Science and Enterprise

Tag: biotechnology

  • Australian Science Agency, Biotech Partner on Insect Silks

    Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the global biotechnology company Lonza have agreed to develop new insect silks for medical and industrial applications. Financial and intellectual property terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Insect silk is a potential component in a range of new products and applications because of properties such…

  • Lab-Made Heart Cells Found Useful for Research, Testing

    Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine in California have devised a process for generating artifical heart cells from the skin of patients with a common cardiac condition. Their findings appear today in the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription required). The team led by Joseph Wu, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and of…

  • Breakout Labs Makes First Early-Stage Science Company Grants

    Breakout Labs, a revolving investment fund in San Francisco that aims to support early-stage enterprises developing radical new technologies, announced its first six grants yesterday. The fund is backed by the Thiel Foundation, established by entrepreneur Peter Thiel, a founder of online payments service PayPal and an early investor in Facebook. All of the recipient…

  • Bioengineered Microbe Developed for Low-Temperature Enzymes

    Molecular biologists at University of Georgia in Athens have devised a process for engineering a microorganism to generate enzymes at lower temperatures than in its natural state. Their findings appear today in the online journal mBio published by American Society for Microbiology. The team, led by Georgia professor Michael Adams, engineered a type of microbe…

  • Clinical Trial Shows Brain Cancer Vaccine Extends Lives

    A clinical trial involving researchers from University of California at San Francisco and the biotechnology company Agenus Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts found a vaccine has extended the lives of patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain cancer. The findings are being presented today at a meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.…

  • Nutritional Enzyme Maker Secures $10M Early-Stage Financing

    Alcresta, in Newton, Massachusetts, has closed a $10 million series A financing round, the first funding installment after start-up. Investors are led by the venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners, Frazier Healthcare, and Third Rock Ventures. The company develops and commercializes enzyme-based nutritional products designed to improve the health of and manage disease for infants,…

  • Infectious Disease Diagnostics Company Lands Series B Funds

    Molecular Detection Inc. in Wayne, Pennsylvania, a company developing tests for diagnosing infectious diseases, says it has completed a new $1.9 million round of series B financing, the second funding installment after initial start-up. All existing investors, says the company, took part in the round, including MentorTech Ventures, Robin Hood Ventures, Elm Spring Holdings, and…

  • Not-For-Profit Hospital Starts $10M Health Care Venture Fund

    Rex Healthcare, a not-for-profit health care system in Raleigh, North Carolina, has unveiled Rex Strategic Innovations that offers funding for start-up companies and organizations, including venture capital financing. The program is also devising ways to help individuals and organizations develop ideas for improving health care into real-life goods and services. The initiative includes Rex Health…

  • Skin, Umbilical Cord Cells Converted to Nerve Cells

    Researchers at University of Bonn, with colleagues from medical centers in Germany, have developed a process for converting human cells from skin and umbilical cords directly into usable quantities of nerve cells, bypassing previous intermediate steps. Their findings appear this week in the journal Nature Methods (paid subscription required). Converting one type of human cell…

  • Biotech Licenses Brain-Nervous System Treatment Technology

    Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel says it has licensed a technology from its labs that crosses the blood-brain barrier to deliver drugs for treating disorders of the brain and central nervous system. The V-Smart technology, as its called, was licensed exclusively to Lauren Sciences LLC, a privately held biotechnology company in New York.…