R&D Trends

VC investment in biotech sector soars in second quarter

Friday, July 19, 2013 02:18 PM

Venture capitalists invested $6.7 billion in 913 deals in the second quarter of 2013, according to the MoneyTree Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), based on data provided by Thomson Reuters.

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BI, EFSD commit $3.3 million to European diabetes research initiatives

Friday, July 19, 2013 01:27 PM

The Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) and European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD) partnership has announced the recipients of its European-wide funding initiative targeted at diabetes research. Totaling $3.3 million, these are the first grants to be awarded as part of the EFSD/Boehringer Ingelheim European Diabetes Research Programs, which aim to stimulate and accelerate European research in diabetes.

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Banner Health, Mayo Clinic receive grant to identify early Parkinson's patients

Friday, July 19, 2013 01:24 PM

Researchers from Mayo Clinic Arizona and Banner Sun Health Research Institute are working together on a diagnostic test to identify early Parkinson's disease in patients thanks to a $152,486 grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Currently, there is no accurate diagnostic test for early Parkinson's.

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Alzheimer's Association articles call for global research collaboration

Friday, July 19, 2013 01:21 PM

A global, collaborative research effort based on public-private partnerships, similar to the projects in the 1950s and 1960s that successfully reduced polio worldwide, will advance the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, according to two articles written by leaders of the Alzheimer's Association and published in the July issue of Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

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AstraZeneca, Tufts collaborate on neuroscience research

Thursday, July 18, 2013 09:00 AM

AstraZeneca, Tufts University's School of Medicine and Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences are collaborating to establish a team of postdoctoral researchers who will work to advance understanding of diseases and disorders of the brain, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, neurodevelopmental and autism spectrum disorders. As part of a three-year agreement, the new team will conduct laboratory research into biological targets of interest in neuroscience.

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ThermoGenesis, TotipotentRx merge to form Cesca

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 01:12 PM

ThermoGenesis, a supplier of enabling technologies for the processing and storage of stem cells and other biological tissues, and TotipotentRx, a privately held  developer of  cell-based therapies in  regenerative medicine, have entered into a definitive merger agreement to form a new company called Cesca Therapeutics.

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IMI2 to launch in January 2014

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 01:07 PM

The European Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 (IMI2) is a Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) bringing together companies, universities, public laboratories, innovative SMEs, patient groups and regulators. It will pave the way for breakthrough vaccines, medicines and treatments to address Europe’s health challenges through a combined science and innovation effort.

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Pathogenica, Illumina in co-marketing deal

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 12:30 PM

Pathogenica, a provider of medical diagnostic sequencing services and products, and Illumina have agreed to co-market in the Asia Pacific region a new version of Pathogenica's HAI BioDetection kit compatible with Illumina's MiSeq benchtop sequencing system. The combined solution will enable users to identify an expanded panel of bacteria and drug resistance genes present within clinical specimens and mixed cultures or isolates.

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UCSD enrolling in new arm of Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 12:26 PM

University of California, San Diego School of Medicine will be one of 23 official clinical sites of the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative's (PPMI) new arm to study at-risk populations for Parkinson's disease (PD). The $55 million landmark observational clinical study launched in 2010 to define one or more biomarkers of PD and now seeks to better understand potential risk factors of the disease. The university has been a part of PPMI for three years and currently is enrolling for the new, pre-motor arm of the study.

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Sorrento, BGN Technologies collaborate on Hepatitis C

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 12:17 PM

Sorrento Therapeutics, a publicly-traded, development-stage biopharmaceutical company, and BGN Technologies, the technology transfer company of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, have entered into an option and license agreement covering several anti-Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) antibody clones identified from patients who have recovered from HCV infections. Sorrento plans to develop these early findings into a potential therapeutic product.

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