team from the biotechnology company Oxitec Ltd. in Abingdon, U.K., with academic and business…