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FDA to Limit Oversight to Medical Device Mobile Apps
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will focus its regulation of mobile health apps on those that act as traditional medical devices, according to final guidance released yesterday. The guidance, to be published tomorrow in the Federal Register for public comment, says FDA will not enforce regulations on the majority of health-related smartphone and tablet…
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Clinical Trial to Test Engineered Enzyme with Kidney Failure
AM-Pharma, a biopharmaceutical company in Bunnik, the Netherlands, began recruiting volunteers to test an engineered form of the human enzyme alkaline phosphatase to treat acute kidney injury. The clinical trial will test the safety and tolerability of the human recombinant alkaline phosphatase as well as its enzyme-chemical activity in blood serum, an indicator of treatment…
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Investment Fund to Finance Global Health Technologies
A consortium of private sector, foundation, and government partners formed the Global Health Investment Fund, to finance higher-risk, late-stage development of vaccines and other public health innovations in low-income countries. The fund is led by the bank JPMorgan Chase and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with contributions from Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the…
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Challenge Seeks Commercialization of Breast Cancer Advances
A new challenge sponsored by the Avon Foundation for Women, with National Cancer Institute and Center for Advancing Innovation, aims to accelerate commercialization of unlicensed research discoveries related to breast cancer. In the Breast Cancer Start-up Challenge, Avon Foundation will award $250,000 to teams starting new companies that combine lab discoveries with solid business plans…
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Biotech Financing Up, Licensing Down in First Half of 2013
The biotechnology industry experienced healthy growth in venture financing and valuations in the first half of 2013, but licensing deals — a prime source of biotech revenue — were flat during the period, pointing to limits on the industry’s growth potential. This accounting of biotech industry financial activity is described in a report from Evaluate…
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NIST Funding $7.4M for Additive Manufacturing Standards
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of U.S. Department of Commerce, is awarding two grants totaling $7.4 million to improve measurement and standards for additive manufacturing, industrial applications of three-dimensional printing. Most of the money — $5 million — is going to a consortium of 27 organization headed by the National Additive Manufacturing…
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Biotech Start-Up Finds STD Treatment in Anti-Cancer Therapy
Researchers with the biotechnology company TherapyX Inc. in Buffalo, New York found a potential treatment for the sexually transmitted disease (STD) gonorrhea in a therapy the company is developing for cancer. The team from TherapyX, a spin-off company of the University at Buffalo medical school, published its findings today online in the Journal of Infectious…
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Cleveland Clinic Spin-Off Developing Breast Cancer Vaccine
Shield Biotech, a spin-off company from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, is creating a vaccine to prevent breast cancer based on research conducted at the clinic’s research institute. Vincent Tuohy, a Cleveland Clinic immunologist, founded the company with the clinic’s commercialization division, and serves as its chief scientist. Tuohy’s research seeks to find a method for protecting…
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Graphene Photodetector Integrated with Semiconductor Chip
Researchers at Vienna University of Technology and Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria built a detector and converter of optical signals with graphene into a traditional semiconductor chip, making it easier to integrate optics and electronics in a single device. The team led by Vienna’s Thomas Mueller published its findings online this week in the…
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Lab-On-Chip Diagnostics Company Lands $2.1M Angel Financing
ChipCare Corp., a spin-off company from University of Toronto in Canada developing hand-held diagnostics devices to replace fixed expensive lab equipment, secured $2.05 million in early stage angel financing. The deal combines investments from university, private-sector, and Canadian government sources, according to an announcement by Grand Challenges Canada, a government-financed organization supporting medical innovations in…