Tag: preclinical
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Trial Underway to Test Mutation Fix for Cystic Fibrosis
12 March 2014. An early-stage clinical trial is underway testing the safety and chemical activity of a drug designed to correct a genetic mutation causing cystic fibrosis. The study, sponsored by N30 Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Boulder, Colorado — the drug’s inventor — aims to enroll up to 40 healthy adults. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease…
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Chip Designed to Capture Images Inside Heart, Blood Vessels
19 February 2014. Engineers at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta designed and lab-tested a microscopic chip to create real-time, three-dimensional images from inside the heart and blood vessels. The team led by mechanical engineering professor Levent Degertekin, with colleagues from Georgia Tech and Istanbul Technical University in Turkey, published its findings in this month’s issue of…
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Cancer Drugs Shown With Potential Against HIV-Related Fungus
11 February 2014. Medical researchers at University of Rochester in New York found two drugs treating breast cancer have properties that point to their potential as a treatment for Cryptococcus, a fungus causing meningitis in people with HIV/AIDS. The team led by Rochester’s Damian Krysan, with colleagues from Temple and Duke universities and University of…
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Drugs Found with Potential to Replace Traumatic Memories
Neuroscientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology found a class of drug compounds, some of which are now in use, can erase fear-causing memories in lab mice, and thus could treat post-traumatic stress disorder. The team from the lab of Li-Huei Tsai in MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory published its findings today in the…
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Discovery Process Devised to Better Test Drug Effects
Biomedical researchers at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California developed a drug discovery method that combines the rapid screening of potential compounds with preclinical tests of the best prospects, and in the process identified a potential new compound to treat type 2 diabetes. The Scripps team led by chemical physiologists Enrique Saez and Benjamin…
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NIH Giving In-Kind Technical Services for Rare Diseases
National Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting three new projects with technical research services for two companies and one university lab developing therapies for rare diseases. The projects aim to develop treatments for acute radiation syndrome, brain injury following cardiac arrest, and beta thalassemia, a rare blood disorder. The awards are a product of the…
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Immunotherapy Shown Effective in Brain Tumor Animal Test
Researchers at University of Zurich in Switzerland tested a therapy in lab mice that harnesses the immune system to fight glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The team led by Zurich immunologist Burkhard Becher reported its findings yesterday online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (paid subscription required) and seeks commercial partners for accelerated…
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Engineered Tomato Helps Cut Contributor to Clogged Arteries
Researchers at University of California in Los Angeles found feeding a bio-engineered tomato to lab animals cuts their production of a fatty acid believed to contribute to high cholesterol levels. The team led by Alan Fogelman, director of the atherosclerosis research unit at UCLA’s medical school published their findings in the December issue of the…
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GlaxoSmithKline Names Academic Drug Discovery Partners
The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline named 10 academic scientists to its Discovery Fast Track competition that aims to turn university research findings into new therapies. The researchers will get access to GlaxoSmithKline’s facilities and materials to accelerate the drug discovery process, potentially leading to a collaboration to further develop the compound. Discovery Fast Track began in…
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Automated System Developed to Monitor Drug-Induced Comas
Engineers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and medical researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston developed and tested in lab animals a system connecting the brain to a drug infusion device that automatically controls anesthesia drugs administered to patients in a drug-induced coma. The team led by MIT engineering professor Emery Brown, who is also…