Protein Engineering News and Research

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Experts and entrepreneurs to gather at 2014 Biotech China on 14-16 May

With just one month until 2014 Biotech China, experts, entrepreneurs and decision-makers from the international biotechnology industry will gather at the heart of the Chinese biotechnology industry on May 14-16th, 09:00 AM-06:00 PM in Nanjing China.

10 Apr 2014

RuiYi declares $15M Series B financing to advance monoclonal antibodies targeting GPCR receptors

RuiYi, Inc. announced today a $15 million Series B financing by existing investors: 5AM Ventures, Versant Ventures, Apposite Capital, SR One, the independent corporate healthcare venture capital fund of GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Serono Ventures, the strategic corporate venture fund of Merck Serono, and Aravis SA.

27 Mar 2014

Scientists build tiny "molecular drill bits" that kill bacteria by bursting through their protective cell walls

In response to drug-resistant "superbugs" that send millions of people to hospitals around the world, scientists are building tiny, "molecular drill bits" that kill bacteria by bursting through their protective cell walls.

18 Mar 2014

Novimmune closes Series B financing for CHF 60 million

Novimmune SA announced that it has closed a Series B financing for CHF 60 million ($66 million). London-based Rosetta Capital Limited led the round with participation of new private investors as well as existing investors.

18 Feb 2014

University of Liège joins IMI programme to develop new antibiotics against Gram-negative pathogens

More than 30 European universities and companies, led by GlaxoSmithKline, are joining forces in a six-year programme funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) for the sum of EUR 85 millions with the aim of developing new antibiotics against Gram-negative pathogens.

14 Feb 2014

Llama-derived antibodies open door to development of new treatments for C. difficile infections

Researchers from the Alberta Glycomics Centre at the University of Calgary and the University of Alberta, in collaboration with researchers at the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa, have revealed the first molecular views showing how highly specific antibodies derived from llamas may provide a new method for controlling deadly infections from the opportunistic bacterial pathogen Clostridium difficile (C. difficile).

31 Jan 2014

New technology efficiently transfers investigational antibodies from blood via blood-brain barrier

Today the scientific journal Neuron published results on the Roche-designed Brain Shuttle technology that efficiently transfers investigational antibodies from the blood through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the brain in preclinical models.

10 Jan 2014

Study raises hopes for new drugs to treat brain disorders associated with neurotransmitter imbalance

Although drugs have been developed that inhibit the imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain - a condition which causes many brain disorders and nervous system diseases - the exact understanding of the mechanism by which these drugs work has not yet been fully understood.

8 Jan 2014

Study quantifies photoactivation efficiency of fluorescent proteins

To know how many proteins assemble together at the nanoscale is fundamental for understanding protein function. Sometimes, proteins must be in an "oligomeric" state to be functional, although "oligomerization" of certain proteins can also lead to diseases. The ability to determine protein stoichiometry and monitor changes in the balance between monomeric, dimeric and multi-meric proteins can allow scientists to see the differences between a properly functioning cell and a diseased cell. Therefore, there is a great interest in being able to count proteins and determine their stoichiometry.

7 Jan 2014

MedImmune, Johns Hopkins University enter into $6.5M research collaboration

MedImmune, AstraZeneca’s global biologics research and development arm, and The Johns Hopkins University today announced they have entered into a five-year, $6.5 million research collaboration.

12 Dec 2013

Visterra secures exclusive patent license for promising dengue virus antibodies from MIT

Visterra, Inc., a developer of novel antibody therapeutics to prevent and treat major infectious diseases, today announced that it has secured an exclusive patent license from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to a family of early-stage monoclonal antibodies that target dengue virus. These antibodies were developed by MIT in the laboratory of Dr. Ram Sasisekharan, a founder of Visterra, using novel protein engineering approaches. Visterra will apply its proprietary network analysis technology to develop a human monoclonal antibody product candidate capable of broadly neutralizing all four dengue virus serotypes.

2 Dec 2013

EU-funded project develops new type of vaccine to tackle HIV virus infection

AIDS research has attempted many strategies to tackle the HIV virus infection. Now, a new type of vaccine developed within an EU-funded project, called EuroNeut-41, is based on one of the envelope proteins of the HIV virus, called the gp41 protein. What makes it interesting it that it is directly responsible for the fusion of the HIV virus into human cells. By integrating the gp41 protein into the vaccine, researchers try to trigger the production of antibodies that would block the entrance of HIV into human cells

27 Nov 2013

Nano-material within cells could lead to engineered bio-composites for drug delivery, artificial tissue

New York-A team of researchers has uncovered critical information that could help scientists understand how protein polymers interact with other self-assembling biopolymers.

22 Nov 2013

Drexel University researchers create molecule that can cause AIDS virus to destroy itself

Pinning down an effective way to combat the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, the viral precursor to AIDS, has long been challenge task for scientists and physicians, because the virus is an elusive one that mutates frequently and, as a result, quickly becomes immune to medication.

20 Sep 2013

Researchers receive NIH grant to study key proteins linked to cancer and diabetes

Researchers from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University and NYU have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to further a novel approach to understanding the genetic underpinnings of diseases including cancer and diabetes.

21 Jun 2013

Researchers show how Src kinase influences inner workings of cells

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have "rationally rewired" some of the cell's smallest components to create proteins that can be switched on or off by command.

12 Apr 2013

Researchers develop promising drug candidate to treat psoriasis

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers, in collaboration with Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., have developed a promising drug candidate to treat psoriasis.

21 Mar 2013

Anti-cancer drug conjugates: an interview with Dr Andreas Menrad, CSO Ablynx and Dr Chris Martin, CEO Spirogen

Antibodies and in the case of Ablynx, Nanobodies, can be raised and selected to bind with high affinity selectively to cancer cells in a tumour. Cancer cells are exquisitely sensitive to certain toxins such as the PBDs produced by Spirogen.

12 Mar 2013

NRC, AvidBiologics partner to develop three novel ADCs for treatment of cancer

AvidBiologics Inc., a life sciences company developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), announces the conclusion of an agreement with the National Research Council Canada (NRC) to develop three novel ADCs for the treatment of cancer.

30 Jan 2013

NIAID announces 14 grants for basic research to identify new HIV vaccine approaches

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded 14 grants totaling $7.8 million in first-year funding for basic research to identify new approaches for designing a safe and effective HIV vaccine.

22 Aug 2012