Tag: pharmaceuticals
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NIH Funding Antibacterial Resistance Clinical Research Net
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of National Institutes of Health, is establishing a network of research universities to carry out clinical studies on antibacterial resistance. The first installment of $2 million will fund a leadership group of 20 researchers nationwide,with total potential funding of $62 million by 2019. The Antibacterial Resistance…
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GSK Licenses Biotech Antibody for Arthritis, MS Drugs
The biotechology company MorphoSys AG in Germany says the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline is licensing its targeted human antibody drug candidate MOR103 to treat rheumatoid arthritis. The deal has a potential value to MorphoSys of €445.5 million ($US 579 million), not counting future sales royalties. MorphoSys develops engineered antibodies for therapies and diagnostics. One of its…
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Stem Cell Process Makes Red Blood, Platelets in Quantities
Medical and public health researchers at Boston University developed a lab process for generating from adult stem cells, unlimited quantities of red blood and platelet cells, the type of cells in donated blood. The team led by George Murphy, co-director of the university’s Center for Regenerative Medicine, published its findings online yesterday in the journal Blood…
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Indiana Companies, Universities Form Biosciences Institute
A consortium of life sciences companies and universities in Indiana launched today the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, a public-private partnership that expects to be financed largely through corporate funds. The institute aims to attract top research talent and dollars to develop pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, biologic therapies, and agricultural biotechnology, including animal health. Indiana Biosciences…
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AstraZeneca Acquires Omega-3 Fatty Acid Drug Developer
The global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is buying the specialty pharmaceutical maker Omthera Pharmaceuticals in Princeton, New Jersey for $323 million, or $12.70 per share, an 88 percent premium over Omthera’s closing price of $6.75 per share on Friday. Omthera shareholders may also receive up to $4.70 per share in further milestone-achievement payments. Omega’s only product…
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One-Step Process Developed for Genetic Designed Bacteria
Resarchers at University of Adelaide in Australia and Stanford University in California developed a more efficient process for producing genetically designed bacteria. The team led by Adelaide biotechnology professor Keith Shearwin published its findings online earlier this month in the journal ACS Synthetic Biology (paid subscription required). Shearwin and colleagues call their process “clonetegration,” which…
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Purdue Licenses Reagent for Safer Fluorine Compounds
Purdue University in Indiana licensed a reagent developed and patented by one of its organic chemists that makes it safer and more environmentally friendly to add fluorine to organic compounds. The university licensed the reagent, developed in Purdue’s chemistry and pharmacology labs under the direction of professor David Colby, to Aldrich Chemical Co., a subsidiary of…
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Faster Process Developed to Find Therapeutic Antibodies
Researchers at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California and Scripps Korea Antibody Institute developed a new process to more rapidly identify antibodies that target specific disease molecules. The team from the lab of Richard Lerner, an immunochemistry professor at and former director of Scripps, published its findings yesterday in the journal Chemistry & Biology…
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GSK Holds Challenge for Academic Drug Discovery Partners
The global pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is holding a competition for academic partners to conduct drug discovery research, with the winners receiving an opportunity to develop the therapy with the company. The Discovery Fast Track program aims to speed up the drug discovery process and is open to academic researchers in the U.S. and Canada.…
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Clinical Trial Underway to Test MicroRNA Cancer Therapy
Mirna Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company in Austin, Texas, recently began a clinical trial to test its lead candidate, MRX34 that simulates the tumor-suppression action of microRNA, as a therapy for cancer. The trial is an early-stage study mainly of MRX34’s safety with patients suffering from cancer of the liver or advanced or metastatic cancer…