Aptamer News and Research

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Regado receives Fast Track designation from FDA for REG1

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of actively controllable therapeutics, today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration has designated REG1 for anticoagulant therapy to be used in patients with coronary artery disease during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) as a Fast Track development program.

10 Mar 2014

FDA accepts Regado Biosciences' IND application for REG2

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the late-stage clinical development of its first-in-class, actively controllable antithrombotic drug system, REG1, today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration has accepted the company's investigational new drug (IND) application for REG2. Regado previously completed a single escalating-dose Phase 1 clinical trial of REG2 and plans to conduct additional clinical testing in sub-acute venous thrombosis indications in the future.

13 Feb 2014

Researchers develop RNA aptamers that inhibit HCV replication

Treatments against hepatitis C virus have only been partially successful. A major problem is that antivirals generate drug resistance. Now Seong-Wook Lee of Dankook University, Yongin, Republic of Korea and his collaborators have developed agents that bind to the business end of a critical protein, disabling it so successfully that no resistance has arisen.

3 Jun 2013

Experimental drug can reduce breast-cancer aggressiveness, restore drug-sensitivity

A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) suggests that an unusual experimental drug can reduce breast-cancer aggressiveness, reverse resistance to the drug fulvestrant and perhaps improve the effectiveness of other breast-cancer drugs.

23 Apr 2013

New apatamer can boost therapeutic effect of cell-based vaccines

A small compound called an aptamer that specifically targets and stimulates a human immune cell can greatly increase the effectiveness of an immunotherapeutic drug designed to destroy malignant or virus-infected cells. The development of a novel apatamer that recognizes activated T-lymphocytes and can boost the therapeutic effect of cell-based vaccines is described in an article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers.

23 Jan 2013

TU Darmstadt’s biosensor can diagnose African sleeping sickness before it breaks out

African sleeping sickness is an infectious disease that is widespread south of the Sahara Desert. Although the around sixty million people residing in tropical Africa run the risk of becoming infected with the disease every day, only around four million of them are monitored for the disease by disease-control authorities.

13 Dec 2012

Targeting RAD52 protein can block the process by which leukemia stem cells repair themselves

Despite treatment with imatinib, a successful drug that targets chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a deadly type of cancer, some patients may continue to be at risk for relapse because a tiny pool of stem cells is resistant to treatment and may even accumulate additional genetic aberrations, eventually leading to disease progression and relapse. These leukemia stem cells are full of genetic errors, loaded with potentially lethal breaks in DNA, and are in a state of constant self-repair.

10 Dec 2012

Ultrastable RNA nanoparticles may help treat cancer and viral infections

A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows promise for developing ultrastable RNA nanoparticles that may help treat cancer and viral infections by regulating cell function and binding to cancers without harming surrounding tissue.

4 Sep 2012

New England Biolabs releases Q5 High-Fidelity DNA Polymerase

New England Biolabs (NEB) has released a novel DNA polymerase, Q5 High-Fidelity DNA Polymerase, that provides the highest fidelity amplification currently available, while also offering robust amplification across the broadest range of amplicons, including those that are GC- and AT-rich.

From New England Biolabs 9 Aug 2012

Gold nanostars can deliver drug directly to cancer cell nucleus

Nanotechnology offers powerful new possibilities for targeted cancer therapies, but the design challenges are many. Northwestern University scientists now are the first to develop a simple but specialized nanoparticle that can deliver a drug directly to a cancer cell's nucleus -- an important feature for effective treatment.

6 Apr 2012

BIND announces data from BIND-014 Phase 1 trials on prostate cancer

Nanomedicine research at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT funded by a $5 million grant from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) has delivered the first nanomedicine shown to successfully target prostate cancer cells and deliver docetaxel chemotherapy in high concentrations in Phase I clinical trials.

5 Apr 2012

DNA ‘nanorobot’ effectively targets cancer leaving healthy cells untouched: Study

Researchers have developed ‘nano-sized’ probes built from DNA that can seek and destroy cancer cells, leaving healthy cells untouched. These ‘nanorobots’ release their drug payload only when they reach and identify their target and are believed to improve many treatments for disease.

20 Feb 2012

PolyTherics announces acquisition of WEP

PolyTherics Limited, a provider of solutions to biopharmaceutical companies for the improvement of protein and peptide based drugs, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Warwick Effect Polymers, a provider of specialty biopolymers for the modification of biological products.

20 Jan 2012

AmberGen, SomaLogic enter licensing agreement for photocleavable biotin reagent

SomaLogic, Inc. and AmberGen, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a licensing agreement whereby AmberGen will provide its proprietary photocleavable biotin reagent for the commercial use of SomaLogic's SOMAscan technology platform.

30 Nov 2011

NIH awards $3.2M for development of highly efficient system of generating nucleic acid molecules

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $3.2 million to a team of preeminent engineering, chemistry, and biology researchers to develop a highly efficient system of generating nucleic acid molecules, called aptamers.

29 Nov 2011

Low-cost, portable technique can detect specific proteins in human blood

Blood tests are important diagnostic tools. They accurately tease-out vanishingly small concentrations of proteins and other molecules that help give a picture of overall health or signal the presence of specific diseases. Current testing procedures, however, are expensive and time-consuming, while sophisticated test equipment is bulky and difficult to transport.

2 Sep 2011

New fluorescent tool can track mysterious workings of cellular RNAs

The ability to tag proteins with a green fluorescent light to watch how they behave inside cells so revolutionized the understanding of protein biology that it earned the scientific teams who developed the technique Nobel Prizes in 2008.

30 Jul 2011

New preclinical data from Baxter's BAX 499 hemophilia study presented at ISTH

Baxter International Inc. announced today that new data from a series of studies on BAX 499, an investigational compound for potential subcutaneous hemophilia therapy, were presented this week during the 23rd annual congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) in Kyoto, Japan.

From Baxter International Inc. 27 Jul 2011

Scientists to reveal latest research breakthroughs at 'Chemistry and Health' conference

To mark the International Year of Chemistry, the 94th Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition will take place at the Palais des congr-s de Montr-al from June 5 to 9, 2011. The gathering is the biggest ever annual event in Canada to focus on science and the practice of chemistry.

4 Jun 2011

Novel topically-applied molecular microbicide protects women against HIV infection

Using a technique that silences genes promoting infection, researchers have developed a novel, topically-applied molecular microbicide capable of preventing HIV transmission.

17 May 2011