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Study: Pill Splitting Inaccurate, Potentially Dangerous
A study in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing (paid subscription required) suggests that the practice of cutting prescription tablets in half results in wide dosage variations, which can be dangerous for patients needing accurate doses of their medicines. The research was done by the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ghent…
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Recycled Haitian Concrete Found Safe, Strong
Nearly one year after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti, engineering and concrete experts at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta report that concrete and other debris in Port-au-Prince can be safely recycled into strong new construction material. Their findings appear in the Bulletin of the American Ceramic Society, published today (4 January 2011). Georgia Tech…
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NSF Awards Small Business Grant for Antioxidant Processes
ChromaDex Corporation in Irvine, California says it received a $500,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to commercialize its technology for anthocyanins, a form of plant-based antioxidants. Anthocyanins are naturally occurring plant pigments or colorants that contribute to the vivid coloring of berries. They are also considered helpful in protecting against oxidative stress and control…
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Pharma, Biotech Ink Deal on Anti-Inflammatory Candidate
XOMA Ltd., a biotechnology company in Berkeley, California, and Les Laboratoires Servier a French pharmaceutical company, announced an agreement to develop and commercialize XOMA 052, XOMA’s anti-inflammatory drug candidate. XOMA 052 is designed to inhibit the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1 beta believed to be a primary trigger of pathologic inflammation in multiple diseases. Under the agreement,…
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Nanomaterial to Boost Lithium-Ion Battery Performance
A new type of nanomaterial developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York could sharply reduce the time needed to recharge lithium (Li)-ion batteries, the type of battery found in electric automobiles, laptop computers, mobile phones, and other portable devices. Nanomaterials are made from technologies that operate at nanometer, or one-billionth of a meter,…
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Biotech Licenses Natural Anti-Bacterial Compounds
AMRI, a biotechnology company in Albany, New York agreed to a research and licensing deal with Genentech, a Roche Group company, for AMRI’s anti-bacterial compounds from its natural products sample collection. Under the agreement, Genentech will receive an exclusive license to develop and commercialize potential products from AMRI’s anti-bacterial program. AMRI will also collaborate with…
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Illinois Start Up Licenses Anti-Staph Infection Research
Start up company ImmuVen in Champaign, Illinois agreed to license new technology and processes for treating methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. ImmuVen was founded by the technology’s inventors, microbiologists David Kranz of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Patrick Schlievert of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. MRSA is a…
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Standards Proposed for Prescription Drug Labels
The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP), a standards–setting body for prescription and over–the–counter medicines, has prepared a set of standards to guide the content, language, format, and appearance of prescription medication labels in the U.S. The draft standards are open for a 90-day public comment period. USP says the standards, now in draft, reflect how patients…
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Collaboration Targets New Circulating Tumor Cell Technology
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston and Veridex LLC, a biotechnology subsidiary of pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson in Raritan, New Jersey said today they plan to develop and commercialize a technology for capturing, counting, and characterizing tumor cells found in patients’ blood. These circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells that have detached from…
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FDA Clears Stem Cell Trial for Macular Degeneration
Advanced Cell Technology Inc. (ACT), a biotechnology company in Marlborough, Massachusetts, said today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its application to test-treat dry age-related macular degeneration using human embryonic stem cells. Dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness among Americans who are age…