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Technique Devised for 3-D Immunotherapy Injections
9 December 2014. Biomedical engineers at Harvard University designed a biomaterial that in lab animals assembles into a three-dimensional framework for delivery of therapies triggering an immune response to treat cancer and infectious diseases. The team from the lab of David Mooney at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering published its findings yesterday in…
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Pfizer, Biotech Partner on Hemophilia B Gene Therapy
8 December 2014. Spark Therapeutics, a biotechnology firm in Philadelphia, is collaborating with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to commercialize Spark’s gene therapy technology as a treatment for hemophilia B. Spark Therapeutics can gain as much as $280 million in the deal that involves sharing worldwide rights to Spark’s technology for hemophilia B with Pfizer. Hemophilia…
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Merck Buys Antibiotic Maker in $9.5 Billion Deal
8 December 2014. The pharmaceutical company Merck agreed today to acquire Cubist Pharmaceuticals, a developer of antibiotics, in a deal valued at $9.5 billion. Under the agreement Merck will pay Cubist stockholders $102 a share in cash — the stock closed at about $74 a share on Friday — equaling $8.4 billion, as well as…
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Challenge Seeks Spinal Cord Solutions, Offers $50K Awards
5 December 2014. The Conquer Paralysis Now challenge is looking for new treatments for spinal cord injuries, as well as ideas to help patients with these injuries perform everyday functions that fully abled people can do unaided. The first round competition awards grants of $50,000 in six categories, with a deadline of 1 April 2015…
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Brain Sensor Designed for Wireless Connections
5 December 2014. Engineers and neuroscientists at Brown University in Providence designed and tested with animals a sensor to monitor brain activity for wirelessly transmitting high volumes of data. The team led by Brown engineering and physics professor Arto Nurmikko — with colleagues from Brown and labs at other universities and companies in the U.S.,…
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Patent Awarded for Macular Degeneration Eyedrop Technology
4 December 2014. SciFluor Life Sciences LLC, a biopharmaceutical company in Cambridge, Massachusetts received a patent on a fluoride formulation for treating diseases of the retina with eyedrops rather than injections into the eye as often required. Patent 8,901,144 was awarded on 2 December by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to four inventors, including…
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Peptide Regenerates Muscles Damaged from Spinal Cord Injury
4 December 2014. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University developed a synthetic peptide that in lab animals restores some functions in muscles damaged from spinal cord injuries. The team from the lab of CWRU neuroscientist Jerry Silver in Cleveland, Ohio published its findings yesterday in the journal Nature (paid subscription required). National Institute of Neurological…
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Yale Univ, Organovo to Develop 3-D Print Transplant Tissue
3 December 2014. Yale University and Organovo Inc. in San Diego are collaborating on development of synthetic tissue produced on three-dimensional printers for research on transplants in humans. Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, but Yale and Organovo say the project is funded by the Methuselah Foundation. Organovo designs and produces human tissue…
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Analytics, Genomics Companies Partner on Cancer Therapies
3 December 2014. Flatiron Health, a health care data-analytics firm, and the genomics analysis company Foundation Medicine are developing automated tools to better design cancer treatments matching patients’ molecular profiles, particularly for testing new therapies in clinical trials. Financial aspects of the collaboration were not disclosed. Foundation Medicine, in Cambridge, Massachusetts — founded by scientists at…
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NIH Grant Funds Review for New Brain Cancer Diagnostics
2 December 2014. National Cancer Institute, an agency of National Institutes of Health (NIH), awarded a grant to HealthTell Inc. to validate the company’s technology for development of a simple test to diagnose brain cancers, including glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive and malignant form of the disease. The $225,000 grant to HealthTell funds an early-stage study…