Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have completed a groundbreaking new test: They knocked widespread blood cancer into remission with a single massive blast of measles vaccine.
Stacy Erholtz, who was suffering from an advanced stage of blood cancer, recovered thanks to an intravenous injection of the measles virus, which was sufficient to overwhelm the cancer’s natural defenses, the StarTribune reports.
GlycoMimetics, Inc. announced today that data from a Phase 2 clinical trial of its lead drug candidate rivipansel ( GMI-1070 ) in pediatric patients has been presented at the American Society of Pediatric Hematology Oncology (ASPHO) 27th Annual Meeting . As part of the symposium entitled, “Sickle Cell Disease: Saving the Brain and Treating the Pain,” Timothy McCavit, M.D., M.S., Assistant Professor of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, highlighted the results observed in a randomized, multi-center, double-blind, adaptive Phase 2 study of rivipansel in pediatric sickle cell disease patients with vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC). The ASPHO Meeting is taking place May 14 through May 17 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
“Because sickle cell disease is genetic with symptoms presenting in patients at very young ages, there is a huge unmet need for managing its symptoms in pediatric populations. Dr. McCavit’s presentation at the ASPHO meeting underscores the potential role of rivipansel in addressing VOC in pediatric patients,” said Helen Thackray, M.D ., Vice President of Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer at GlycoMimetics. “We remain committed to supporting the advancing study of this potential therapy in both children and adults and look forward to continued research through the Phase 3 study, which will be led by our collaborator Pfizer, Inc.”
OpGen, Inc., a Gaithersburg based molecular diagnostics company, announced today that it has launched a new molecular-based test that can quickly and reliably identify patients at risk for harboring serious disease-causing microbes that can resist even the strongest antibiotics. The Acuitas™ MDRO Gene Test is a comprehensive molecular screening tool that can directly detect as many as seven genes from one patient sample, and will help hospitals and public health officials combat some of the most critical multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) threatening patients in healthcare facilities.
“Drug-resistant ‘superbugs’ pose a serious and immediate threat to the world’s health and safety increasing the likelihood of prolonged illnesses, higher costs – even death,” said Evan Jones, Chairman and CEO, OpGen, Inc. “The new Acuitas MDRO Gene Test makes MDRO screening more efficient and cost-effective by delivering comprehensive, precise and actionable information to healthcare practitioners within 24 hours, assisting them in their efforts to combat and prevent the spread of these complex and potentially life-threatening infections.”
Funding and Research Opportunities
The following funding opportunity announcements from the NHLBI or other components of the National Institutes of Health, might be of interest:
NIH Guide Notices:
Please note that most links to RFAs, PAs, and Guide Notices will take you to the NIH Web site. RFPs will take you to FedBizOpps. Links to RFPs will not work past their proposal receipt date. Archived versions of RFPs posted on FedBizOpps can be found on the FedBizOpps site using the FedBizOpps search function. Under “Document to Search,” select Archived Documents.
The National Venture Capital Association on Wednesday named Scott Sandell, a Silicon Valley-based general partner with New Enterprise Associates, its next chairman.
He takes over as chair of the Arlington-based VC trade group at an optimistic time, at least compared with the years following the recession. By the NVCA’s own numbers: Venture firms, nationally, are seeing increasing success luring back limited partners, while a greater number of venture-backed companies are going public. Total VC dollars invested hit a more than dozen-year high last quarter.
David Mott will speak at the BioTrinity 2014 Conference, the European Bipartnering and Investment Conference on May 12-14, 2014.
BioTrinity is the premier European Biopartnering and Investment Conference, partnering R&D companies with big pharma and more biomedical investors than any other key European partnering conference.
The National Institutes of Health announced on Wednesday a new policy requiring that both sexes be represented among the subjects of preclinical biomedical research it finances involving animal and cell models.
More than two decades after requiring gender balance among human beings in the trials themselves, NIH leaders said they now realize that the same step should be applied to the laboratory experiments that inform those trials.
Every summer, the National Security Agency offers about 250 internships to undergraduate and graduate students interested in pursuing careers with the federal agency. If you can snag one, your career will be off to a great start.
But getting one is the hard part. There are more than 10,000 applicants every year for the internships, which span the science, technology, engineering and math fields. Richard Ledgett, deputy director of the NSA, on Wednesday told members of the BWI Business Partnership the selection process is grueling because of the high standards and required security clearances.
Johnson & Johnson’s ($JNJ) Janssen arm is planning to open another biotech incubator, this time setting its sights on South San Francisco in hopes of finding a few promising drug developers.
The new operation, dubbed Janssen Labs @South San Francisco, will be a 30,000-square-foot mix of lab and office space with room for up to 50 startups, J&J said. Mirroring Janssen’s flagship San Diego incubator, the new facility will be staffed by some of J&J’s biotech brains and provide operational support, education and business services to its guest companies.
Richard Griffin, Director of Economic Development for the City of Frederick, and Julie Garner, Director of External Affairs, Maryland for AstraZeneca, accepted the award at the 2014 MEDA Awards Ceremony. The ceremony annually honors “standouts” in the field of economic development and the professionals who foster MEDA’s success today.
The award-winning plant, located next to the original 163,802 square foot biomanufacturing facility, provides increased capacity and has enabled AstraZeneca and MedImmune to meet the demand for new products. The company boasts world-class protein engineering and process development capabilities.
