Tag: genomics

  • Seattle Children’s, Biotech Collaborate on Gene Editing

    11 September 2015. The biotechnology company bluebird bio and Seattle Children’s Research Institute are partnering on gene editing technologies to treat inherited pediatric diseases. Their agreement calls for bluebird bio — the name is spelled in all lower-case characters — based in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Seattle — to provide $3 million for research on these…

  • Research Group, CureVac Partner on AIDS Vaccine

    10 September 2015. An organization encouraging development of AIDS vaccines and the pharmaceutical company CureVac are collaborating on creating a potent AIDS vaccine technology. Financial and intellectual property aspects of the partnership between the not-for-profit International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, or IAVI, and CureVac in Tubingen, Germany were not disclosed. IAVI sponsors research and development of…

  • Patent Awarded for Cancer-Detecting Blood Test

    10 September 2015. VolitionRx, a developer of blood tests to screen for cancer, received a U.S. patent for its underlying technology that detects changes in basic cell proteins found in blood. Patent number 9,128,086 was issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on 8 September to four inventors and assigned to the company, incorporated…

  • Alliance Mounts Comprehensive ALS Research Program

    9 September 2015. A coalition of three medical centers in the U.S. is leading a comprehensive research initiative to find treatments and eventually cures for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The collaboration, known as Answer ALS brings together researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and Massachusetts General Hospital…

  • Genomic Technique Devised to ID Drug Candidates

    8 September 2015. Researchers at University of Illinois in Champaign developed a technique using genomic tools to identify natural substances in bacterial strains with potential therapeutic properties. The team led by microbiologist William Metcalf and chemistry professor Wilfed van der Donk published its findings last week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (paid…

  • Hemophilia Therapy Candidate Given Breakthrough Status

    4 September 2015. A synthetic antibody designed to prevent bleeding episodes among people with the most common type of hemophilia received a breakthrough therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The pharmaceutical company Roche says FDA assigned the designation its biologic therapy code-named ACE910, now being tested in clinical trials. Hemophilia is an inherited…

  • Genomic Sequencing Improves Children’s Cancer Care

    2 September 2015. A study by medical researchers at University of Michigan shows sequencing of genomes and tumors of children with cancer provides their physicians with new information leading to changes in care given a large percentage of patients. The team led by Michigan pathology professor Arul Chinnaiyan published its findings yesterday in the Journal…

  • Genome Editing Biotech Gains $70M in Venture Funds

    1 September 2015. Intellia Therapeutics, a developer of therapies that edit human genomes to fix inherited disorders, raised $70 million in its second round of venture financing. OrbiMed HealthCare Fund Management led the funding round for the Cambridge, Massachusetts enterprise, with new and current investors taking part. Intellia Therapeutics, founded in November 2014, is a…

  • Grant Funds Research on Nanotech Cancer Treatments

    1 September 2015. National Cancer Institute is renewing its support for a Northwestern University research center advancing nanotechnology to design new cancer treatments. The Northwestern University Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence is the recipient of a new five-year, $11.7 million grant from National Cancer Institute, part of National Institutes of Health. The Center for Cancer…

  • Synthetic Biology Company Raises $200 Million in IPO

    21 August 2015. Intrexon Corp., a company developing genomic solutions with synthetic biology, raised some $200 million in its initial public stock offering. The Germantown, Maryland enterprise issued 4,878,049 shares of common stock priced at $41.00, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol XON. The company’s shares closed today at $45.46,…