Articles for ThirdBiotech

In a fresh demonstration of science's newfound ability to alter the basic units of human life, researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have turned the cells in human skin into those in the liver, work that opens new avenues for treating diseases of the liver without relying on organ transplants. enlarge photo Photo courtesy of Medical College of Wisconsin Researchers at the Medical ...

A new type of sensor makes diagnosing infections quick and easy.

Ari Cohn, Tribune September 22, 2009 - 5:24PM Digg| Save| License| Print| E-mail| Chandler is moving forward with a planned biotech business incubator at the site of the old Intel CH10 building on 79th Street next to the Stellar Airpark. Ralph Freso, Tribune An artist's rendering of the proposed Innovations biotechnology business incubator, into which Chandler plans to invest $5.7 million. An artist's rendering of the proposed ...

by Edythe Jensen - Sept. 18, 2009 02:14 PM The Arizona Republic Chandler is poised to spend millions on "Innovations," a bioscience and technology incubator project that officials say could turn the region into a magnet for inventors, scientists and startup entrepreneurs. The plan, which would offer small, reduced-rate lab spaces with the latest equipment, won unanimous backing on Friday from the city's Economic Development Advisory Board. Members were told that the ...

Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood released the following statement in response to President Obama's address on health care reform delivered tonight before a joint session of the U.S. Congress: "BIO shares President Obama's goal of ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable, sustainable, high quality health care. Biotechnology plays an essential role in achieving this goal. Biotechnology expands the boundaries of science by ...

Biotechnology company Xoma Ltd. said Wednesday it will receive $6 million from Cephalon Inc.'s Arana Therapeutics unit for a partnership on antibody research and development. Under the deal, Xoma will receive the payment and is entitled to royalty and milestone payments on future products. Xoma will also be fully reimbursed for its services. Xoma's revenue currently comes from a series of licensing deals and partnerships, including work on biodefense contracts and ...

GlaxoSmithKline Plc won a U.S. advisory panel’s backing to introduce Cervarix, the first cervical cancer vaccine to compete with Merck & Co.’s Gardasil. The panel separately recommended expanding Gardasil use to boys. The shots were ruled safe and effective by a panel of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration meeting today in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Both protect against strains of human papillomavirus, or HPV, a common sexually transmitted virus that can cause serious ...

Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) named the architect of its integration with Genentech to head its drugs business, closing a $47 billion buyout that sets the U.S. biotech at the heart of the Swiss group's growth plans. Roche said on Tuesday that industry insider Pascal Soriot would replace veteran William Burns as head of its pharma division at the end of the year -- the final move in a management reshuffle started when Severin Schwan took over as chief executive last year. The Swiss firm, ...

An Abbott Laboratories Inc unit that makes genetic tests will work with Pfizer Inc to develop a test to screen non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors to determine which patients are good candidates for a novel cancer therapy being developed by Pfizer. The Abbott unit, Abbott Molecular, said it would develop a test that determines a patient's genetic status. Results would be used to select patients for future clinical trials of a new oral cancer therapy, known as PF-02341066, being ...

Friday, August 28, 2009 Southwest Terminal LLC plans biodiesel facility in Pinal County Phoenix Business Journal - by Chris Casacchia and Patrick O'Grady Ron Rich View Larger A Tempe company plans to build a 100-acre plant in Pinal County that will produce millions of gallons of biodiesel and jet fuel made from oils extracted from a poisonous bush native to Central America. Southwest ...

Friday, August 28, 2009 Thunderbird fund could take equity in firms worldwide Phoenix Business Journal - by Chris Casacchia Media The Thunderbird School of Global Management is establishing a venture fund that could take equity stakes in companies around the world. While it’s still in the planning stages, the framework for the landmark funding model –– a first in Arizona –– is in ...

UCB SA and Immunomedics Inc. said a mid-stage trial comparing their treatment to placebo for treating lupus over 12 weeks showed "meaningful treatment effect." The news sent shares of Immunomedics, a biopharmaceutical company, surging 70% premarket to $7.25. The stock through Wednesday had more than doubled already this year. Shares haven't been above $7 since 2003. UCB shares were little changed in Brussels. The so-called treatment advantage of epratuzumab over placebo in was 25%. ...

Corporate America's research spending shrank 4% overall, or $1.9 billion, from the fourth quarter of 2007 through the second quarter of this year, according to data compiled by Capital IQ on 961 U.S. companies. But many health-care companies have boosted their research outlays. BusinessWeek sought out 25 companies that most aggressively increased their research budgets during the first six months of 2009. Thirteen members of the group, which collectively boosted its spending by ...

An experimental once-daily tablet from Nycomed [NYCMD.UL] and Forest Laboratories (FRX.N) improves lung function in people with "smoker's lung" and may be a useful add-on to conventional inhaled drugs, experts said on Friday. Privately owned Swiss drugmaker Nycomed, which is working towards a multibillion-dollar flotation, hopes Daxas will reach the market in 2010 and believes it has blockbuster potential. It signed a deal earlier this month with Forest, giving the U.S. group rights ...

Scientists have discovered a type of bacteria which they believe could be the cause of many cases of colon cancer. By Kate Devlin, Medical Correspondent While it is still unknown whether the colon cancer related bacteria could be tackled by standard antibiotics, researchers are hopeful that the breakthrough could point the way to new treatments Photo: GETTY The breakthrough could point the way to vaccines or drugs to fight the disease, one of the ...

Shire PLC plans to invest $460 million over the next eight years and hire 750 full-time employees in Lexington as its expands its Human Genetic Therapies division, the British drug maker said yesterday. When it outlined the expansion plan in February 2008, the company said it would invest $394 million and hire 680 workers at the Lexington-based unit. Shire also confirmed it has signed a 15-year lease with Patriot Partners for a 160,000-square-foot building that will be ...

AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine for swine flu may bring in $2.3 billion over the next two years in a surprise windfall that may redeem the 21 percent premium the U.K. drugmaker paid to acquire MedImmune Inc. AstraZeneca is testing the nasal-spray technology used in MedImmune’s seasonal flu vaccine FluMist for a new product to tackle swine flu, also known as the H1N1 virus. FluMist, which is only approved in the U.S., generated $104 million in sales last year compared with the 736 million ...

Three life sciences companies in the San Diego region have raised venture capital lately, according to our scan of filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission. All three are concentrating on developing new drugs. Here’s a roundup: —Palkion, a San Diego developer of anemia drugs, has raised $2.5 million from investors, according to an SEC filing earlier this week. The company was formed in February 2008 by ProQuest Investments and CrystalGenomics, a Korean drug discovery company ...

Diagnostic tests that look for specific genetic or molecular characteristics may be the key to helping doctors decide which lung cancer treatments work best for patients, two studies released on Wednesday suggest. In one, researchers found AstraZeneca's lung cancer pill Iressa, or gefitinib, worked far better than chemotherapy in people from East Asia whose tumors had specific mutations in genes for the epidermal growth factor receptor or EGFR. In another, a Spanish team found that ...

Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell said on Tuesday it had been awarded a $40.7 million U.S. government contract for the development of monoclonal antibodies for treating influenza. Crucell said the contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could be worth up to $69.1 million if additional funding is released by the NIH. "With the world now at pandemic alert level six, and recent reports of A/H1N1 oseltamivir ...