Research and development - Today Stories
Freeline, a biotechnology company focused on developing curative gene therapies for chronic systemic diseases, today announces Syncona Ltd (“Syncona) has made an $80.0 million (£61.1 million)[1] commitment in a Series C financing and has funded the first tranche of this commitment, amounting to $40.0 million (£30.6 million)[2]. This financing augments the previous £88.4 million Series B investment and the £34.8 million Series A investment previously made into Freeline by the founding investors, led by Syncona.
The first $40 million tranche will enable Freeline to expand its team, continue to develop its robust manufacturing platform, including commercial supply capability, generate further data in its clinical programmes for Haemophilia B and Fabry Disease, and continue to progress its pip…
Newcastle upon Tyne, UK – 16th December 2019 – Newcells Biotech are excited to announce that they are Phase II contract winners of the NC3Rs-funded CRACK IT Challenge (named ImmuLiver). They have been awarded a further funding to continue development of their human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) model of the human liver that is metabolically and immunologically competent for the routine assessment of Yellow Fever vaccine attenuation.
Current in vitro liver models lack immune competency. A functional liver model that can accurately recreate the complexity of the organ is needed to assess viscerotropism (the tendency to attack or affect the viscera) and reduce the use of animals in the testing of new vaccine products.
“We are creating a user-friendly, in vitro human liver sinusoid sys…
Craigavon, N.I., 04 December 2019 - Almac Group, the global contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organisation, has been awarded $200K by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to develop novel biosynthetic routes with the aim of substantially lowering the cost of selected steroidal Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and enable their use in developing world aid programs.
The programme of work will see the development of novel biocatalytic routes to Etonorgestrel and Levonorgestrel APIs by Almac Sciences’ established team of biocatalysis experts based in Ireland. Etonorgestrel is a highly potent material currently made with mid-twentieth century chemistry which makes it very expensive at almost $200k/kg and therefore unaffordable to women in the developing wor…
London UK, 27 November 2019 – The Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT Catapult) today released the UK cell and gene therapy skills demand report. The report shows that the UK cell and gene therapy industry currently supports over 3,000 jobs. Employment in this sector in the UK is set to more than double by 2024 as more therapies are moving towards commercialisation. In seven years, the industry has expanded from 500 jobs in 2012 to over 3,000 and is predicted to reach over 6,000 jobs by 2024. The number of manufacturing and bioprocessing roles in particular, has tripled in the past two years alone, to over 1,700 roles to date.
The growth reported today in the cell and gene therapy job sector is testament to the established and growing Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) ecosystem tha…
Abingdon, UK, 8 November 2019: – OBN (UK) Ltd., the membership organisation that supports the life sciences industry, is delighted to announce the winners of the 2019 OBN Awards.
The Awards, which are in their 11th year, celebrate the best of UK life sciences – from outstanding scientific innovation within Biotech, Medtech and Digital Health, to the companies that support the industry and the fundraisers that make it happen. This year’s event hosted an audience of over 250 life sciences industry leaders at the Oxford Examination Schools.
John Harris, CEO of OBN, said: “We received an incredible number of entries yet again this year, so competition has been really tough for all nominees. All our winners and finalists are truly innovative, at the very top of their respective sectors, and s…
Combining two major forces in HEOR, market access, medical affairs and healthcare communications
4th November, 2019, London, UK and Bethesda, USA – OPEN Health has today announced the integration of Pharmerit International, a global leader in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), into its group of companies. Joining the Pharmerit business with the OPEN Health Group establishes a new unique entity equipped to be a global leader in HEOR, market access, medical affairs and healthcare communications.
The merger enhances and supports OPEN Health’s positioning – deep, broad and connected:
Deep in that integration will expand the company’s global footprint and capabilities in the HEOR and market access space – across four integrated centres of excellence:
Strategic market access
Modell…
London, UK - Some of the UK’s leading Harley Street outpatient clinics specialising in delivering expert mental health support have partnered with medical device company Flow Neuroscience to offer patients a new medically approved brain stimulation headset to treat depression. The type of brain stimulation used in the headset has been shown in independent clinical studies to have a similar impact to antidepressants but with fewer and less-severe side effects.
Clinics within London’s esteemed medical district, including the NHS-connected private therapy clinic The Chelsea Psychology Clinic, will now offer patients the new brain stimulation headset as an add-on treatment in combination with their traditional therapy and psychiatrist services. An additional 10 clinics are trialling the headse…
Scientists from the University of Nottingham have discovered an easy, cost-effective and safe method of sending cells and small living samples worldwide, which could revolutionise conventional practice.
Cultured cells are currently transported using dry ice - the solid form of carbon dioxide - which keeps them frozen at -80oC. However, dry ice shipping is expensive, voluminous and hazardous, so much so that many couriers refuse to handle it.
Also, if it evaporates before a shipment reaches its destination, cellular recovery is jeopardised, as the cells get crushed and the cryoprotectant needed for their storage at low temperatures, is toxic to cells at ambient temperatures.
Dry ice is also damaging to the environment, with 5kg, (the quantity typically used in a consignment of frozen ce…
Grant will support researchers from King’s College London and King’s College Hospital to test a personalised treatment approach for Aplastic Anaemia patients who have not responded to available therapies
21 October 2019 - LifeArc, a UK-based medical research charity, and the Aplastic Anaemia Trust (AAT) have jointly awarded a £1.15m research grant to King’s College London and King’s College Hospital to investigate the potential of a novel type of “personalised cellular therapy” to reverse the ultra-rare condition aplastic anaemia (AA). The results of this research could give new hope to people living with a severe, life-limiting form of this condition.
The grant will fund a clinical trial to investigate the safety and efficacy of using a patient’s own T-reg cells to restore the blood-makin…
The Primary Care Women’s Health Forum (PCWHF), the leading membership forum for primary care clinicians with an interest in women’s health, is pleased to announce the publication of ‘Her Life Her Health’, its new women’s health publication. It is a new quarterly publication for PCWHF members.
Written by primary care clinicians for primary care, the publication follows the journey a woman typically takes throughout her lifetime when accessing healthcare, from contraceptive needs to conception, from menstruation to menopause.
Spearheaded by Editor-in-Chief, renowned women’s health expert and Chair of the PCWHF, Dr Anne Connolly, Her Life Her Health combines the latest research and guidelines with news, policy, best practice, features, resources and quick reference guidelines.
It is packed wi…
The publication in the Journal of Global Antimicrobial Resistance concluded that application of a nasal gel formulation of XF-73 in healthy volunteers was safe, well tolerated and generated minimal side effects Treatment with XF-73 was also associated with a rapid reduction in nasal Staphylococcus aureus in all subjects; nasal carriage of the bacteria is the source of the majority of post-surgical bacterial infections The same nasal formulation is being used in the Company’s phase 2b trial assessing the microbiological effect of XF-73 on nasal S. aureus in patients scheduled for cardiac surgery and at high risk of postoperative S.aureus/MRSA infection; headline results continue to be expected in mid-2020
Brighton, United Kingdom – 16 October 2019 Destiny Pharma (AIM: DEST), a clinical sta…
The Physiological Society has congratulated Nobel Prize winners William G. Kaelin Jr., Sir Peter J. Ratcliffe and Gregg L. Semenza.
It was announced today (Monday 7 October) that they have been awarded the Nobel Prize for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.
While the fundamental importance of oxygen has been understood for centuries, this research focuses on understanding how cells adapt to changes in levels of oxygen.
Sir Peter Ratcliffe is a former Editor of Journal of Physiology, a journal published by The Physiological Society.
Responding to the Nobel Prize announcement, President of The Physiological Society, Bridget Lumb, said:
“This year’s Nobel Prize puts physiology front and centre. It shines a light on the vital research carried out by physiolog…
LEIDEN, and UTRECHT, the Netherlands, October 1st , 2019 / B3C newswire / -- MIMETAS and Hubrecht Organoid Technologies (HUB) announce that they entered into a strategic collaboration to market organoid models on a Chip. The agreement includes a license to MIMETAS to market HUB Organoids in an assay ready format, as well as a collaborative effort to develop disease-specific models.
"We're delighted and proud that we could transition our long-standing collaboration with the group of Professor Hans Clevers into a commercial proposition," says MIMETAS CEO Paul Vulto. "The adult stem cell biology and Organoid technology of HUB is the very best in the world. By combining it with our OrganoPlate technology in an assay-ready format, the technology becomes available to researchers from any laborat…
Craigavon, N.I., 26 September 2019 – Almac Diagnostic Services, a member of the Almac Group, will launch the complete version of claraT at the ESMO Congress in Barcelona on 27th September. The Almac claraT Total mRNA Report content has expanded considerably from the initial version launched the previous year at the ESMO Congress. The complete version now includes 92 gene expression signatures, 100 single gene drug targets and over 7,000 additional biology linked genes, categorised by all 10 Hallmarks of Cancer.
The innovative claraT Total mRNA Report benefits both academic and biopharma biomarker discovery and translational researchers by saving them valuable time in analysing gene expression data and helping to maximise the understanding of their dataset. claraT analyses multiple publishe…
MAIN5 and Iperion Life Sciences Consultancy entered into a strategic alliance to better serve customers within the field of implementation of Regulatory Information Systems, data management, project management and change management.
“As the pharmaceutical industry faces organizational, technical and coordination challenges in an ever faster changing regulatory environment, the combined expertise of our companies will allow our customers access to top expertise with optimal communication possibilities,” Gero Neidlinger, partner of MAIN5 and Frits Stulp, managing director of Iperion Life Sciences Consultancy explain.
„Implementation of new regulatory guidance and new systems requires effective change and project management involving all stakeholders. The real change in our industry can onl…
A study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland demonstrated that a recently described T-cell subset, so-called peripheral T helper cells, may have a role in the development of type 1 diabetes. The frequency of circulating peripheral T helper cells was observed to be increased both in children with recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes and in healthy children who later progressed to type 1 diabetes. The study was published in the journal Diabetologia.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that typically manifests in childhood. In type 1 diabetes, insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed by the immune system. In addition to genetic susceptibility, the appearance of autoantibodies in blood is predictive of future development of type 1 diabetes.
The appearance of auto…
In Vitro Approach Provides Predictive Platform for Human-Based Drug Discovery
NEW YORK, August 6, 2019 (Newswire.com) - Researchers from TARA Biosystems, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) today published data demonstrating that TARA’s engineered heart-on-a-chip system replicated drug responses found in adult humans. The findings, published in the Journal of Toxicological Sciences, show TARA’s 3D-cardiac tissue platform can predict how human hearts will respond to a wide range of drugs, something that has been a challenge in pre-clinical models until now.
“The cardiac tissues generated in the study are the first to provide high-fidelity human drug responses and demonstrate the potential for evaluating the safety and efficacy of new therapies in preclinical development,” said Michael P. Gra…
Timothy Kulbago named one of the most inspiring people in life sciences industry
PHILADELPHIA – Aug. 5, 2019 – ERT, a global data and technology company that minimizes uncertainty and risk in clinical trials, today announced that Timothy Kulbago, Vice President, Imaging has been named one of the 100 most inspiring individuals in the life-sciences industry by PharmaVoice.
Representing a broad cross-section of industry sectors, the PharmaVoice 100 honorees are selected based on how they have inspired their colleagues and affected positive changes in their organizations, as well as their involvement in community and philanthropic activities.
“We’re pleased to honor Tim as he truly represents the spirit of the PharmaVoice 100,” said Taren Grom, Editor and Cofounder of PharmaVOICE. “His contr…
Supporting the NHS on its decade-long journey towards an integrated health and care system, as well as delivering extra investment for new buildings and infrastructure, social care and addressing major gaps in NHS staffing, should be at the top of the new Prime Minister’s priority list.
That is the call today from the NHS Confederation in a letter and briefing to the Prime Minister. The NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, says there is much ‘unfinished business’ for the new government to resolve in the health and care sector.
The letter warns the Prime Minister that the question of NHS funding is not yet settled, despite the £20.5bn funding settlement that kicked in from April this year. The settlement excluded some vital areas of expenditure tha…
GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) today announced that Jonathan Symonds will succeed Sir Philip Hampton as Non-Executive Chairman of the GSK Board with effect from 1st September 2019.
Jonathan is currently Deputy Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc and has been an independent non-executive Director of HSBC since April 2014. He is a former Chief Financial Officer of Novartis AG and AstraZeneca plc, and has been a non-executive Director of Diageo plc and QinetiQ plc. He is currently non-executive Chairman of Proteus Digital Health Inc, a non-executive director of Rubius Therapeutics Inc and Chairman of Genomics England Limited.
The appointment was approved by the Board and follows a thorough succession process undertaken by the Nominations Committee, led by Vindi Banga, the company’s Senior Independ…
