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PolyMedix receives $488,958 grants under QTDP program

PolyMedix, Inc. a biotechnology company focused on developing new therapeutic drugs to treat infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, announced today that it has been awarded two cash grants totaling $488,958 under the U.S. Government's Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program.

4 Nov 2010

QLT third quarter sales decreases 12.9% to $20.5 million

QLT Inc. today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010. Unless specified otherwise, all amounts are in U.S. dollars and in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

3 Nov 2010

CR4354 antibody uses crosslinking mechanism to neutralize West Nile virus

Researchers have learned the structure that results when an antibody binds to the West Nile virus, neutralizing the virus by locking up its infection mechanism. The information could help scientists develop a vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease.

3 Nov 2010

Researchers discover FoxO1 protein interacts with macrophages to promote inflammatory response

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered that a multi-tasking protein called FoxO1 has another important but previously unknown function: It directly interacts with macrophages, promoting an inflammatory response that can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes. Contrarily, it also generates a negative feedback loop that can limit damage from excessive inflammation.

3 Nov 2010

Quanterix granted $733,437 under QTDP program for Single Molecule Array platform

Quanterix Corporation, a single molecule technology company focused on developing a next generation diagnostics platform, announced today that it was awarded a total of $733,437 in grants under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program. The QTDP program recognized Quanterix's Single Molecule Array (SiMoA™) platform as a promising advance that will improve diagnosis and treatment of disease while reducing healthcare costs.

3 Nov 2010

Celldex third quarter net loss increases to $9.1 million

Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2010. Celldex reported a net loss of $9.1 million, or $0.28 per share, for the third quarter of 2010 compared to a net loss of $7.2 million, or $0.45 per share, for the third quarter of 2009. For the nine months ended September 30, 2010, Celldex reported a net loss of $25.2 million, or $0.79 per share, compared to a net loss of $23.6 million, or $1.49 per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2009.

2 Nov 2010

QuantaLife announces launch of Droplet Digital PCR system at 60th ASHG meeting

QuantaLife, Inc. announced today at the 60th Annual American Society of Human Genetics Meeting the launch of their Droplet Digital™ PCR system. The system, which includes a droplet generator and a droplet reader, quantifies DNA molecules using the company's patented high-resolution, Droplet Digital PCR technology – a 3rd generation PCR technology that enables single-molecule resolution of target sequences.

2 Nov 2010

Researchers explain how adiponectin prevents stress-induced damage in heart

One of the many advantages of maintaining a normal body weight is having healthy fat, which in turn supports a healthy heart. Fat tissue is increasingly seen as more than just a storage depot - it's also an active secretory organ that normally produces high levels of a cardioprotective hormone called adiponectin. How adiponectin protects the hearts of healthy people has long been a mystery, and now a team led by Barbara Ranscht, Ph.D. and Pilar Ruiz-Lozano, Ph.D. at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) reveals that the protein T-cadherin is the receptor that anchors adiponectin to heart cells.

2 Nov 2010

PITs compounds induce cell death and limit tumor growth

A class of compounds that interferes with cell signaling pathways may provide a new approach to cancer treatment, according to a study published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Early Edition. The compounds, called PITs (non-phosphoinositide PIP3 inhibitors), limited tumor growth in mice by inducing cell death.

2 Nov 2010

Arrayit sells third advanced microarray manufacturing system to UT Southwestern

Arrayit Corporation announced today that it has sold a third advanced microarray manufacturing system to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The NanoPrint LM60 Microarrayer equipped with Arrayit's Patented Microarray Manufacturing Technology (US Patent 6,101,946) is a computer-driven robotic microarray manufacturing system that enables the screening of 1.5 million lead therapeutic compounds per run, and the NanoPrint LM210 enables more than 5 million.

2 Nov 2010

ISHIB releases new recommendations to manage hypertension in African Americans

Through the publication of its Consensus Statement on the Management of High Blood Pressure in Blacks in this week's issue of Hypertension, ISHIB today released new recommendations recognizing that high blood pressure among African Americans is a severe health problem. The consensus statement suggests that treatment should start sooner and be more aggressive among African Americans.

2 Nov 2010

Non-dividing cells can also start cancer

Cancer Research UK scientists have found that non-dividing cells are able to kick-start some cancers, challenging a long held belief that only dividing cells, like stem cells, cause the disease, according to research published online in PNAS today (Monday).

2 Nov 2010

Alcohol - the worst drug!

A new study shows that alcohol abuse is by far the worst habit to have when compared to other recreational drugs like crack or heroin. Neuropharmacologist David Nutt, of Imperial College London who is also a former British government drug advisor and his team rated 20 different drugs on a scale that takes into account the various harms caused by a drug. Drugs are rated on the nine harms a drug causes to an individual and seven harms a drug causes to the society. The scale was developed by a panel of experts called the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ICSD), ranges from 0 (no harm) to 100 (greatest possible harm). It is weighted so that a drug that scores 50 is half as harmful as a drug that scores 100.

1 Nov 2010

454 Life Sciences and DNA Electronics partner to develop high-throughput DNA sequencing system

454 Life Sciences, a Roche Company, announced today that it has entered an exclusive partnership with DNA Electronics for the development of a low-cost, high-throughput DNA sequencing system. As part of the agreement, Roche has signed a non-exclusive license for relevant IP from DNA Electronics' proprietary semiconductor technology portfolio, which enables sensitive detection of nucleotide incorporation during sequencing.

1 Nov 2010

GOG to initiate combination elesclomol-paclitaxel Phase 2 clinical trial for ovarian cancer

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, today announced that the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) will initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial of elesclomol in combination with paclitaxel for the treatment of persistent or recurrent ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer.

1 Nov 2010

Mechanism of rogue cell killer discovered

A team of Melbourne and London researchers have shown how a protein called perforin punches holes in, and kills, rogue cells in our bodies. Their discovery of the mechanism of this assassin is published today in the science journal Nature.

1 Nov 2010

Scientists use electron microscopes to study mechanism of perforin protein to punch holes in rogue cells

Scientists from the UK and Australia have seen the human immune system's assassin a protein called perforin in action for the first time. The UK team, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Wellcome Trust, is based at Birkbeck College where they used powerful electron microscopes to study the mechanism that perforin uses to punch holes in rogue cells.

1 Nov 2010

Enzon data on LNA technology platform accepted for presentation at EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium

Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that data from preclinical studies of three investigational messenger RNA (mRNA) antagonists based on the locked nucleic acid (LNA) technology platform have been accepted for poster presentation at the EORTC-NCI-AACR International Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics, which is being held November 16-19 in Berlin, Germany.

30 Oct 2010

Compugen signs oncology research collaboration agreement with Seattle Genetics

Compugen Ltd. announced today that it has signed a research collaboration agreement with Seattle Genetics, Inc., USA, covering a Compugen-discovered oncology target. The agreement provides Seattle Genetics with an initial evaluation period and an option for an exclusive worldwide milestone and royalty bearing license for development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody therapeutics addressing this novel target.

29 Oct 2010

Study suggests microRNA binding site helps improved prognosis of colorectal cancer at early stage

A variant site linked to poor outcome in advanced colorectal cancer has now been found to predict improved prognosis in early stages of cancer, according to research presented at the American Association for Cancer Research special conference on Colorectal Cancer: Biology to Therapy, held Oct. 27-30, 2010.

29 Oct 2010