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Patent Awarded for Slower Digested Wheat
12 October 2015. A type of wheat digested more slowly than regular wheat, and thus releases glucose more slowly into the blood stream, received a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patent number 9,150,839, titled “Wheat with increased resistant starch levels ,” was awarded on 2 October to four inventors and assigned to…
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Chip Device in Development to Simulate Human Gut
9 October 2015. A team of medical researchers and engineers in North Carolina is developing a miniaturized device derived from human stem cells to better simulate the workings of a human gut. The five-year project is funded by $5.3 million grant from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of National Institutes…
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Harvard Spin-Off Commercializing Sepsis Treatment
9 October 2015. A new enterprise spun-off from Harvard University is developing a device for treating sepsis, a life-threatening infection often contracted in hospitals. The company, Opsonix Inc. in Boston, also raised $8 million in its first round of venture funding. Opsonix is licensing a technology for treating sepsis developed in Harvard’s Wyss Institute for…
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Eli Lilly Expanding NYC Labs for Cancer Therapies
9 October 2015. The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company is expanding its research labs in New York City to boost discoveries of cancer therapies that harness the immune system. Lilly expects to hire 50 more research and support staff as part of the expansion. The company’s new facility will inhabit 30,000 square feet in…
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On Assignment
8 October 2015. We’re covering a story in New York today, so we will not be posting any items. We’ll resume our regular posting tomorrow. * * *
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MD Anderson, Biotech Form Antibody Discovery Company
7 October 2015. MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is partnering with the biotechnology company Theraclone Sciences to form a new enterprise devoted to discovering antibodies for cancer therapies harnessing the immune system. The company named OncoResponse, also based in Houston, attracted $9.5 million in its first venture funding round. OncoResponse plans to adapt Theraclone’s…
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Breakout Labs Adds Four Science-Based Start-Ups
6 October 2015. Breakout Labs, an incubator of new enterprises based on discoveries from academic science labs, is adding four more companies to its portfolio. The new additions include companies developing advanced materials and sensors to measure food freshness, as well as discovering new therapies for diseases associated with the aging process. Breakout Labs is…
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Partnership to Study Biomarkers in Liquid Biopsies
6 October 2015. DeNovo Sciences, a developer of liquid biopsies and analytics, is teaming with bioTheranostics, a cancer diagnostics company using molecular biomarkers, to test the feasibility of combining their technologies. Financial and intellectual property details of the collaboration were not disclosed. In testing for solid tumor cancers, such as lung or breast cancer, doctors…
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iPhone App Capturing Hepatitis C Research Data
5 October 2015. An app made for the Apple iPhone now allows people with hepatitis C to record real-world data on their experiences with treatments and living with the disease. The C-Tracker app, developed by Boston Children’s Hospital, is available as a free download from the iPhone App Store. Hepatitis C is a viral infection affecting…
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Influenza A Therapy Shown Working in Trial
5 October 2015. A clinical trial testing a synthetic antibody designed to treat influenza A shows the treatment is effective in reducing the spread of flu viruses in humans. Visterra Inc., the therapy’s designer, also received a contract valued as much as $204.5 million from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to further…