Science and Enterprise

Tag: biotechnology

  • DuPont Expanding Iowa Agriculture R&D Center

    DuPont Corporation says it will add a $40 million plant genetics research center to its current facilities in Johnston, Iowa. The 200,000 square foot center is expected to add some 400 jobs. The new facility will be part of DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred business, a subsidiary developing seeds through plant genetics. Johnston is located northwest of…

  • Merck Investing in Life Sciences Venture Fund

    Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, Massachusetts says Merck’s venture arm has joined in a recent investment fund backing start-up life sciences companies. The amount of the investment, which was not disclosed, was made by Merck’s Research Ventures Fund in Flagship Ventures Fund IV that closed in January. Flagship says its Ventures Fund IV will be devoted…

  • Advaxis, Karolinska Institutet to Collaborate on Allergies

    Advaxis Inc., a biotechnology company in Princeton, New Jersey says it will partner with a lab at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institutet on research leading to preventions or treatments for cat allergies. Financial terms of the collaboration were not revealed. The company plans to work with the lab headed by Marianne van Hage, a professor of immunology…

  • Presage Biosciences, Millenium to Partner on Cancer Drugs

    Presage Biosciences, a biotechnology company in Seattle, and Millenium, a division of Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts, say the two companies will collaborate on the development of new cancer therapies. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Millenium develops cancer drugs, focusing on disease pathways or processes that feed cancer cells. The agreement will…

  • Programmed Nanoparticles Tested as Cancer Treatments

    Researchers from four universities, three hospitals, and the biopharmaceutical company BIND Biosciences are testing a new form of cancer therapy using nanoscale particles designed to deliver a dose of targeted medicine to solid tumors. The findings, including results of early clinical trials, are published in this week’s issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid…

  • Patent Issued for Technology to Suppress Stem Cell Rejection

    Athersys Inc., a biotechnology company in Cleveland, Ohio, has received a patent for its process to reduce or suppress graft-versus-host disease associated with bone-marrow stem cell transplants used to treat leukemia and related disorders. Patent 8,147,824 was issued yesterday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and assigned to Athersys, as well as the Oregon…

  • U.S. Angel Investment Deals, Dollars Jump in 2011

    The number and dollar amounts of angel investment deals in the U.S. rose sharply in 2011, with financing for science-related companies comprising nearly half of those transactions. The summary report of angel investing released yesterday by the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research also shows more initial-stage involvement in start-up companies than in…

  • Algae Biofuel Start-Up Secures $144M for Demo Plant

    Sapphire Energy in San Diego says it received the last installment of its series C financing — the third round of funding after initial start-up — valued at $144 million. The company develops biofuels from algae and bacteria, and the new financing is expected to fund a demonstration production plant in Luna County, New Mexico.…

  • Biotech Secures $25 Million in Series B Financing

    AlloCure Inc., a privately-held biotechnology company in Burlington, Massachusetts, says it has closed a $25 million deal for series B venture financing. The series B round — the second financing installment after initial start-up — includes new syndicate member Lundbeckfond Ventures, as well as previous investors SV Life Sciences and Novo A/S. The company is…

  • Trial Highlights Metastatic Breast Cancer Drug Effectiveness

    First results from a clinical trial of the drug trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) made by Genentech, a division of the global pharmaceutical company Roche, show the drug extended the lives of metastatic breast cancer patients without the disease getting worse. The study enrolled people with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer who had previously received treatment with the…