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Pfizer, Diagnostics Company to Collaborate on Sepsis Tests
SIRS-Lab,a molecular diagnostics company in Jena, Germany and Pfizer Pharma GmbH in Berlin said today they plan to collaborate in the field of sepsis. The collaboration aims to develop molecular diagnostic tests for early and accurate targeting of anti-infection therapy. Sepsis is a life-threatening illness caused by the body’s response to a bacterial infection. The…
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FDA Clears Protein Test for Heart Failure Prognosis
BG Medicine Inc., a Waltham, Massacusetts developer of molecular diagnostics using biomarkers, says that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the company’s galectin-3 test to help assess the prognosis of patients diagnosed with chronic heart failure. The company says this 510(k) clearance is the first time FDA has cleared a test to…
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Institute Developing Autonomous Underwater Robots
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Optronics, System Technologies and Image Exploitation (IOSB) in Ilmenau, Germany, with colleagues at other Fraunhofer facilities, are working on autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) that are smaller, more robust, and less expensive than underwater robots now in use. With current technology, underwater robots need to be directed by humans, which…
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Study Shows Drug Combo Effective as HIV Prevention
A new study called iPrEx shows that individuals at high risk for HIV infection who took a once-a-day commercially-available tablet containing two widely used HIV medications experienced fewer HIV infections than those who received a placebo pill. The researchers say that the clinical trial, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, is the first…
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U.S., Europe Patents Issued for RNAi Drug Delivery
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. in Vancouver, Canada, a developer of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, says that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and European Patent Office (EPO) have issued patents covering elements of Tekmira’s lipid nanoparticle technology for delivering nucleic acid therapeutics, including small interfering RNA (siRNA). RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat…
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FDA Approves 3-D Digital Mammography System
Hologic Inc., a developer of medical diagnostics and imaging products for women’s health care in Bedford, Massachusetts, says it has received an approval letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the Selenia Dimensions three-dimensional digital mammography tomosynthesis system. The Selenia Dimensions 3-D system is a new method for breast cancer screening and…
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Researchers Find High Temperatures Can Kill Superbug Genes
New findings by civil engineering researchers at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis show that treating municipal wastewater solids at higher temperatures can help fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, but the growing presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria — called superbugs — has raised concerns about the future effectiveness of antibiotics.…
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Lab Adds Nanoscale Layers on Silicon for Semiconductors
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, have integrated ultra-thin layers of the semiconductor material indium arsenide onto a silicon substrate to create a nanoscale transistor with working electronic properties. Indium arsenide offers several advantages as an alternative to silicon including superior electron mobility…
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Research Advances Paper As Electronic Display Media
A University of Cincinnati (UC) engineering researcher in Ohio has discovered a process for displaying electronic content on paper, which expands the possibility of lower-cost, or even disposable, electronic reading devices. Current e-readers, such as the iPad or Kindle, display content with electronic circuitry over glass as their display substrates. UC electrical Engineering Professor Andrew…
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Macular Degeneration Drug Achieves Goal in Clinical Trial
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Tarrytown, New York and the German pharmaceutical company Bayer HealthCare said today that all regimens of their drug VEGF Trap-Eye (aflibercept ophthalmic solution) met their primary objectives in two separate Phase 3 clinical studies of patients with the neovascular form of age-related macular degeneration, often called wet AMD. VEGF Trap-Eye is…