Laboratory News and Research

RSS

Kolltan Pharmaceuticals raises additional $5 million to close Series A financing

Kolltan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has raised an additional $5 million to close its Series A preferred stock financing at $40 million. Participants in the Series A financing, originally announced in January 2009, include Purdue Pharma, L.P., HBM BioCapital L.P., the Pritzker/Vlock family, and other substantial private life science investors.

19 Aug 2009

Sinovac Biotech announces positive results from clinical trial of H1N1 vaccine

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. announced today positive top-line results from the completed clinical trial for its internally-developed H1N1 vaccine. The clinical data unblinding conference was held in Beijing on the afternoon of August 17, 2009. Notably, Sinovac is the first company worldwide to complete clinical trials for the H1N1 vaccine.

19 Aug 2009

Researchers reveal new ways to detect the hidden biases of medical research

A study by researchers at the University of Leicester has revealed new ways to spot whether medical research has hidden biases. Writing in the prestigious British Medical Journal, Santiago Moreno and his colleagues demonstrate how to spot 'publication bias' in the reporting of clinical trials which potentially form the basis of Government and NHS health policies.

19 Aug 2009

MicroDynamics to introduce the MicroQC inspection microscope at Quality Expo

MicroDynamics will be introducing the MicroQC inspection microscope at Quality Expo. The MicroQC is a highly versatile, lightweight instrument that is extremely accurate with proven repeatable results.

19 Aug 2009

New understanding on meningitis cause

A specific protein on the surface of a common bacterial pathogen allows the bacteria to leave the bloodstream and enter the brain, initiating the deadly infection known as meningitis. The new finding, which may guide development of improved vaccines to protect those most vulnerable, including young infants and the elderly, is now available online in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

19 Aug 2009

Discovery of key factor that stimulates brain cancer cells to spread

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have found that the activity of a protein in brain cells helps stimulate the spread of an aggressive brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In a move toward therapy, the researchers showed that a small designer protein can block this activity and reduce the spreading of GBM cells grown in the laboratory.

19 Aug 2009

Nonsurgical, quick and accurate test for diagnosing endometriosis discovered

A quick and accurate test for endometriosis that does not require surgery has been developed by researchers from Australia, Jordan and Belgium, according to new research published online today (Wednesday 19 August) in Europe's leading reproductive medicine journal Human Reproduction.

19 Aug 2009

New software programs improve the cancer biomarker identification process

caCORRECT and omniBioMarker programs earn silver-level compatibility certification from NIH/National Cancer Institute's cancer Bioinformatics Grid

19 Aug 2009

Fractal patterns and microchannels to advance tissue engineering

Utilizing fractal patterns similar to those created by lightning strikes, Victor Ugaz, associate professor in the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, has created a network of microchannels that could advance the field of tissue engineering by serving as a three-dimensional vasculature for the support of larger tissue constructs, such as human organs.

18 Aug 2009

DNA evidence found at crime scenes can easily be falsified

Nucleix, Ltd., an emerging life science company specializing in forensic DNA analysis, announced that company researchers have proven DNA evidence found at crime scenes can easily be falsified using basic equipment, know-how and access to DNA or a DNA database.

18 Aug 2009

Running and addiction

Although exercise is good for your health, extreme exercise may be physically addicting. Rats given a drug that produces withdrawal in heroin addicts went into withdrawal after running excessively in exercise wheels, according to new research. Rats that ran the hardest had the most severe withdrawal symptoms.

17 Aug 2009

Aeterna Zentaris announces results from trials of Cetrorelix in benign prostatic hyperplasia

AEterna Zentaris Inc. today reported Phase 3 results for its North American efficacy trial Z-033 and the safety trial Z-041 in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), with its lead endocrinology compound for urology, cetrorelix pamoate. As announced on March 6, 2009, sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC entered into an agreement with AEterna Zentaris for the development, registration and marketing of cetrorelix in BPH for the U.S. market.

17 Aug 2009

New target for Alzheimer's disease

For close to a decade, pharmaceutical researchers have been in hot pursuit of compounds to activate a key nicotine receptor that plays a role in cognitive processes. Triggering it, they hope, might prevent or even reverse the devastation wrought by Alzheimer’s disease.

16 Aug 2009

Trimeris Reports Q2 2009 financials

Trimeris, Inc. (NASDAQ:TRMS) today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009, reporting net income of $1.3 million, or $0.06 per share compared with $590,000, or $0.03 per share for the quarter ended June 30, 2008. This result was primarily driven by decreased operating expenses offset, in part, by decreased FUZEON® sales and an increase in tax expense.

13 Aug 2009

First batch of cancer vaccine from Cancer Vaccine Collaborative goes into trial

The first batch of NY-ESO-1 recombinant protein produced in a facility supported entirely by non-profit entities has successfully cleared regulatory review and has entered clinical testing. The clinical trials are part of the Cancer Vaccine Collaborative, a joint program of the Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI) and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ltd. (LICR).

13 Aug 2009

New tumour theory could change cancer treatment

University of Sydney researcher Dr Guy Lyons has come up with a new theory of cancer tumours that could change the way we treat cancer and conduct research into its causes.

13 Aug 2009

Human brain distinctly separates living and non-living objects for processing

For unknown reasons, the human brain distinctly separates the handling of images of living things from images of non-living things, processing each image type in a different area of the brain. For years, many scientists have assumed the brain segregated visual information in this manner to optimize processing the images themselves, but new research shows that even in people who have been blind since birth the brain still separates the concepts of living and non-living objects.

13 Aug 2009

Discovery of compounds that selectively kills cancer stem cells

The cancer stem cells that drive tumor growth and resist chemotherapies and radiation treatments that kill other cancer cells aren't invincible after all. Researchers reporting online on August 13th in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication, have discovered the first compound that targets those cancer stem cells directly.

13 Aug 2009

Researchers tackle aggressive cancer cells head on

A multi-institutional team of Boston-area researchers has discovered a chemical that works in mice to kill the rare but aggressive cells within breast cancers that have the ability to seed new tumors.

13 Aug 2009

Scientists grow new blood vessels to combat heart disease

Although open-heart surgery is a frequent treatment for heart disease, it remains extremely dangerous. Now groundbreaking research from Dr. Britta Hardy of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine has shown the potential for an injected protein to regrow blood vessels in the human heart ― eliminating the need for risky surgery altogether.

13 Aug 2009