Genomics specialist MWG Biotech has decided to pull out of
microarrays and laboratory automation and focus on its core areas
of making nucleic acids and oligonucleotides and DNA sequencing.
Tool supplier, EMD Biosciences has released the first comprehensive
guide to inhibitors for signal transduction and drug discovery
research that will enable researchers to pinpoint specific enzymes
as a possible target for drug therapy.
Applied Biosystems has been victorious in a patent dispute case,
brought in the US by Promega, that strove to overturn the company's
patents on technology used in gene amplification using polymerase
chain reaction (PCR).
According to a latest report, the growth of the biotechnology
company will continue to outpace that of pharmaceutical companies,
with the seven largest biotechnology companies growing at rates
faster than the pharmaceutical industry's...
Fujitsu Laboratories has reported a successful experiment using its
BioServer, designed to overcome one of the primary obstacles to
drug discovery - taking the huge amount of data coming from
genomics efforts and applying it to the...
Cancer treatment to kill tumours could be made more effective by a
revolutionary approach to angiogenesis which takes the unusual
approach of opening up the tumour blood supply allowing better
access for cancer drugs and more effective...
The biotech industry managed to raise almost $6 billion during the
third quarter bringing the total raised this year to $20 billion
(€16.2 billion), an increase of $3.2 billion from this time last
year, reflecting the growing confidence...
France's genOway, the company behind the first-ever cloning of a
laboratory rat last year, has reported a double whammy of good
news, raising €4 million in funding and forging an alliance with
the world's number one drugs...
Scientists have discovered the antimonial drugs used to treat
Leishmaniasis focus on the same drug targets as those drugs used to
treat sleeping sickness and Chagas disease, raising the possibility
of a multi-functional drug that...
Scientists at Yale University in the US have discovered the
vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role
in the development of the disease and raises the possibility of new
asthma drugs that block VEGF receptors...
A drug derived from a natural source - the cottonseed rape plant -
could find a new application as a cancer drug after failing to
prove itself as a male contraceptive.
The European Commission has published details of a new proposed
regulation aimed at stimulating research into drugs for use in
diseases affecting children.
One of the first trials of pharmacogenetics in a clinical setting
has revealed that the approach allowed a cancer drug to be used
more effectively in patients with a rare and virulent form of brain
cancer,
A best-selling drug used by millions worldwide to treat arthritis
has been withdrawn from the market after comprehensive clinical
data confirmed long-established concerns that the treatment could
increase the risk of heart attacks...
A new family of drugs specifically designed to inhibit nuclear
import of integrase, blocking viral replication of human
immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infected cells suggests an
approach that could be effective against drug...
Software provider Accelrys becomes the latest company to exploit
the use of compound databases in drug discovery. It has agreed to
integrate Sigma-Aldrich's chemical compound catalogs into Accelrys'
chemical suppliers database...
Applied Biosystems has announced the introduction of a new workflow
management and process automation solution software that integrates
data form multiple sources for genomics and proteomics
laboratories.
A collaboration between CompleGen and DuPont is set to
industrialize the pre-clinical drug development process and reduce
the time to bring a drug to market. Under terms, CompleGen will
gain access to a chemical library consisting...
Researchers in the US have recognised one of the key functions of
the c-myb gene, which leukaemia cells depend on for proliferation,
is the formation of white blood cells. The discovery is sure to
position the gene as a potential...
A molecular 'switch' allowing cancer cells to detach
themselves from the host of other cancer cells and move away to a
different parts of the body has been discovered Researchers believe
this molecular step is a viable target...
Sulfa drugs, the primary therapy for treating anthrax, are losing
the battle in its effectiveness in treating this bacterium, of
which antibiotic-resistant strains are emerging. Now,
computer-generated images which show bacterium...
Dutch biotech firm Qiagen has announced the acquisition of key
assets of Molecular Staging (MSI), which includes the Whole Genome
Amplification (WGA) technology, designed to eliminate limitations
created by scarce quantities of DNA...
A new report into pharmaceutical R&D worldwide identifies a
changing trend in increasing R&D focus of drugs for breast
cancer treatment compared with those for prostate cancer. This may
account for prostate cancer becoming...
The recent surge in HIV research shows no sign of terminating as
researchers reported the successful targeting of an HIV protein
that has eluded existing therapies. The technique used for
identifying the synthetic molecules may also...
Austrian company Inte:Ligand, which specializes in the development
of new drugs by computer simulation has launched a new software
package for modern drug design, which will provide pharma companies
with a tool to speed up the entire...
A new generation of 'smart antibiotics', which uses a virus that
adapts to recognize and attack bacteria, could become the latest
approach to tackling the growing public health problem of
antibiotic-resistant pathogens such...
Scientists in the US have developed Textpresso, a new text-mining
system for scientific literature which implements a unique search
engine using 33 catagories of terms for which a database of
articles and individual sentences can...
Key changes discovered in gene expression that provide an improved
understanding of neurones controlling movement and coordination and
their malfunction and death in Parkinson's Disease has lead to the
possibility of a drug therapy...
German biotechnological company SIRS-Lab, has introduced the
Lab-Arraytor 60-inflammation, a biochip that comprises a total of
780 inflammation-defined genes, specifically to understand the
molecular framework of acute inflammatory...
The results of an ongoing study could revolutionise Alzheimer's
disease treatment as a new technique, which uses a gene therapy
agent to deliver a drug containing nerve growth factor (NGF), to
the brain area affected by Alzheimer's...
Polymer Laboratories has launched a range of capillary and micro
chromatography columns for small scale chromatography which use
chemically stable polymeric particles to suit demanding high
sensitivity separations in drug discovery...
An experimental drug that block signals promoting uncontrolled
growth of blood cells, characteristic of Myeloproliferative Disease
(MPD) reported improvement in a sufferer's symptoms raising the
possibility of an effective cancer...
Constant innovation in the field of microfluidics and uTAS has
enabled lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technologies to successfully enter the
mainstream commercial market especially impacting on
high-throughput screening of drug candidates, point...
The world's leading pharmaceutical companies are not doing enough
to help improve the health of countries in the third world. They
will also be completely unprepared to face the increasing demand
for drugs for diseases other...
Cancer therapy specialists, Ziopharm, has announced it has entered
into a licensing agreement for a new class of organic arsenicals
with the intention of developing them for a wide range of cancers
Cellomics has launched a new image analysis software module that
allows scientists performing drug discovery and basic science
research to analyse a broad variety of cell-based assays in as
little as five minutes.
A study, which uses immunoglobulins to treat multiple sclerosis,
may also be able to help patients with Alzheimer's. The discovery
seems to point towards an approach, which treats Alzheimer's with
anti-bodies, which are...
Austrian biotech company, Austrianova, has received approval from
the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) for its product
Novacaps, a new category of therapeutic for pancreatic cancer.
EMEA's latest decision ensures trial...
New research in the US, focusing on the pharmacological aspects of
smoking marijuana, are closer to understanding how the drugs active
ingredients exert its effects, paving the way for drugs that
selectively bind and block subtypes...
Cellomics has launched a new image analysis software module that
allows scientists performing drug discovery and basic science
research to analyse a broad variety of cell-based assays in as
little as five minutes.
A 'tail' at one end of the Ubc 12 protein has been found to
play a key role in accelerating cell replication. The determination
of its structure and role bodes well for the development of new
types of drugs targeting the...
The lead agent in a new class of drugs for the treatment of
diabetes - Novartis' LAF-237 - seems to improve glucose control
without the weight gain associated with other orally-active drugs
for this common disease, reports Phil...
The first molecular-scale images of DNA binding to an adenovirus
enzyme, a crucial step for a virus to cause infection, have been
produced, which shows how binding to DNA may stimulate the enzyme,
aiding to the design of new antiviral...
Cambrex Corporation announces the availability of a method for the
non-cytotoxic delivery of biologically active cargo molecules, such
as proteins, peptides, or small molecules directly into living
cells providing drug R&D with...
AstraZeneca has been hit by the decision of the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) not to approve its oral anticoagulant Exanta
(ximelegatran), despite the fact that it is already on the market
in Europe.
Switzerland's Tecan has introduced the LS Reloaded, a new series of
automation-friendly microarray scanners, which now includes a
three-fold higher sensitivity making it ideal for drug-related
ELISA and focused biomarker arrays...
Worldwide efforts to produce a newer, safer antidepressant have
never been more imperative after a US landmark ruling requires all
antidepressant drugs to carry the strongest possible warning,
informing the public of the risks of...
A groundbreaking new treatment for psoriasis could be available to
patients in Europe as early as next month, providing the European
Medicines Agency (EMEA) follows the advice of its advisory
committee.
Biotechnology Company, Nucleonics, has filed a request with the
Commissioner of Patents in Australia for Re-Examination, which
questions the validity of Benitec's patent concerning
gene-silencing technology claiming ambiguity...
