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Algorithms Compute Blood Volume from Video Images
6 April 2015. Engineers from Rice University in Houston wrote a series of algorithms that make it possible to calculate blood volume from facial video images rather than attaching a device to a person’s skin. The team from Rice’s Scalable Health Initiative that examines applications of technology to improve the conduct of health care, published…
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Licensing Gene Therapies in $2.3B Deal
6 April 2015. Drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb is licensing gene therapies from biotechnology company uniQure N.V. in a deal with a total potential value of $2.3 billion, including an equity stake in uniQure. The agreement gives Bristol-Myers Squibb exclusive access to as many as 10 disease programs being developed by uniQure, including a treatment for…
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Inexpensive Test Bests PSA for Prostate Cancer Screening
3 April 2015. An inexpensive lab test using gold nanoparticles is shown in a new study to be more sensitive and specific in screening for prostate cancer than the standard prostate-specific antigen or PSA screen. A team from University of Central Florida in Orlando, led by materials science and medical professor Qun Huo, published its…
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Astellas Getting First Access to Leukemia Antibody
3 April 2015. MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston is granting Astellas Pharma Inc. in Tokyo an option to license MD Anderson’s discovery of a synthetic antibody showing promise as a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. For the licensing option, MD Anderson could earn up to $26 million in fees and research funding. Acute myeloid…
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White House Economist: Lower Health Costs Benefit Economy
2 April 2015. President Obama’s chief economic adviser said lower health care costs since passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 are benefiting the overall U.S. economy and lowering Federal deficits. Jason Furman, who chairs the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, made his remarks today in a briefing at Center for American Progress, a…
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Kaiser Permanente to Study Autism Genetics
1 April 2015. The managed-care provider Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, California is collecting genetic and environmental data from 5,000 of its members to better pinpoint causes of autism spectrum disorder. The 3 year project, which includes establishing a databank for further research into autism, is funded by a $4.6 million grant from the Simons Foundation…
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$150 Million Raised for NYC Life Science Start-Ups
1 April 2015. A consortium of public and private funding sources raised $150 million to invest in new life science companies located in New York City. The Early Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative exceeded its original $100 million goal by half, and seeks to start 15 to 20 new businesses in New York by 2020,…
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Mobile App in Development to Manage COPD
31 March 2015. A system combining an iPhone app and big data analytics is under development to help people with COPD manage their symptoms and health care providers monitor their condition. The COPD Navigator system is designed by LifeMap Solutions in San Jose, California and National Jewish Health Respiratory Institute, a joint service of National…
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Nanoneedles Deliver Therapeutic DNA, Grow Blood Vessels
31 March 2015. A device made of tiny nanoscale needles successfully delivered genetic material that encourages growth of blood vessels in lab animals, in tests of its therapeutic potential. Researchers from Imperial College London in the U.K. and Houston Methodist Research Institute in Texas reported their findings yesterday in the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription…
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Novartis, Aduro Biotech Partner on Cancer Immunotherapy
30 March 2015. The pharmaceutical company Novartis is licensing cancer immunotherapy technology from Aduro Biotech in Berkeley, California. The collaboration could earn Aduro as much as $750 million, including an equity stake, for access to its work on cyclic dinucleotides, still in preclinical study, but considered promising as a cancer treatment. Cyclic dinucleotides are naturally…