-
Engineered Fluid Devised for Lubricating Joint Cartilage
18 August 2014. Biomedical engineers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore developed a synthetic lubrication fluid for natural or artificial joints in the body that emulates the properties of natural substances. A team led by Johns Hopkins medical professor Jennifer Elisseeff published its results earlier this month in the journal Nature Materials (paid subscription required).…
-
$500K Challenge Seeks Techniques to Track Single Cells
18 August 2014. A new challenge sponsored by National Institutes of Health is looking for better ways to follow and predict the functioning of a single cell in a complex multi-cell environment, such as in a tumor or a response to treatment. The competition, managed by the open-innovation/challenge company InnoCentive, expects to award prizes totaling…
-
Trial Testing Genetic Profiles for Personal Cancer Therapy
15 August 2014. MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and Foundation Medicine in Cambridge, Massachusetts are testing the benefit of genetic profiles of tumors in determining personalized therapies for patients with metastatic cancer. The researchers conducting the trial also believe genetic profiling can better match cancer patients to studies of new treatments, and lead to…
-
System Tests Quality of Engineered Stem Cells, Tissue
14 August 2014. Biomedical engineers and systems biologists developed an online system that tests the fidelity of engineered cells and tissue to the real-life properties of the cells they aim to emulate. The system, known as CellNet, is the creation of researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston University, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired…
-
Biotech, Institutes Discover Target for Multiple Tumors
14 August 2014. Researchers in the U.S. and Australia identified an enzyme found in a range of cancerous tumor cells, but not normal adult tissue, and tested an engineered antibody to fight that enzyme in tumors. The team from the biotechnology company KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. in South San Francisco, California, and Monash University and Ludwig…
-
Middle, Inner Ear Drug Developer Raises $100M in IPO
13 August 2014. Otonomy Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in San Diego developing treatments for disorders of the middle and inner ear, raised $100 million in its initial public offering of stock. The company, trading on the NASDAQ under the symbol OTIC, priced its 6.25 million shares at $16.00. Otonomy was founded in 2008 by physicians…
-
Genetically Engineered Medflies Found to Control Wild Types
13 August 2014. Researchers at the biotechnology company Oxitec Ltd. in Oxford and University of East Anglia in Norwich, both in the U.K., created a modified form of the Mediterranean fruit fly that tests show can reduce the population of this pest responsible for extensive crop damage in many parts of the world. Results of…
-
23andMe, Pfizer Partner on Bowel Disease Genetics
12 August 2014. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer and personal genetics company 23andMe in Mountain View, California are researching genetic factors associated with inflammatory bowel disease, for which Pfizer is testing several treatments. Financial aspects of the collaboration were not disclosed. Inflammatory bowel disease is the name given to disorders of the digestive tract, such as…
-
Heart Assn Challenge Seeks Heart Disease Prevention Tools
11 August 2014. American Heart Association seeks new products to better prevent and manage heart disease and stroke in an open-innovation challenge for early-stage companies in the Midwest. The top three winners will be eligible for awards of up to $20,000, and a chance to pitch their ideas at a November forum on health care…
-
Licensing Deal Combines Genomics, Placenta Stem Cells
11 August 2014. A new licensing agreement will make available research by Celgene Cellular Therapeutics on stem cells from the placenta to Human Longevity Inc., a company specializing in genomics for age-related disorders. Financial aspects of the agreement were not disclosed, but as part of the deal, Celgene is expected to make an equity investment…