News and Trends 23 Mar 2017 A Cheaper Heat-Stable Vaccine Could Prevent Child Deaths in Africa An innovative rotavirus vaccine, BRV-PV, which does not require refrigeration, has passed Phase III trials in children living in sub-Saharan Africa. The Research and Epidemiology branch of the humanitarian organization Doctors without Borders (MSF), Epicentre, has published the results of its recent Phase III trial for a new oral vaccine against rotavirus infection. The vaccine, […] March 23, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 15 Mar 2017 France Closes in on an HIV Cure by Detecting Cells with Dormant Viruses French researchers have found a protein only expressed in HIV-infected reservoir cells, paving the way for an HIV cure that completely eliminates the virus. Researchers from the Institut de Génétique Humaine (IGH) at Montpellier University, France, have discovered a protein, CD32a, that is only present on the surface of CD4 T cells infected with dormant HIV. This […] March 15, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 11 Mar 2017 You Can Watch Fleming’s Original Penicillin Culture in Oxford! The Museum of the History of Science in Oxford is hosting an exhibition on the history of penicillin and the current challenges of antibiotic resistance featuring the first culture used to extract the antibiotic. The discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in the early 20th century changed the world of medicine. Antibiotics have saved millions […] March 11, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 7 Mar 2017 A New Transatlantic Partnership takes on Antibiotic Resistance The Swiss biotech BioVersys and the US company Aptuit have entered a new collaboration to target antibiotic resistances. BioVersys, based in Basel, is developing small molecules that interfere with bacterial resistance mechanisms. Its current research is focused on nosocomial infections (hospital infections) and tuberculosis. To advance the development of compounds against novel targets identified by BioVersys, the company has […] March 7, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 23 Feb 2017 NGS Metagenomics Test could Curb Antibiotic-Resistant Infections PathoQuest has shown its metagenomics sequencing technology can identify more pathogens in immunocompromised patients than the standard procedures, keeping antibiotic-resistant infections at bay. PathoQuest, a spin-off from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, develops next-generation sequencing (NGS) metagenomics tests. The company just announced the publication of results from a clinical trial comparing its iDTECT Blood technology […] February 23, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 22 Feb 2017 Roche doubles down in Fight against Antibiotic Resistance In 2014, Discuva partnered up with Roche to develop new antibiotics against multidrug-resistant bacteria. The two companies have announced an extension of their collaboration until February 2018. The Cambridge-based company Discuva wants to address the critical need for new antibiotic drugs to treat infections from multidrug-resistant bacteria. Posing a major public health threat, antibiotic resistances cause at least 25,000 deaths per year in […] February 22, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 21 Feb 2017 New Immunotherapy Candidate receives FDA Fast Track Designation Cell Medica’s Orphan Drug CMD-003 has received fast track designation by the FDA to advance immunotherapy of patients with Epstein Bar Virus (EBV)-associated malignancies. The FDA’s fast track designation has been designed to facilitate and accelerate the development of drugs which fill a major unmet medical need. It has now been granted to Cell Medica’s lead EBV immunotherapy […] February 21, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Melanie De Almeida Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 20 Feb 2017 Alphamer Technology gets Seed Fundraising to Fight Antibiotic Resistance Centauri Therapeutics has raised £1.2M in the second part of its seed round, which will be directed at bringing its first alphamer to the preclinical stage. Centauri Therapeutics, a young British biotech, is developing alphamer technology to fights infectious disease and cancer. Today, the company has announced the addition of £1.2M from existing and new investors […] February 20, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 16 Feb 2017 British Scientists Discover how Deadly Bacteria Survive a Last-Line Antibiotic Researchers from the UK and Australia have described for the first time the detailed molecular mechanisms behind last-line antibiotic resistance. A month ago, the news of a woman who died of an infection with a bacteria resistant to all 26 antibiotics available in the US traveled the world. The bacterial strain responsible, Klebsiella pneumoniae, is one […] February 16, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 14 Feb 2017 Dual HIV Therapy: GSK and Gilead Battle over Whose Drug is the Best GSK announced Phase III results for dolutegravir, which could reduce triple HIV therapy down to two drugs, but Gilead is trying to prove that its candidate bictegravir is better. GSK and Gilead have announced they will present detailed data backing their candidates for a dual HIV therapy. The battlefield will be the Annual Conference on Retroviruses […] February 14, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 10 Feb 2017 Can Biotech make Antivenoms Better and Cheaper with Antibodies? Recombinant antibodies have yet to be applied to the treatment of snakebites, a neglected tropical ‘disease.’ Researchers from Denmark investigated the technology and cost of this novel approach in biotech. Bites from venomous snakes are a major public health problem in tropical areas, where 2 to 3 million people are affected every year and an estimated 100,000 […] February 10, 2017 - 3 minutesmins - By Denise Neves Gameiro Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email
News and Trends 8 Feb 2017 German Biotech gets Seed Funding to Repurpose Cancer Drugs for the Flu Atriva Therapeutics has received seed funding to advance the development of a better therapy for influenza in patients at high risk. Atriva Therapeutics was founded in Tübingen, Germany in 2015 with a quite particular aim: repurposing cancer drugs to treat influenza. Two private investors, the Dutch Stichting Participatie Atriva and the German High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) have contributed with […] February 8, 2017 - 2 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández Share WhatsApp Twitter Linkedin Email