Science and Enterprise

Tag: biotechnology

  • Non-Narcotic Natural Pain Killer Synthesized

    Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida have synthesized a rare natural product isolated from the bark of a plant widely used in traditional medicine, that has potential as a non-narcotic pain killer. Their findings appear online in the journal Nature Chemistry (paid subscription required). The study defined a way to generate quantities…

  • Lilly Spins Off Biotech to Develop Sepsis Drug

    Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana has signed agreements with private investors Care Capital and NovaQuest Capital to establish BioCritica Inc., a new biotechnology company. BioCritica will initially focus on the continued U.S. development and commercialization of Xigris — drotrecogin alfa (activated) — Lilly’s medicine for severe sepsis. Under the agreement, BioCritica will acquire…

  • Sygenta to Build U.S. Genetics Research Facility

    Sygenta, in Basel, Switzerland says it will build a new biotechnology research facility adjacent to its current campus in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The $71 million facility is expected to be operational in the second half of 2012. The company says the new labs will focus on discovering and developing new genetic characteristics for…

  • Partnership to Discover Cancer Drugs from Natural Products

    University of Mississippi’s National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) in Oxford has formed a partnership to search and test for cancer drugs with the university’s Medical Center Cancer Institute in Jackson. Under the agreement, NCNPR will develop anti-cancer compounds for further development and testing by the Cancer Institute. At the NCNPR, researchers collect plants…

  • Sanofi, Glenmark Sign Autoimmune Antibody License Deal

    The French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. in Mumbai, India have signed an agreement for development and commercialization of GBR500, a monoclonal antibody to treat chronic autoimmune disorders. The deal is expected to close  next month following required regulatory steps. GBR500, developed by Glenmark, targets receptors that affect the adhesion of lymphocytes (white…

  • Study: Genomics R&D Generates $796 Billion Return to U.S.

    An analysis by Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio estimates that the Human Genome Project and associated activities generated an economic return of $796 billion between 1988 and 2010, from an investment of $3.8 billion ($5.6 billion in constant dollars). In addition, Battelle calculates genomics research and development directly and indirectly resulted in personal income…

  • Allos, Mundipharma to Collaborate on Cancer Drugs

    Allos Therapeutics in Westminster, Colorado and Mundipharma International Corp. Ltd in Cambridge, U.K. have agreed to co-commercialize the drug Folotyn developed by Allos, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in cancer therapies. Mundipharma is a group of drug development companies in Europe. Folotyn is a folate analogue metabolic inhibitor approved in the U.S. for the treatment of…

  • New Class of Insect Repellant Developed, Patent Filed

    Researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee have developed a new type of insect repellant that they say is more effective than current products on the market. Their results appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid subscription required). The new type of repellant, from the lab of biology and pharmacology…

  • Start Up to Develop Nanotech Therapy for Artery Disease

    Vascular Magnetics Inc. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has licensed technology from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to develop treatments for peripheral artery disease (PAD). The company is the hospital’s first commercial spin-off and co-founded by Robert Levy, who conducted the basic research behind the technology. Peripheral arterial disease occurs when plaque builds up in the arteries that…

  • U.K. to Fund Sustainable Biofuel By-Product R&D

    A consortium of research funding councils and industry in the U.K. will finance new ways of extracting valuable chemicals from the by-products of brewing grains for ethanol. This call for proposals aims to challenge researchers to find processes that yield chemicals which would otherwise be produced from fossil fuels. The project comes under the Integrated…