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Amorfix partners with reMYND to offer A4 amyloid testing services

Amorfix Life Sciences Ltd. and reMYND NV today announced the signing of a partnership agreement to offer the Amorfix A4 amyloid testing service to reMYND's contract research clients. reMYND's contract research business offers an extensive portfolio of preclinical in-vivo efficacy, pharmacokinetic and safety testing of experimental Alzheimer therapies using proprietary mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

6 Jul 2010

QR Pharma to present clinical data from mechanism of action study in MCI patients at ICAD 2010

QR Pharma, Inc., a developer of novel drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD), announced today that it has been accepted to present a poster on clinical data from its recent mechanism of action study in mild cognitive impaired (MCI) patients at the International Congress on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2010).

2 Jul 2010

Alnylam receives Portuguese, Swedish, British approvals to initiate ALN-TTR01 Phase I study in ATTR

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today that its applications for ALN-TTR01 have been given clearance by Portuguese, Swedish, and British regulatory authorities to begin clinical testing. The trial will begin enrolling patients shortly in a blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter Phase I study.

29 Jun 2010

TransGenRx to produce protein-based therapeutics to support Esperion's research on HDL therapies

Esperion Therapeutics, a privately held biopharmaceutical company working to discover, develop and commercialize treatments for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, today announced that TransGenRx, a global leader in transgenic technology, will produce protein-based therapeutics to be used in the company's research efforts targeting HDL therapies for the treatment of cardio-metabolic disease.

22 Jun 2010

Excess neuronal protein plays role in the evolution of neurodegenerative diseases: Research

In diverse neurodegenerative diseases ranging from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's, researchers have long noted accumulations of a little-understood neuronal protein called α-synuclein. Pathological and genetic evidence strongly suggested that excessive α-synuclein played a role in the evolution of these diseases, but it was unclear how too much α-synuclein culminated in synaptic damage and neurodegeneration.

17 Jun 2010

GTC Biotherapeutics closes new $7 million secured convertible debt financing

GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced the closing of a new $7 million secured convertible debt financing by its strategic partner, LFB Biotechnologies SAS, in connection with a restructuring of GTC's operations which will result in a downsizing of approximately 30 full-time positions at its headquarters and an additional 20 positions at its farm facility.

16 Jun 2010

Olfactory function tests could help in treating patient in early stages of PD

A fast, simple and non invasive test of the ability to smell may be an important tool to screen people who are likely to develop Parkinson's disease, in which motor symptoms only become evident at a later stage of the disease, a German scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Saturday).

14 Jun 2010

Research on genetic mutations could lead to accurate diagnosis of USH, says scientist

Usher syndrome, an inherited condition involving both hearing and vision loss, is not a simply recessively inherited disease, a scientist will tell the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics today (Saturday). Dr. Hanno Bolz, Associate Medical Director of the Bioscientia Centre for Human Genetics, Ingelheim, Germany, and active in teaching and research at the University Hospital of Cologne, will say that his team's research challenges the traditional view that USH was inherited as a single gene disorder, and shows that it may result from at least two different genetic mutations.

14 Jun 2010

Scientist succeeds in producing replica of human collagen from tobacco plants

A scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment has succeeded in producing a replica of human collagen from tobacco plants - an achievement with tremendous commercial implications for use in a variety of human medical procedures.

11 Jun 2010

Switching to healthier diet can slow or reverse cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer's Disease: Study

Patients in the early to moderate stages of Alzheimer's Disease could have their cognitive impairment slowed or even reversed by switching to a healthier diet, according to researchers at Temple University.

9 Jun 2010

Researchers look at exercise as new way to slow degenerative processes of ALS

University of Alberta researchers are looking at exercise as a new way to slow the degenerative processes of ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Dr. Kelvin Jones, a recipient of this year's ALS Canada Discovery Grant, has been pioneering research in this field for four years, using mice genetically altered to present familial ALS. He's found that exercise has a positive impact on the mice, slowing the disease significantly.

9 Jun 2010

Ablexis to advance transgenic mouse platform for antibody discovery with $12M Series A financing

Ablexis, LLC, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing an innovative, next-generation platform for antibody drug discovery, announced today that it has completed a $12 million Series A financing. The round was led by Third Rock Ventures and included Pfizer Venture Investments. Proceeds from the financing will be used to continue advancing Ablexis' proprietary AlivaMab Mouse transgenic mouse platform for the discovery of human therapeutic antibodies.

2 Jun 2010

Highlights from June 2010 issue of American Journal of Pathology

Dr. Kanneboyina Nagaraju and colleagues at the Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC demonstrate that affected muscle may directly contribute to inflammation in muscular dystrophy. Their report can be found in the June 2010 issue of The American Journal of Pathology.

26 May 2010

Androgen receptors promote hepatitis B virus in growth and development of hepatoma cells

Dr. Ming-Heng Wu of the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), Taiwan, in collaboration with Prof. Chawnshang Chang's laboratory of University of Rochester (UR), United States, have discovered that androgen receptors (AR) can promote hepatitis B virus-induced hepatocarcinogenesis through modulation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA transcription.

20 May 2010

Natural molecule in body counters progression of osteoarthritis: Scientists

An international team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute in California and the National Research Institute for Child Health and Development in Japan has discovered that a natural molecule in the body counters the progression of osteoarthritis. The findings could one day lead to new therapies for some common diseases of aging.

19 May 2010

genOway and Griffith University sign research partnership and license for olfactory stem cells technology

genOway, the biotechnology company dedicated to the development of genetically modified animal models, today reports an agreement with the Griffith University (Brisbane, Australia) on a eight-months research partnership with its Eskitis Institute for Cell and Molecular Therapies focusing on autologous olfactory adult stem cells. This research program is coupled with a world wide exclusive license to genOway for the rodent transgenic business.

17 May 2010

GTC Biotherapeutics reports lower total net loss of $7.7M for first-quarter 2010

GTC Biotherapeutics, Inc. today reported its financial results for the first fiscal quarter ended April 4, 2010. The total net loss for the first quarter was $7.7 million, or $0.26 per share, compared to $10.4 million, or $0.99 per share, for the first quarter of 2009.

12 May 2010

Researchers discover link between sporadic and familial forms of ALS

Researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have discovered a link between sporadic and familial forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurodegenerative disease also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

6 May 2010

Amorfix Life Sciences detects AD-associated aggregated Beta-amyloid in blood plasma

Amorfix Life Sciences, a company focused on treatments and diagnostics for misfolded protein diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), announced today the detection of the AD-associated aggregated Beta-amyloid (ABeta), the hallmark of AD, in the blood from the most-frequently-used animal model of AD. The assay detects both oligomeric and fibrillar aggregates of ABeta, which are generally considered to be the toxic forms and major contributors to brain dysfunction in AD.

4 May 2010

UCSF transgenic mouse model first to display earliest signs of Parkinson's disease

UCSF researchers have created the first transgenic mouse to display the earliest signs of Parkinson's disease using the genetic mutation that is known to accompany human forms of the disease.