Science and Enterprise

Tag: biotechnology

  • Small Business Grant Awarded for Tuberculosis Test

    Chembio Diagnostics Inc. in Medford, New York has received a three-year $2.9 million Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue development of a simple, rapid, inexpensive, and accurate blood serum test for tuberculosis. The grant funds further development of the test, following an earlier SBIR grant to…

  • Nanoparticles Increase Survival Chance After Blood Loss

    Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York have used nitric oxide particles reduced to nanoscale size to improve survival after life-threatening blood loss. Their results were reported in the 21 February online edition of the journal Resuscitation (paid subscription required). Nanoparticles — particles measured in nanometers, or billions of…

  • Neuroscience, Computational Physics Help Diagnose Autism

    A team led by a computational physicist and neuroscientist at Children’s Hospital Boston in Massachusetts have devised a technology that can lead to noninvasive tests for evaluating the risk of autism in infants. Their findings appear today in the journal BMC Medicine. The technology combines the standard electroencephalogram (EEG), which records electrical activity in the…

  • DuPont Expanding Agricultural Research in Delaware

    The chemical company DuPont plans to expand its biotech research on soybeans at its Delaware facilities. The $50 million expansion is expected to create 75 new, full-time positions in Delaware by the end of 2015. The proposed investment will include expanding biotech research facilities at DuPont’s research and development headquarters, the Experimental Station, in Wilmington…

  • Finance Friday: 18 February 2011

    Here are recent angel and venture finance transactions for science- and engineering-based companies, as reported by Xconomy and elsewhere. Biomedical/Life Sciences Rosetta Genomics Ltd. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. MicroRNA-based molecular diagnostics. $6.0 million, equity. Versartis in Mountain View, California. Protein drugs for endocrine disorders. $21 million in Series B equity financing. Ivivi Health Sciences in San…

  • Whole Genome Sequencing Advances for Cancer Diagnosis

    Physicians and researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona and the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix successfully completed sequencing a single patient’s normal and cancer cells. The team says this is among the first whole genome sequencing performed for the medical care of a specific cancer patient. The genomic sequencing of tumor and…

  • Sanofi-aventis Acquires Genzyme in $20.1B Deal

    Sanofi-aventis, the Paris-based pharmaceutical company, has acquired biotechnology company Genzyme Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts for $74.00 per share, or about $20.1 billion. The deal includes other payments to Genzyme shareholders based on net sales and developments involving specific Genzyme drugs. Genzyme is expected to add its treatments for several rare diseases to Sanofi-aventis’s current collection…

  • Health System, Biotech Collaborate on Diagnostic Biomarkers

    Luminex Corporation in Austin, Texas said today that is teaming with Partners HealthCare in Boston, Massachusetts on the discovery of new biomarkers and development of clinical assays. The collaboration is expected to help the Partners HealthCare Center for Personalized Genetic Medicine (PCPGM) develop new molecular diagnostic assays. The new tests will be conducted on Luminex’s…

  • FDA Grants Orphan Drug Status for ALS Candidate

    BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. in Petach Tikvah, Israel says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to the company’s NurOwn adult stem cell product candidate for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of nerve cells in the…

  • Survey: Therapeutic Discovery Project Helps Biotechs

    A survey of executives with biotechnology companies that received grants or credits under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project indicates the companies benefited from the awards, including the creation of new jobs. The survey of 226 top-level company executives was conducted online by the polling company Penn Schoen Berland, between November 2010 and February 2011, for…