Tag: genomics
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Gates Invests, Supports R&D in RNA Vaccine Maker
6 March 2015. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is making an equity investment and providing a grant to support research at CureVac GmbH, a developer of vaccines and therapies with RNA molecules. The foundation is investing €46 million ($52 million) in CureVac, in Tübingen, Germany, but the amount of the grant supporting research in…
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Genome Editing Shown to Repair Sickle Cell Gene
2 March 2015. Geneticists at the biotechnology company Editas Medicine show how genome editing techniques could repair mutations in the gene that causes sickle cell disease. Cecilia Cotta-Ramusino, a researcher with Editas, presented her findings today at the Keystone Symposium for Genomic Instability and DNA Repair in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Sickle cell disease is a…
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Adult Stem Cell Quality Control Methods Devised
27 February 2015. A European research team developed a process for testing the safety and quality of adult stem cells before being used in gene therapy treatments on patients. The team led by stem cell scientist Yann Barrandon at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne published its findings today in the journal EMBO…
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Illumina Adds $40M for Genomic Accelerator Start-Ups
26 February 2015. Illumina Inc., a developer of genomic analysis systems, is adding $40 million for investments in new enterprises based on genomic science that graduate from its accelerator program. The additional financing is provided by Viking Global Investors, an equity and hedge fund investment company in Greenwich, Connecticut. The Illumina Accelerator program provides promising…
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FDA Allows 23andMe to Resume Genetic Health Tests
20 February 2015. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the personal genetics company 23andMe to begin marketing genetic tests for carrying the gene causing Bloom syndrome, a serious inherited disorder. FDA also yesterday began classifying gene-carrier screening tests as class-2 medical devices requiring a limited degree of regulation, and exempting the tests from pre-market…
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RNA Flu Therapy Clinical Trials Complete Enrollment
19 February 2015. Two late-stage clinical trials testing an influenza treatment that disrupts a virus’s genetic replication ability finished recruiting more than 2,000 participants worldwide. The trials are being conducted by MediVector Inc., a drug development company in Boston, for Joint Project Manager Medical Countermeasure Systems, an office in the U.S. Department of Defense developing…
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Janssen, Foundation to Devise Diabetes Prevention Strategy
12 February 2015. Janssen Research and Development, a division of Johnson & Johnson, and JDRF plan to investigate new ways to diagnose early conditions and prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes. Financial details of the collaboration between Janssen and JDRF, a foundation supporting research on type 1 diabetes, were not disclosed. Type 1 diabetes is…
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Genzyme Licensing Gene Therapies from Biotech Start-Up
11 February 2015. Voyager Therapeutics, a designer of gene therapies for central nervous system diseases, is licensing some of its treatments now in development to Genzyme Corp., a biotechnology subsidiary of the drug maker Sanofi. The deal is expected to bring the one year-old spin-off from four university research labs as much as $845 million.…
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Report: U.S. Edge in Advanced Industries Slipping
5 February 2015. A new report from Brookings Institution says the United States is losing ground to overseas competitors in critical advanced industries that hold the key to the country’s long-term economic future. The study by the Washington, D.C. think tank was discussed in a forum today with six CEOs of U.S. companies and the…
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Gene Therapy Biotech Raises $161M in IPO
30 January 2015. Spark Therapeutics Inc., a biotechnology company in Philadelphia, is raising $161 million in its initial public stock offering. The company, developing genetic therapies for inherited diseases, priced 7 million shares of its common stock at $23.00 a share. The stock trades on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol ONCE, and as of…