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Glucose Control Implant Bests Diabetes Drug in Trial
19 August 2015. A clinical trial shows an implanted system did a better job of lowering blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes, than an approved glucose control drug. Intarcia Therapeutics in Boston, developer of the system code-named ITCA 650, released top-line results of the late-stage trial testing the device against the drug…
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NSF Funds Math Tutoring Software Commercialization
18 August 2015. Software to help primary and secondary school students learn mathematics is receiving financial support from National Science Foundation to bring the software to market. NSF awarded a grant of nearly $200,000 to Beverly Woolf, a computer scientist at University of Massachusetts in Amherst, for the 18-month project. Woolf is developer of the…
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Cancer Precision Medicine Trial Underway
18 August 2015. A new clinical trial is enrolling participants that tests multiple types of therapies on a number of different cancers based on the genomic make-up of individual patients. The intermediate-stage trial is part of the National Cancer Institute’s Molecular Analysis for Therapy Choice, or NCI-MATCH program. NCI-MATCH seeks to determine if tumors with…
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Wireless Light-Activated Circuit Connects to Mice Neurons
17 August 2015. Engineers at Stanford University designed a wireless circuit implanted under the skin for sending light-activated signals to nerve cells in lab mice. The team led by electrical engineering professor Ada Poon published its findings in today’s issue of the journal Nature Methods (paid subscription required). Poon and colleagues are seeking a simple,…
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Antibodies to Treat Cancer Complication Licensed to Pharma
17 August 2015. Aveo Oncology, a developer of biopharmaceuticals for cancer and related diseases, is licensing its engineered antibody designed to treat cachexia, a complication of cancer and other disorders, to the pharmaceutical company Novartis. The agreement could bring Aveo as much as $326 million over the course of the collaboration. Cachexia is a metabolic…
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Challenge Seeks Interventions for Epilepsy
14 August 2015. In a new challenge on InnoCentive, the Epilepsy Foundation is seeking methods and interventions to reduce sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, or SUDEP. The competition has a purse of $30,000 and deadline for submissions of 13 October 2015. InnoCentive in Waltham, Massachusetts conducts open-innovation, crowdsourcing competitions for corporate and organization sponsors. Free…
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Oilseed Plant Engineered for Biofuel, Chemical Feedstocks
14 August 2015. A biochemistry lab at Kansas State University genetically engineered camelina oilseed plants to make them better feedstocks for biofuels and chemicals. The team led by Kansas State professor Timothy Durrett published its findings in the August issue of the journal Plant Biotechnology Journal (paid subscription required). Durrett, with colleagues from University of…
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Inside Air Monitor Devised as Smartphone Add-On
13 August 2015. Engineers in Finland designed a miniaturized system for measuring levels of carbon dioxide and other gases with smartphones to monitor interior air quality for health care needs. The team at VTT Technical Research Centre, an applied research institute in Finland, developed the monitor as an add-on to mobile devices, with a spin-off…
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Genetic Test Found to Save Drug Expense, Boost Adherence
13 August 2015. A genetic test to guide the choice of drugs prescribed to patients with psychiatric disorders was found to reduce the cost of medications to those patients and improve adherence to the drugs prescribed, compared to patients who were not given the test. Results of the study evaluating the GeneSight test, made by…
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Blood Disease Biotech Gains $120 Million in IPO
12 August 2015. Global Blood Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing treatments for blood-related disorders, is raising $120 million in its initial public stock offering. The company, in South San Francisco, California and trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the symbol GBT, issued 6 million shares priced at $20.00. Shares closed today trading at $43.50, more…