Tag: Europe
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U.S. Patent Granted for Simple Dry-Powder Drug Inhaler
7 April 2014. Medical device manufacturer Hovione International in Lisbon, Portugal, received a patent for its inhaler for administering respiratory drugs in dry powder form. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent 8,677,992 on 25 March to three inventors and assigned to Hovione International. Among the inventors is Peter Villax, the company’s vice-president for innovation.…
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Clinical Trial to Test Advanced Lung Cancer Immunotherapy
7 April 2014. EMD Serono, a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical company Merck in Rockland, Massachusetts, is beginning a clinical trial to test a vaccine-type therapy for advanced cases of non-small cell lung cancer. The late-stage trial is assessing the ability of tecemotide, an experimental drug designed to trigger an immune response against cancer cells, to…
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Novo Nordisk, University Partner on Diabetes in Big Cities
28 March 2014. The pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, based in Denmark, and University College London in the U.K. are studying the scope of diabetes in big cities to develop a strategy for attacking the problem, while accounting for the special needs of urban centers. The Cities Changing Diabetes project, which includes Steno Diabetes Center, a…
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Drug Discovery Consortium Harnesses Sequencing, Big Data
27 March 2014. A collaboration among the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, European Bioinformatics Institute, and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute aims to tap the power of genomic sequencing combined with bioinformatics to boost the success rate of discovering safe and effective medicines. Financial details of the partnership creating the new Centre for Therapeutic Target Validation were not disclosed. The consortium…
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Investments Added to Breakout Labs Life Science Seed Grants
26 March 2014. NetScientific in Cambridge, U.K. is adding investment funds for qualified life science enterprises taking part in Breakout Labs to help them advance beyond the initial start-up phase. Under the deal, Breakout Labs portfolio companies fitting into NetScientific’s investment priorities will qualify for $250,000 in follow-on investment beyond Breakout Labs’ $350,000 in seed…
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Light-Activated Coating Kills Bacteria, Even in Dark
25 March 2014. Chemistry researchers at University College London in the U.K. developed a material that when coated on surfaces in the lab can kill bacteria when exposed to light, as well as in total darkness. The team led by UCL chemistry professor Ivan Parkin published its findings online earlier this month in the journal…
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Early Trial Shows Wireless Pacemaker Safe, Effective
24 March 2014. Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York found in an early-stage clinical trial, a smaller and lead-less heart pacemaker could be safely implanted and operate for at least three months without complications. The team led by Mount Sinai cardiologist Vivek Reddy — with colleagues in Netherlands, Germany, and Czech Republic, and…
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Smartphone App for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Development
20 March 2014. Engineers at University of Cambridge in the U.K. designed a smartphone app that accurately performs tests with urine or saliva samples at the point of care. The app, called Colorimetrix, is the work of Leo Martinez-Hurtado, now a postdoctoral researcher at Technical University of Munich and Cambridge Ph.D. candidate Ali Yetisen, who…
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Blood Biomarker Measured in Hockey Player Concussions
14 March 2014. Researchers at Quanterix Corp. in Lexington, Massachusetts, and universities in Sweden, tested the company’s method for detecting and measuring tau protein as an indicator of concussion in the blood of professional hockey players. The team led by Pashtun Shahim at University of Gothenburg, with colleagues at Quanterix, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and University College London published their findings…
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Virtual Fish in Development for Environmental Toxin Testing
13 March 2014. Researchers at Plymouth University in the U.K. and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca are developing a technique to gauge potential toxic effects of chemicals in rivers and oceans using cells from fish configured into a testing device. The three-year, £600,000 ($998,000) project of biologist Awadhesh Jha with colleagues from Plymouth and AstraZeneca is funded by U.K. science…