Tag: pharmaceuticals
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Stem Cell Biotech Gains $44M in First Venture Round
24 March 2015. A biotechnology start-up developing a stem-cell technology to replace missing beta cells that produce insulin for patients with type 1 diabetes, secured $44 million in its first venture funding round. Funding for Semma Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts was led by MPM Capital, with participation by Fidelity Biosciences, ARCH Venture Partners, and Medtronic.…
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Clinical Trial to Test Ketamine to Treat Rett Syndrome
23 March 2015. A clinical trial is planned to test an anesthetic used in surgery as a treatment for Rett syndrome, a rare developmental disorder affecting girls. The trial testing the anesthetic ketamine will be conducted by Case Western Reserve University medical school in Cleveland, funded by a $1.3 million grant from Rett Syndrome Research Trust.…
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Biotechs Partner on Cancer Stem Cell-Gene Therapies
23 March 2015. Two biotechnology companies are combining their expertise in neural stem cells and gene delivery to develop new cancer therapies that the parties say would be more effective with fewer side effects than chemotherapy drugs used today. While GenVec Inc. in Gaithersburg, Maryland will participate economically in the collaboration with TheraBiologics Inc. in…
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Lilly Acquiring Treatment for Autoimmune Disorders
19 March 2015. The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company is acquiring from Hanmi Pharmaceutical, an experimental drug that blocks the actions of an enzyme associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. The deal can pay Hanmi, in Seoul, Korea, as much as $690 million. Autoimmune disorders are diseases where the body’s immune system…
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Cloud Pharma, Univ of Florida Partner on Cancer Drug Design
17 March 2017. Cloud Pharmaceuticals, a company designing drug compounds with computer-based tools, and University of Florida’s medical school are collaborating on the design of new drugs limiting an enzyme implicated in the proliferation of cancer cells. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. The agreement calls for the university’s Department of Medicine and…
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U.K. Govt, Pharmas Form Dementia Research Fund
17 March 2015. A coalition of the United Kingdom government, five pharmaceutical companies, and the foundation Alzheimer’s Research UK are creating a $100 million fund to finance early research into treatments and cures for dementia. The U.K. health minister Jeremy Hunt is scheduled to unveil the Dementia Discovery Fund at a World Health Organization meeting…
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Stem Cells Shown to Stop Decline for Some ALS Patients
13 March 2015. An intermediate-stage clinical trial of a stem cell therapy to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, shows some patients receiving the treatments nearly stopped the decline or improved their muscle functions. Neuralstem Inc., a biotechnology company in Germantown, Maryland sponsoring the study, reported summary results yesterday. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s…
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Immunotherapy Biotech Raising $45 Million in IPO
12 March 2015. Genocea Biosciences Inc., a biotechnology company developing immunotherapies to treat genital herpes and other diseases, is raising $45 million in its initial public offering of stock. The Cambridge, Massachusetts enterprise is issuing 5,454,545 shares priced at $8.25. The company trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol GNCA. As of 12:00 pm…
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Trial Shows Current Drug Slows Alzheimer’s Onset
11 March 2015. A clinical trial testing a current drug to treat epilepsy shows the drug can delay development of Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages. Results of the study, conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University for AgeneBio Inc., two year-old pharmaceutical company in Baltimore, appear online in the journal NeuroImage: Clinical. The intermediate-stage…
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FDA Approves Antibody for Childhood Nerve Cell Cancer
10 March 2015. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved today dinutuximab, an engineered antibody to treat neuroblastoma, a rare cancer affecting nerve cells in young children. Dinutuximab is developed by United Therapeutics, a biotechnology company in Silver Spring, Maryland and marketed under the brand name Unituxin. Neuroblastoma is a cancer that develops from immature…