Tag: preclinical
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Stem Cell Biotech Gains $44M in First Venture Round
24 March 2015. A biotechnology start-up developing a stem-cell technology to replace missing beta cells that produce insulin for patients with type 1 diabetes, secured $44 million in its first venture funding round. Funding for Semma Therapeutics in Cambridge, Massachusetts was led by MPM Capital, with participation by Fidelity Biosciences, ARCH Venture Partners, and Medtronic.…
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Clinical Trial to Test Ketamine to Treat Rett Syndrome
23 March 2015. A clinical trial is planned to test an anesthetic used in surgery as a treatment for Rett syndrome, a rare developmental disorder affecting girls. The trial testing the anesthetic ketamine will be conducted by Case Western Reserve University medical school in Cleveland, funded by a $1.3 million grant from Rett Syndrome Research Trust.…
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Biotechs Partner on Cancer Stem Cell-Gene Therapies
23 March 2015. Two biotechnology companies are combining their expertise in neural stem cells and gene delivery to develop new cancer therapies that the parties say would be more effective with fewer side effects than chemotherapy drugs used today. While GenVec Inc. in Gaithersburg, Maryland will participate economically in the collaboration with TheraBiologics Inc. in…
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Cloud Pharma, Univ of Florida Partner on Cancer Drug Design
17 March 2017. Cloud Pharmaceuticals, a company designing drug compounds with computer-based tools, and University of Florida’s medical school are collaborating on the design of new drugs limiting an enzyme implicated in the proliferation of cancer cells. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. The agreement calls for the university’s Department of Medicine and…
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U.K. Govt, Pharmas Form Dementia Research Fund
17 March 2015. A coalition of the United Kingdom government, five pharmaceutical companies, and the foundation Alzheimer’s Research UK are creating a $100 million fund to finance early research into treatments and cures for dementia. The U.K. health minister Jeremy Hunt is scheduled to unveil the Dementia Discovery Fund at a World Health Organization meeting…
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MedImmune, Joslin Partner on Diabetes Research
10 March 2015. Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston and MedImmune, the biotechnology subsidiary of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, are collaborating on research to identify new drugs to treat diabetes. While the partnership calls for MedImmune to fund research conducted at Joslin, financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Diabetes is a chronic condition where the pancreas…
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Heart-on-Chip Device Built to Screen Drugs
9 March 2015. A bioengineering team at University of California in Berkeley developed a device with cardiac tissue derived from stem cells that can test drug candidates for potentially toxic effects. Researchers from the lab of engineering professor Kevin Healy published their findings today in the journal Scientific Reports. Healy and colleagues created this device…
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Genome Editing Shown to Repair Sickle Cell Gene
2 March 2015. Geneticists at the biotechnology company Editas Medicine show how genome editing techniques could repair mutations in the gene that causes sickle cell disease. Cecilia Cotta-Ramusino, a researcher with Editas, presented her findings today at the Keystone Symposium for Genomic Instability and DNA Repair in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Sickle cell disease is a…
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Bristol-Myers Squibb Acquires Biotech Cancer Therapies
24 February 2015. Bristol-Myers Squibb is purchasing biotechnology company Flexus Biosciences Inc., gaining many of that company’s cancer therapies in a deal valued as much as $1.25 billion to Flexus’s shareholders. The deal allows Flexus Biosciences shareholders to spin-off a new enterprise to develop the remaining drug programs, including treatments for cancer. The acquisition gives…
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Foundation, Pfizer Collaborate on Alzheimer’s Targets
11 February 2015. Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation are joining forces to sponsor research to find new Alzheimer’s disease drug targets. Financial details of the collaboration were not revealed. The foundation and Pfizer plan to invest in project teams of Pfizer and academic scientists to translate academic research into candidates…