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Clinical Trial Tests Skin Cell Spray as Leg Ulcer Therapy
A clinical trial by researchers at Healthpoint Biotherapeutics in Fort Worth, Texas found a spray-on skin cell therapy to be faster and more effective in healing venous leg ulcers than the standard care. The findings, with contributions from research colleagues at University of Miami, University of North Carolina, and Barry University, appear online in the…
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ARPA-E to Fund $43 Million for Energy Storage R&D Projects
Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), in the U.S. Department of Energy, will support 19 new research and development projects to improve the management of energy storage technologies for vehicles and electrical power grids. The projects, totaling $43 million, will be funded out of the Energy Department’s Advanced Management and Protection of Energy Storage Devices (AMPED)…
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Special: Health Care Experts Propose Sweeping Cost Control Changes
Updated: 4 August 2012 A group of noted health care policy experts offer a series of proposals they say can rein in health care costs, with implications for the federal budget, the economy as a whole, and developers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. The panel, convened by the Center for American Progress, a progressive think-tank…
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Biotech Chemical Company Raises $41.5M in Venture Funds
Genomatica, a developer of chemicals from renewable feedstocks in San Diego, raised $41.5 million in series D financing, the fourth cycle of venture funding after start-up. The round includes the Italian chemical company and new corporate partner Versalis, with existing investors Alloy Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mohr Davidow Ventures, TPG Biotech, VantagePoint Capital Partners, and…
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Algorithm Taps Twitter Archive to Find Bullying Cases
Researchers at University of Wisconsin in Madison developed a method for analyzing Twitter messages to find tweets, as Twitter messages are called, with evidence of childhood bullying. Educational psychologist Amy Bellmore (pictured left) and colleagues from Wisoconsin’s psychology and computer science departments presented their findings at a North American chapter meeting of the Association for…
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Trial Tests Non-Invasive Glucose Monitor in Surgery Patients
Echo Therapeutics Inc., a medical device company in Philadelphia, says a clinical trial shows the accuracy of its non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring system with 15 surgical patients. The trial involved general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery patients in the intensive care unit at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. The trial tested Echo Therapeutics’ Symphony tCGM…
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Lighting Devised to Help Shift Workers Regulate Body Clocks
Researchers at Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada developed blue lighting to help shift workers regulate their internal clocks, to stay alert when working and get sleep when needed. Marc Hébert (pictured left), an ophthalmology professor at Laval and researcher in the university’s mental health research center, invented the light and started a company to…
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Most Hospitals in Collaborative Gain on Quality Measures
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey says its Aligning Forces for Quality initiative improved the quality of care for patients in measurable ways at hospitals in 16 communities in the U.S. The foundation released results from an evaluation of the program that aims to improve the quality of health care, reduce disparities,…
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Hydrogel Culture Process Developed for Tissue Engineering
Engineers at University of Toronto in Canada developed a culture that can grow tissue cells in sufficient quantities and precision that it can lead to devices to produce treatments such as skin grafts on demand. The findings appear in the July issue of the journal Advanced Materials (paid subscription required), and the technology is being…
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Biopharm Gains SBIR Grant for Cystic Fibrosis Treatment
OrPro Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company in San Diego, received a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from National Institutes of Health, to advance development of its lead product, ORP-100, for the treatment of cystic fibrosis. The company did not disclose the amount of the award from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of…