Pharmaceuticals & Biopharmaceuticals
Nanoparticles reboot blood flow in brain
August 24, 2012 4:05 am | News | CommentsA nanoparticle developed at Rice University and tested in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine may bring great benefits to the emergency treatment of brain-injury victims, even those with mild injuries. Combined polyethylene glycol-hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCC), already being tested to enhance cancer treatment, are also adept antioxidants. In animal studies, injections of PEG-HCC during initial treatment after an injury helped restore balance to the brain's vascular system.
Using years of cell evolution in the fight against cancer
August 9, 2012 8:47 am | News | CommentsAs the medical community continues to make positive strides in personalized cancer therapy, scientists know some dead ends are unavoidable. Drugs that target specific genes in cancerous cells are effective, but not all proteins are targetable. In fact, it has been estimated that as few as 10% to 15% of human proteins are potentially targetable by drugs. For this reason, Georgia Institute of Technology researchers are focusing on ways to fight cancer by attacking defective genes before they are able to make proteins.
Scientists find way to make disease-causing proteins vulnerable to drugs
July 27, 2012 5:15 am | News | CommentsOne of the most daunting challenges facing pharmaceutical scientists today are "undruggable proteins"—the approximately 80% of proteins involved in human disease that do not interact with current drugs. Yale University researchers have identified a novel way to design drugs for these previously inaccessible proteins.
iBio Inc., GE Healthcare form global alliance
July 26, 2012 8:49 am | News | CommentsiBio Inc. and GE Healthcare announced a new global alliance to commercialize plant-based technologies for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. The alliance builds on the existing development and marketing agreement between the two companies announced in 2010.
New proteins inhibit HIV infection in cell cultures
July 24, 2012 4:00 am | News | CommentsYale University Cancer Center scientists have developed a new class of proteins that inhibit HIV infection in cell cultures and may open the way to new strategies for treating and preventing infection by the virus that causes AIDS.
Scientists pinpoint key ingredient in fighting pneumonia
July 18, 2012 10:07 am | News | CommentsA mysterious protein produced by a wide spectrum of living things is crucial in regulating the immune response to the most common form of pneumonia, a new Yale University School of Medicine study shows.
HIV immunity study could pave way for vaccine development
July 17, 2012 9:33 am | News | CommentsTwo Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists are among the team recently funded to explore ways to create the precise immune factors needed for effective vaccines against HIV. The Duke University-led consortium will largely concentrate on inducing broadly neutralizing antibodies that can prevent HIV-1 infection, as well as on generating protective T-cell and innate immune system responses.
Silk technology preserves heat-sensitive drugs
July 10, 2012 5:57 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Tufts University School of Engineering have discovered a way to maintain the potency of vaccines and other drugs—that otherwise require refrigeration—for months and possibly years at temperatures above 110 F, by stabilizing them in a silk protein made from silkworm cocoons.
Nutrient mixture improves memory in patients with early Alzheimer's
July 10, 2012 3:45 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsA clinical trial of an Alzheimer's disease treatment developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has found that the nutrient cocktail can improve memory in patients with early Alzheimer's. The results confirm and expand the findings of an earlier trial of the nutritional supplement, which is designed to promote new connections between brain cells.
Partnership to advance biomanufacturing industry in U.S., Europe
June 21, 2012 9:43 am | News | CommentsTo foster the continued success of the biomanufacturing industry, North Carolina State University has joined forces with a French university to provide biomanufacturing training, education, and process services in the United States and Europe.
Cancer's next magic bullet may be magic shotgun
June 18, 2012 4:32 am | News | CommentsA new approach to drug design, pioneered by a group of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and Mt. Sinai, New York, promises to help identify future drugs to fight cancer and other diseases that will be more effective and have fewer side effects.
More advanced therapies are being aimed at cancer
June 6, 2012 6:55 am | by Marilynn Marchionne, AP Chief Medical Writer | News | CommentsAt a recent weekend conference of more than 30,000 specialists, experts reported seeing a major escalation in the arms race against cancer. Several new advances, including “smart” drugs, immune system aids, and treatments based on genetic pathways, offer new hope for battling previously intractable diseases.
50-year cholera mystery solved
May 29, 2012 9:05 am | News | CommentsFor 50 years scientists have been unsure how the bacteria that gives humans cholera manages to resist one of our basic innate immune responses. That mystery has now been solved, thanks to research from biologists at The University of Texas at Austin. The answers may help clear the way for a new class of antibiotics that don't directly shut down pathogenic bacteria, but instead disable their defenses so that our own immune systems can do the killing.
New device jet-injects drugs
May 24, 2012 3:55 am | by Jennifer Chu, MIT News Office | News | CommentsGetting a shot at the doctor's office may become less painful in the not-too-distant future. Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have engineered a device that delivers a tiny, high-pressure jet of medicine through the skin without the use of a hypodermic needle. The device can be programmed to deliver a range of doses to various depths—an improvement over similar jet-injection systems that are now commercially available.
U.S. leads drug-approval race
May 17, 2012 6:35 am | News | CommentsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) generally approves drug therapies faster and earlier than its counterparts in Canada and Europe, according to a new study by Yale University School of Medicine researchers. The study counters perceptions that the drug approval process in the U.S. is especially slow.
FDA advisers recommend approving weight loss drug
May 11, 2012 9:35 am | by Linda A. Johnson, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsAdvisers to government health regulators late Thursday recommended that they approve sales of what would be the first new prescription weight-loss drug in the U.S. in more than a decade, despite concerns over cardiac risks.
Scientists invent superbug killers
May 10, 2012 9:10 am | News | CommentsThe superbugs have met their match. Conceived at Nanyang Technological University, it comes in the form of a coating which has a magnetic-like feature that attracts bacteria and kills them without the need for antibiotics.
Team gives drug dropouts a second chance
May 7, 2012 5:12 am | News | CommentsA cross-disciplinary team of researchers at the University of Maryland has designed a molecular container that can hold drug molecules and increase their solubility, in one case up to nearly 3000 times. Their discovery opens the possibility of rehabilitating drug candidates that were insufficiently soluble.
Bacteria discovery could lead to antibiotics alternatives
May 3, 2012 7:44 am | News | CommentsUniversity of Manchester scientists have discovered an Achilles heel within cells that bacteria are able to exploit to cause and spread infection. The researchers say their findings could lead to the development of new anti-infective drugs as alternatives to antibiotics whose overuse has led to resistance.
How embryonic stem cells orchestrate human development
April 5, 2012 8:57 am | by Bill Hathaway, Yale University | News | CommentsYale University researchers show in detail how three genes within human embryonic stem cells regulate development, a finding that increases understanding of how to grow these cells for therapeutic purposes. This process is different in humans than in mice, highlighting the importance of research using human embryonic stem cells.
3D structure opens new avenue for drug discovery
April 2, 2012 5:01 am | News | CommentsAn international consortium has determined the structure of an important new drug target in complex with a synthetic molecule designed by University of Bath researchers, opening up new avenues for drug discovery.
Protein 'jailbreak' helps cancer cells live
March 28, 2012 9:13 am | by David Orenstein, Brown University | News | CommentsResearchers at Brown University and Hasbro Children's Hospital have traced the molecular interactions that allow the protein survivin to escape the nucleus of a breast cancer cell and prolong the cell's life. The study may help in the development of better therapies and prognostics.
Scientists use frogs to battle superbugs
March 19, 2012 5:54 am | News | CommentsIn search of ways to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Australian scientists are analyzing synthetic antimicrobial skin secretions of Australian Green-Eyed and Growling Grass frogs. These two species were selected because peptides secreted from their skin form a defense to a broad spectrum of bacteria including Staphylococcus .
QB3, Pfizer expand support for translational research
March 18, 2012 7:14 pm | News | CommentsThe California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3) has renewed and expanded a three-year agreement with Pfizer Inc. to collaborate on research projects at the University of California (UC) with the potential to transform world-class science into better medicine. Renewal spans 4 UC campuses.
Stem cells hint at potential treatment for Huntington's disease
March 15, 2012 10:11 am | News | CommentsHuntington's disease, the debilitating congenital neurological disorder that progressively robs patients of muscle coordination and cognitive ability, is a condition without effective treatment, a slow death sentence. But if researchers can build on new research, a special type of brain cell forged from stem cells could help restore the muscle coordination deficits that cause the uncontrollable spasms characteristic of the disease.
