Tag: genomics
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Penn, Epic Sciences Partner on Liquid Biopsies
13 November 2015. University of Pennsylvania’s medical school plans to apply liquid biopsy technology developed by Epic Sciences to gain a more detailed understanding of different cancers for individual patient therapies. Financial terms of the agreement between the university and the San Diego biotechnology company were not disclosed. Epic Sciences’s technology detects and analyzes circulating…
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Alliance Plans Adaptive Clinical Trials for Brain Cancer
12 November 2015. A global collaboration plans a series of clinical trials that address precise molecular targets testing treatments for glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain cancer. The alliance combines medical teams, researchers, and patient advocates to employ adaptive clinical trials, a type of clinical study that enables investigators to adjust research tactics as results with…
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USC, Biotech Edit Genes in Stem Cells for HIV Therapy
10 November 2015. A lab at University of Southern California and biotechnology company developed a technique for editing genomes in blood-forming stem cells as a potential treatment for HIV infection. The team from the lab of USC medical school professor Paula Cannon and Sangamo BioSciences in Richmond, California published its findings yesterday in the journal…
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Biotech Targets “Undruggable” Cancer Gene
9 November 2015. A biotechnology company says it plans to focus its technology platform on a cancer-causing gene previously considered beyond the direct reach of today’s cancer drugs. Warp Drive Bio, in Cambridge, Massachusetts told an American Association of Cancer Research meeting in Boston on Saturday the company plans to target the Ras oncogene, a…
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Platelets Engineered to Deliver, Transcribe RNA
5 November 2015. A biochemistry lab at University of British Columbia developed a technique for supercharging blood platelets with genetic material, enabling these cells to deliver therapies through the blood stream. The team led by biochemist and molecular biologist Christian Kastrup published its findings this week in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition (paid subscription required).…
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Computer Model Devised to Predict Drug Side Effects
2 November 2015. A systems biology lab developed a prototype computer model that can test for potential side effects of drugs from an individual’s blood sample. The team led by bioengineering professor Bernhard Palsson at University of California in San Diego published its proof-of-concept results last week in the journal Cell Systems. Palsson and first…
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Gene Editing Licensed for Inherited Disease Treatments
26 October 2015. A Boston biotechnology company is licensing gene-editing technologies from a nearby start-up to design treatments for cystic fibrosis and inherited blood disorders, including sickle cell disease. Vertex Pharmaceuticals, in Boston, received rights to techniques known as CRISPR-Cas9 in a deal that could bring CRISPR Therapeutics, founded in April 2014, as much as…
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Gene Editing Boosts Red Blood Cell Output in Lab
23 October 2015. A research team developed a technique with stem cells and gene editing to increase lab production of red blood cells by 3 times, a process that could help people with rare blood types needing transfusions. The researchers led by pediatrics professor Vijay Sankaran at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School published…
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Immunotherapy Start-Up Gains $102M in Venture Funds
20 October 2015. A new enterprise founded by researchers in the U.S. and Europe that aims to provide personalized cancer therapies harnessing the immune system raised $102 million in its first round of venture financing. The company Gritstone Oncology — in San Francisco and Cambridge, Massachusetts — says it plans to focus initially on developing…
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Evotec, Foundation Partner on Rare Juvenile Disease
20 October 2015. The drug discovery company Evotec AG and Beyond Batten Disease Foundation are collaborating on discovery of new drugs to treat juvenile Batten disease, a rare inherited neurodegenerative disorder. Financial details of the partnership were not revealed. Batten disease is a rare genetic condition of the nervous system that in most cases begins…