Science and Enterprise

Tag: Europe

  • Australian Science Agency, Biotech Partner on Insect Silks

    Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the global biotechnology company Lonza have agreed to develop new insect silks for medical and industrial applications. Financial and intellectual property terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Insect silk is a potential component in a range of new products and applications because of properties such…

  • Forest Biofuels Unsustainable, Could Boost Greenhouse Gases

    An analysis by researchers in Europe and the U.S. indicate that large-scale biofuel production from forest biomass is unsustainable and will increase greenhouse gas emissions. The findings appear online in the journal Global Change Biology/Bioenergy. The report, an invited analysis by the journal, was led by the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Germany, Oregon State…

  • Degradable Stent Found Safe for Long Term Coronary Treatment

    Researchers in Japan and the Netherlands completed a 10-year study that found a stent that degrades and is absorbed into the blood vessel tissue to be safe for patients with coronary artery disease. The findings are published online ahead of print in the journal Circulation. Stents are mesh tubes inserted to prop open coronary arteries…

  • Piramal Healthcare Buys Bayer Molecular Imaging Portfolio

    Piramal Healthcare, a pharmaceutical and drug discovery company in Mumbai, India, says it has acquired rights to the molecular imaging research and development portfolio of Bayer Pharma AG in Leverkusen, Germany. The company has formed a new subsidiary, Piramal Imaging SA, to manage these assets. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed, but Piramal…

  • AstraZeneca, NGO to Partner on Neglected Tropical Diseases

    The group Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a non-government organization in Geneva, and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca have agreed to collaborate on drug-compound screening for three neglected tropical diseases. The three diseases — leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, and sleeping sickness — together affect nearly 10 million people worldwide. Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will provide to…

  • European Approval Granted for Temporary Heart Pump

    Abiomed Inc. in Danvers, Massachusetts, a developer of medical devices for circulatory support, says its Impella cVAD heart pump has received a CE mark indicating approval to market the device in EU member countries. The marking, an  acronym for the French Conformité Européenne, certifies that a product has met EU health, safety, and environmental requirements.…

  • Skin, Umbilical Cord Cells Converted to Nerve Cells

    Researchers at University of Bonn, with colleagues from medical centers in Germany, have developed a process for converting human cells from skin and umbilical cords directly into usable quantities of nerve cells, bypassing previous intermediate steps. Their findings appear this week in the journal Nature Methods (paid subscription required). Converting one type of human cell…

  • Non-Invasive Technique Developed to Measure Brain Pressure

    Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with colleagues in the U.S. and the U.K., have devised a non-invasive technique to measure intercranial pressure that builds up in cases of head trauma and brain tumors. Their findings are described in this week’s issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine (paid subscription required). When head trauma or…

  • Venture Funds in U.S., Europe Raise More Cash in Q1

    More venture capital (VC) funds in the U.S. successfully hit their fund-raising targets in the first quarter of 2012, and like their counterparts in Europe, raised more cash in the process, according to Dow Jones LP Source, a financial industry research service. Tracking VC fund-raising offers an early indicator of investment money for start-up companies…

  • Advaxis, Karolinska Institutet to Collaborate on Allergies

    Advaxis Inc., a biotechnology company in Princeton, New Jersey says it will partner with a lab at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institutet on research leading to preventions or treatments for cat allergies. Financial terms of the collaboration were not revealed. The company plans to work with the lab headed by Marianne van Hage, a professor of immunology…