Connecting You to Tomorrow's Biotechnology Innovations
A DNA vaccine tested in mice reduces accumulation of both types of toxic proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to research that scientists say may pave the way to a clinical trial. A new study by UT Southwestern’s Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute shows that a vaccine delivered to the skin prompts an immune response that reduces […]
As part of an ongoing commitment to battle opioid addiction, the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University today marked a major milestone, enrolling the first patient in a randomized clinical trial that will test the effectiveness of an injectable non-opioid, non-steroid micropellet to treat sciatica. The phase III clinical trial utilizes a clonidine micropellet, […]
Anti-malaria drugs known as chloroquines have been repurposed to treat cancer for decades, but until now no one knew exactly what the chloroquines were targeting when they attack a tumor. Now, researchers from the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania say they have identified that target – an enzyme called PPT1 – opening […]
Using an innovative quality improvement project to determine how to design an effective emergency trauma clinical trial, a team of surgeons at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) was able to launch the first-ever study on a high-risk damage control surgery for critical abdominal injuries. The two-year quality improvement (QI) project was aimed […]
A Phase I/II study, led by investigators at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, reports an investigational drug called tagraxofusp has demonstrated high response rates in patients with blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), a rare but highly aggressive – and often fatal bone marrow and blood disorder – for which there are no […]
IntraBio Inc., a late-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for rare “orphan” and common neurodegenerative diseases, announced that the European Commission has granted Orphan Medicinal Drug Designation for its lead compound series (IB1000s) for the treatment Niemann-Pick disease Type A, B and C. Niemann-Pick disease Type C (NPC) is a rare, devastating, neurovisceral autosomal-recessive inherited […]
A triple therapy combining two immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs) with the standard-of-care chemotherapy, a hypomethylating agent called azacitidine, has shown promising results for treatment of relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to findings from a Phase II study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Findings from the study, led by Naval Daver, M.D., associate professor of Leukemia, […]
By comparing genetic sequences in the eye tumors of children whose cancers spread with tumors that didn’t spread, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report new evidence that a domino effect in cells is responsible for the cancer spreading. Their experiments suggest that blocking part of the chain of events — which they successfully accomplished in zebra […]
A combination of the standard-of-care chemotherapy drug known as azacitidine, with nivolumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, demonstrated an encouraging response rate and overall survival in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) according to findings from a Phase II study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Results from the trial, led by Naval Daver, M.D., associate professor of Leukemia, […]
There are over six million fractures per year in the U.S. with direct costs in the billions, not to mention lost productivity. The only drug currently available to accelerate the healing process must be applied directly onto the fracture surface during surgery, but not all breaks require such intervention. New research, Bone Fracture-Targeted Dasatinib Conjugate Potently Enhances Fracture Repair In Vivo, […]
Scientists have discovered a previously unknown molecular vulnerability in two rare, aggressive, and hard-to-treat types of cancer, and say it may be possible to attack this weakness with targeted drugs. Reporting in Nature Cell Biology, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute show that these two cancers – synovial sarcoma and malignant rhabdoid tumors – are dependent on a […]
Researchers from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, have discovered that neurons located in the vision centers of the brains of blind rats functioned normally following fetal retina cell transplants, indicating the successful restoration of vision. The research was published today in JNeurosci, the Journal of Neuroscience. Led by David Lyon, PhD, associate […]
People with Alzheimer’s disease who were treated with diabetes drugs showed considerably fewer markers of the disease including abnormal microvasculature and disregulated gene expressions in their brains compared to Alzheimer’s patients without treatment for diabetes, Mount Sinai researchers report. Results of the study will be published in PLOS One online on November 1st at 2PM. This is the […]
Molecular virologist Chad Petit, Ph.D., uses basic science to fight influenza — through experiments at the atomic level. This includes a deadly poultry influenza virus in China called the H7N9 avian flu virus. Since 2013, H7N9 has infected 1,625 people, killing 623. While not highly contagious for humans, just three mutations could change that, turning […]
NeuroPointDX announced the availability of the NPDX AA test, the first objective blood test that identifies metabolic subtypes associated with autism spectrum disorder in children as young as 18 months old. The NPDX AA test works by detecting amine imbalances in a child’s fasting blood sample with very precise thresholds that were identified and validated based […]
Something as simple as a change in diet can potentially help to increase the cancer survival rate of obese children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer, according to a new study by UCLA scientists. The research team, led by Dr. Steven Mittelman, chief of pediatric endocrinology at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and member of […]
In just a few years, CAR T-cell and other adoptive T-cell therapies have emerged as among the most promising forms of cancer immunotherapy. But even as these agents prove themselves against several forms of leukemia and lymphoma – and, potentially, certain solid tumors – basic questions remain about how they work. In a study published […]
November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and in the United States, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. The primary reason for high death rates for lung cancer is the fact that this disease is typically detected in very late stages, when treatment is often of little use. […]
Today, Penn Medicine is announcing the newest Translational Center of Excellence (TCE) in the Abramson Cancer Center, focused on Glioblastoma Multiforme, the most common and lethal form of brain cancer. The team will investigate new immune therapies for glioblastoma and, in particular, design and test new CAR T cell therapies. This involves engineering patients’ T […]
Queen’s University researchers have, for the first time, found a specific microbe in the gut that pumps out protein molecules that mimic a human protein, causing the human defence system to turn on its own cells by mistake. The culprit in this case is called Bacteroides fragilis, a bacterium that normally lives in the human […]