Tag: preclinical
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$45M Raised by Protein Folding Drug Discovery Company
10 February 2016. A company discovering new treatments that address errant folding of proteins causing neurological disorders raised $45 million in its first venture funding round. Yumanity Therapeutics, a spin-off enterprise from the Whitehead Institute affiliated with MIT, started in December 2014 and aims to discover therapies for neurodegenerative diseases caused by misfolded proteins. Yumanity…
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Stent Implants Demonstrated to Transmit Brain Activity
9 February 2016. A team of engineers and medical researchers in Australia show it’s possible to safely implant electrodes in the brain to transmit brain activity with a catheter-delivered stent. A description of the device and delivery process with sheep appears in yesterday’s (8 February) issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology (paid subscription required). The…
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Start-Up Licensing Wayne State Neurological Discoveries
8 February 2016. Wayne State University is licensing research discoveries from its pharmacy school to a new enterprise for development as drugs to treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, and other neurological disorders. Financial aspects of the agreement with Trimaran Pharma Inc. were not disclosed. The deal covers research by pharmaceutical sciences professor Aloke…
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Eye Disease Gene Defect Repaired with CRISPR
27 January 2016. Gene editing techniques repaired a defective gene in stem cells from an individual with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited eye disease. The team from Columbia University and University of Iowa reported its findings in today’s (27 January) issue of Scientific Reports. Retinitis pigmentosa is a family of genetic eye disorders that result in damage…
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MD Anderson, AbbVie Partner on Immunotherapies
22 January 2016. MD Anderson Cancer Center and pharmaceutical company AbbVie are collaborating on new treatments for cancer than harness the body’s immune system. Financial and intellectual property aspects of the three-year partnership were not disclosed. MD Anderson is part of the University of Texas system in Houston. The agreement gives AbbVie, in Chicago, access…
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Company Founded to Advance Concussion Treatment
21 January 2016. A San Diego surgeon who conducts research on traumatic brain injury started a new company to take his discovery of a drug for treating concussions to market. The company, Oxeia Biopharmaceuticals founded by Vishal Bansal, began operations today, and revealed its corporate and scientific boards. Bansal studied the connection between metabolic and…
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Human Cornea Cells Derived from Stem Cells
28 December 2015. A biotechnology company designed a process for generating human cornea cells from embryonic stem cells, without a donated cornea, the current replacement therapy. The team from Ocata Therapeutics Inc. led by Robert Lanza, the company’s chief scientist, published its proof-of-concept findings last week in the journal PLoS One. Lanza and colleagues —…
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Detailed Brain Activity Imaging Being Developed
17 December 2015. An engineering group at University of Arizona is developing a new technology that promises to provide better images of electrical activity in the brain. The project, led by Arizona biomedical engineering professor Russell Witte, is funded by a three-year, $1.15 million grant from National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of…
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Nanofibers, Stem Cells Studied for Rotator Cuff Repair
16 December 2015. An engineering lab at Columbia University is researching a new regenerative process that better integrates human tendon and bone tissue to repair rotator cuff injuries. The team led by biomedical engineering professor Helen Lu is funded by $1.1 million grant from Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs in the U.S. Department of Defense.…
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Nanotech Multi-Drug Delivery Technique Devised for Cancer
10 December 2015. A pharmacy lab at Oregon State University developed a technique for combining three drugs into nanoscale particles that treat melanoma spreading to lymph nodes in lab animals. The team led by Oregon State pharmacy professor Adam Alani published its proof-of-concept findings last month in Journal of Controlled Release (paid subscription required). Alani’s…