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Dalton Pharma enters co-operation with Lonza to provide integrated chemistry services

Dalton Pharma Services and Lonza jointly announce a co-operation created to provide clients with geographically diversified, fully integrated chemistry services from bench to commercial production of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

15 Nov 2010

Oligomerix receives SBIR Phase II grant to develop drugs for Alzheimer’s disease

Oligomerix, Inc. today announced the receipt of a two-year Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant for $1.6M from the National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH), for a program to discover small molecules and antibodies targeting tau protein oligomers in the development of disease modifying therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease.

12 Nov 2010

MonoSol Rx granted U.S. patent for PharmFilm and production technologies

MonoSol Rx, the developers of PharmFilm® technology and a drug delivery company specializing in proprietary pharmaceutical film products, today announced that it has been granted U.S. patent No. 7,824,588 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent, issued on November 2, 2010, provides intellectual property protection for the Company's film products and methods of their preparation.

10 Nov 2010

Alder to present data of ALD518 two clinical studies for rheumatoid arthritis at American College Meeting

Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that data from two clinical studies of its ALD518 investigational antibody therapeutic will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

BioCurex files patent for synthetic peptide in RECAF test

BioCurex, Inc. today announced that it has filed a new patent within the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which presently includes 142 countries.

4 Nov 2010

Virus fighting just got a new boost

In a ground breaking study in the UK researchers have identified a previously unknown mechanism that allows the immune system to fight viruses even after they have infected cells. Until now it was believed that antibodies can act only before the virus enters the cells. The team now has found that antibodies that attached themselves to a virus were able to follow it into cells and help to destroy the virus before it started to reproduce. This could open up new avenues of therapy.

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

Researchers identify small-molecule inhibitors that effectively target FAK enzyme in colon cancer

Researchers have identified two small-molecule inhibitors that effectively targeted the focal adhesion kinase (FAK), an enzyme present in certain cancers that helps tumors thrive and survive.

29 Oct 2010

Widely used fragranced products give off toxic chemicals

The sweet smell of fresh laundry may contain a sour note. Widely used fragranced products - including those that claim to be "green" - give off many chemicals that are not listed on the label, including some that are classified as toxic.

27 Oct 2010

Researchers create new high-content assay to increase human embryonic stem cell survival

A new technique for increasing the survival rates of human embryonic stem cells will revolutionize their use in drug discovery and therapy. Human embryonic stem cells often die during the process of isolation using enzymatic disaggregation or low-density plating, which limits their usefulness in drug discovery and basic research. Similarly, the low rate of attachment of implanted cells hinders cell therapy.

25 Oct 2010

NIH awards $3.9M for Fanconi anemia research

The National Institutes of Health has awarded a three-year, $3.9 million grant to Children's Hospital Boston researchers and their colleagues to develop a therapy to treat Fanconi anemia, a fatal genetic blood disease.

25 Oct 2010

Scientists find potential Achilles Heel in JC polyomavirus

The JC polyomavirus doesn't strike very often, but it's a mean bug that preys on people with weakened immune systems, including people with AIDS, and almost always kills them. Now an international team of scientists at Brown University, the University of T-bingen in Germany, and Imperial College in London has found a potential Achilles Heel and painted a target on it: The virus must bind to a very specific sugar molecule dangling from the side of the brain cells it attacks.

21 Oct 2010

Flamel announces achievement of clinical development milestone with Merck Serono

Flamel Technologies announced today that it has achieved a clinical development milestone under the terms of its license agreement with Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, to develop an extended release formulation of interferon beta-1a using the Medusa platform.

19 Oct 2010

Major advance in treatment of brain disorders with external genes

In the October 17 issue of Nature Methods, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University describe how they can transfer genes into brain neurons intravenously, using a viral gene delivery vehicle (vector) that causes no side effects.

18 Oct 2010

AusBiotech 2010 set to demystify the impact of US Healthcare Reforms on Australian biotech

Australian biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are seeking to understand the implications of the US Healthcare Reform Bill, says Australia’s biotechnology industry organisation, AusBiotech. In order to remain compliant and globally competitive, biotechs need to identify and work within a gamut of new requirements, complications and hurdles imposed by this new regulatory environment.

13 Oct 2010

Scientists engineer bacterial cell wall with small molecules to combat diseases

A team of Yale University scientists has engineered the cell wall of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, tricking it into incorporating foreign small molecules and embedding them within the cell wall.

8 Oct 2010

Role of TGF-ß in cancer diseases

During this year's BIOTECHNICA exhibition, the international biotech news magazine „GEN - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News yesterday on 5 October 2010, held an information event with subsequent panel discussion featuring the topic TGF-ß an important target in cancer diseases.

7 Oct 2010

Nuevolution enters lead discovery collaboration for epigenetic disorders

Nuevolution A/S today announced that it has entered into a lead discovery collaboration focused on epigenetic disorders.A consortium between Nuevolution, EpiTherapeutics, ExpreS2ion Biotechnologies and the research group of Professor Kristian Helin (Biotech Research & Innovation Centre, University of Copenhagen) has been established with the objective of identifying and developing novel small molecule drugs against epigenetic factors.

6 Oct 2010

Lixte, NCI collaborate for clinical evaluation of LB-100 compound

Lixte Biotechnology Holdings announced today that the National Cancer Institute Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) Program Senior Advisory Committee (SAC), Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD), National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), signed a NExT Material Transfer Agreement formalizing a collaboration with Lixte Biotechnology Holdings, Inc. for clinical evaluation of LB-100, one of Lixte's lead anti-cancer compounds.

6 Oct 2010