Pharmaceuticals & Biopharmaceuticals
NC State, Wake Forest collaborate to bring stem cell therapies to humans
October 28, 2011 6:19 am | News | CommentsA new partnership between North Carolina State University and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center will make regenerative medical treatments more quickly available to both human and animal patients.
Caltech biologists build better HIV antibodies
October 28, 2011 6:07 am | News | CommentsUsing highly potent antibodies isolated from HIV-positive people, researchers have recently begun to identify ways to broadly neutralize the many possible subtypes of HIV. Now, a team led by biologists at the California Institute of Technology has built upon one of these naturally occurring antibodies to create a stronger version they believe is a better candidate for clinical applications.
Scientists target bacteria 'quorum sensing' as route to antibacterial therapies
October 25, 2011 7:11 am | News | CommentsAmong the complex molecular processes involved in the development of bacteria-borne disease is quorum sensing, the way bacteria communicate and coordinate collective behaviors. By studying how to inhibit quorum sensing, scientists may be able create antibacterial pharmaceuticals for a variety of ailments.
New technology could help AIDS researchers develop new vaccines
October 17, 2011 12:03 pm | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsA team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a new technology that can measure multiple aspects of individual T cells' responses to HIV-infected cells, including their ability to kill them. The technology could make it easier to monitor and design vaccines against HIV.
Clinical trial uncovers potential cure for HIV
October 6, 2011 10:33 am | News | CommentsData from a clinical trial involving University of California, Los Angeles researchers suggest that a new therapy may potentially serve as a "functional cure" for HIV/AIDS. The therapy, called SB-728-T, involves the modification of both copies of a patient's CCR5 gene, which encodes the major co-receptor used by HIV to infect immune system cells.
Purdue part of institute awarded up to $35 million by FDA
October 6, 2011 6:38 am | News | CommentsPurdue University is part of a national institute that received a grant of up to $35 million over the next five years from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA awarded the grant to the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Education, or NIPTE, to improve manufacturing standards and ultimately cut health care costs, create jobs, and improve drug safety.
Rutgers, UMDNJ research provides insight into fighting viruses
September 30, 2011 5:16 am | News | CommentsResearchers at Rutgers University and UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School have determined the structure of a protein that is the first line of defense in fighting viral infections including influenza, hepatitis C, West Nile, rabies, and measles.
Additives meant to protect vitamin C actually cause more harm
September 29, 2011 4:27 am | News | CommentsAnti-caking agents in powdered products may hasten degradation of vitamin C instead of doing what they are supposed to do: protect the nutrient from moisture. A Purdue University team is studying deliquescence, a reaction in which humidity causes a crystalline solid to dissolve, in hopes to understand how anti-caking agents protect substances such as vitamin C from humidity.
SwRI receives contract to develop drug formulation to treat cyanide exposure
September 16, 2011 10:38 am | News | CommentsSouthwest Research Institute was awarded a $4.4 million contract from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to develop a nasal-delivery, first-line treatment system to combat cyanide poisoning.
Woolly mammoth secret points toward new artificial blood for humans
September 15, 2011 5:11 am | News | CommentsThe blood from woolly mammoths—those extinct elephant-like creatures that roamed the Earth in pre-historic times—is helping scientists develop new blood products for modern medical procedures that involve reducing patients’ body temperature.
Researchers work to develop screening method for superbug
September 9, 2011 9:34 am | News | CommentsA team of researchers from the University of Houston and St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital are working to develop improved screening methods to detect a potentially lethal, drug-resistant superbug that has made its way to Texas.
NiKem Research, Chiesi Farmaceutici extend research collaboration
September 6, 2011 5:48 am | News | CommentsChiesi Farmaceutici and NiKem Research have announced details of their extended research collaboration within the respiratory therapeutic area. The current extension involves the period 2011 to 2014 through a multimillion multi-FTE-based service agreement on pre-clinical projects of interest for Chiesi in the repiratory therapeutic area focused on pathologies such as asthma and COPD.
Scientists create natural Alzheimer's-fighting compound in lab
August 25, 2011 4:20 am | News | CommentsScientists at Yale University have developed the first practical method to create a compound called huperzine A in the laboratory. The compound, which occurs naturally in a species of moss found in China, is an enzyme inhibitor that has been used to treat Alzheimer's disease in China since the late 1990s and is sold in the U.S. as a dietary supplement to help maintain memory.
Cresset, Redx Pharma announce drug discovery collaboration
August 24, 2011 7:50 am | News | CommentsCresset and Redx Pharma announced that they have signed a major drug discovery collaboration, which gives Redx Pharma access to Cresset's computational chemistry technologies for use on their portfolio of drug discovery programs.
Sweet discovery could speed drug development
August 22, 2011 5:06 am | News | CommentsIn a new study, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have described a simple process to separate sugars from a carrier molecule, then attach them to a drug or other chemical.
Scientists develop color-changing stress sensor
August 19, 2011 4:38 am | News | CommentsIt is helpful—even life-saving—to have a warning sign before a structural system fails, but, when the system is only a few nanometers in size, having a sign that's easy to read is a challenge. Now, thanks to scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and Duke University, such warning can come in the form of a simple color change.
Microwaves to improve drug delivery
August 18, 2011 6:07 am | News | CommentsA team of Swinburne University of Technology researchers has shown that low-temperature microwaves can be used to open up pores in bacterial cells, which could lead to significant improvements in the design of drug delivery systems.
A new way to shape microparticles
August 17, 2011 4:39 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsIn an advance that could broadly expand the possible applications for microparticles, Massachusetts Institute of Technology engineers have developed a way to make microparticles of nearly any shape, using a micromold that changes shape in response to temperature.
Can the Spanish Flu devastate us again?
August 15, 2011 9:12 am | News | CommentsThe last century has seen two major pandemics caused by the H1N1 virus—the Spanish flu in 1918 and the swine flu scare of 2009. But scientists did not know what distinguished the swine flu from ordinary influenza in pigs or seasonal outbreaks in humans, giving it the power to travel extensively and infect large populations. Until now.
New drug could cure nearly any viral infection
August 10, 2011 4:34 am | by Anne Trafton, MIT News Office | News | CommentsMost bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics such as penicillin. However, such drugs are useless against viral infections. Now, in a development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection.
Curry spice offers treatment hope for tendinitis
August 9, 2011 6:58 am | News | CommentsAn international team of researchers has shown a derivative of a common culinary spice found in Indian curries could offer a new treatment hope for sufferers of the painful condition tendinitis.
Researchers increase the potency of HIV-battling proteins
July 29, 2011 4:49 am | News | CommentsResearchers at the California Institute of Technology have applied a relatively simple engineering technique to boost the battling prowess of an algae-sourced protein, called cyanovirin-N, that has gained attention for its antiviral properties.
Researchers create reprogrammed stem cells for disease studies
July 25, 2011 9:27 am | News | CommentsThe University of Michigan's Consortium for Stem Cell Therapies has achieved another of its primary goals: reprogramming adult skin cells so they behave like embryonic stem cells. The reprogrammed cells are called induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPs cells.
LEUKOCARE, Sanofi Pasteur sign agreement for vaccine stabilization
July 25, 2011 8:51 am | News | CommentsLEUKOCARE AG, a privately-owned specialist company for protein stabilization and biological surface coating, announced the signing of a cooperation agreement with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi. As part of this cooperation, Sanofi Pasteur will explore LEUKOCARE’s SPS platform technology to enhance the shelf-life of selected vaccine formulations.
Drug prices to plummet in wave of expiring patents
July 25, 2011 5:00 am | by Linda A. Johnson, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsThe next 14 months will bring generic versions of seven of the world's 20 best-selling drugs, including the top two: cholesterol fighter Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix. Generic competition will decimate sales of the brand-name drugs and cut costs to patients and companies that provide health benefits.
