Press release - 28/01/2010 Boehringer and Priaxon to collaborate in cancer treatment research and development The pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim and the young Munich-based company Priaxon have entered into a collaborative project to research and develop mdm2/p53 inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. Priaxon is contributing its expertise in the inhibition of protein-protein interactions, while Boehringer will take on the development and commercialisation of potential products.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/boehringer-and-priaxon-to-collaborate-in-cancer-treatment-research-and-development
Article - 28/01/2010 Prevention of metabolic diseases – IABC AG relying on individual intervention The supply of nutrients such as vitamins minerals and trace elements is directly related to the appearance of numerous metabolic diseases. In order to identify nutrient deficiencies in good time and counteract the development of diseases the Institute of Applied Biochemistry IABC in Kreuzlingen has developed investigation methods that enable statements to be made on an individuals personal nutrient requirements.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/prevention-of-metabolic-diseases-iabc-ag-relying-on-individual-intervention
Press release - 28/01/2010 Roche invests 86 million Swiss Francs in its Mannheim site Roche is to invest 86 million Swiss Francs (approximately 57.3 million euros) in the construction of a new pharmaceutical production unit at its Mannheim company site. The new production line will deliver the commercial supply of the breast cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab) from 2013 onwards.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/roche-invests-86-million-swiss-francs-in-its-mannheim-site
Article - 28/01/2010 Drug safety: there is always a risk In the best-case scenario, drugs are 100% effective; however, there are many cases where they are ineffective. Medicinal therapy is always associated with numerous risks. Experts from all over Germany recently gathered at the 1st Ulm Drug Safety Day to discuss the mode of action of drugs, the influences on drug action and how drug safety can be ensured. The “Stadthaus” in Ulm, where the meeting was held, was packed. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/drug-safety-there-is-always-a-risk
Article - 28/01/2010 Liver cell transplantation for the treatment of innate urea cycle defects Liver transplantation is the only life-saving therapy available to patients suffering from genetic defects of the urea cycle. However, newborns cannot be transplanted with a donor liver. The injection of liver cell suspensions into the liver of sick babies through the portal vein can substitute the lack of enzyme activity, hence preventing brain damage until such time as liver transplantation becomes possible.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/liver-cell-transplantation-for-the-treatment-of-innate-urea-cycle-defects
Press release - 26/01/2010 Apogenix Initiates Clinical Phase II Study with its Lead Compound APG101 in Glioblastoma Apogenix GmbH, a biopharmaceutical company today announced the start of a clinical Phase II trial with its lead compound AGP101 in Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). The first patient has been treated with APG101 since December 2009 at the University Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/apogenix-initiates-clinical-phase-ii-study-with-its-lead-compound-apg101-in-glioblastoma
Press release - 26/01/2010 KIT is the most successful German institution in acquiring European research funds Under the 6th Research Framework Programme of the European Union, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology acquired more than 80 million euros in research funds and was involved in 209 research projects. These figures show that it outperforms all other individual institutions in Germany, including universities, research centres and industrial companies. KIT has also had a successful start to the 7th Framework Programme.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/kit-is-the-most-successful-german-institution-in-acquiring-european-research-funds
Press release - 26/01/2010 MicroTEC Südwest convinces in the second round of the BMBF’s Leading Edge Cluster competition The winners of the second round of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s (BMBF) Leading Edge Cluster competition have now been selected. On 26th January 2010, the chairman of the jury, Prof. Dr. Andreas Barner (spokesperson for the Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH Management Board), and the German Research Minister, Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, announced in Berlin which of the ten finalists of the highly lucrative Leading Edge Cluster…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/microtec-suedwest-convinces-in-the-second-round-of-the-bmbf-s-leading-edge-cluster-competition
Article - 25/01/2010 Treatment and Research Centre of Rare Diseases established in Tübingen On 22nd January 2010, the first German Treatment and Research Centre of Rare Diseases (ZSE) was officially opened in Tübingen. Interdisciplinary teams will from now on be developing new therapies under one roof for around three to four million patients suffering from rare diseases in Germany. The centre in Tübingen will offer optimal patient treatment, coordinate the cooperation between international specialists, and provide competent advice and…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/treatment-and-research-centre-of-rare-diseases-established-in-tuebingen
Article - 25/01/2010 The two sides of a cell Almost all cells are asymmetric – this is why for example the intestines, the brain and lungs function so well. Tumour diseases show why it is so important for a cell to have two different sides, a “head” and a “foot”. In cancer, genes that are responsible for the correct development of cell polarity are often defective. Dr. Felix Loosli from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology investigates epithelial cells in the retina of the small Japanese…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/the-two-sides-of-a-cell
Press release - 25/01/2010 Nycomed remains stable at its Singen-based production site Despite the transfer of around 100 jobs to India the pharmaceutical company Nycomed is maintaining its current staff numbers at its Singen-based production facility. Activities from other Nycomed subsidiaries are being transferred to the Singen-based facility. Jürgen Mahling head of the Singen-based facility also envisages a stable capacity utilisation of production facilities in 2010. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/nycomed-remains-stable-at-its-singen-based-production-site
Article - 25/01/2010 Intelligent use of suitable biomarkers How quickly does a pharmaceutical substance exert its effect? What mechanisms does it use to exert its effect on people and how long does it remain active? In a team headed by Prof. Dr. Martin Elmlinger Nycomed GmbH has developed an efficient biomarker discovery concept specially adapted to the companys requirements and designed to clarify such questions. The concept is specifically geared to the phases and requirements of the companys projects.…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/intelligent-use-of-suitable-biomarkers
Article - 25/01/2010 Hope for effective ulcerative colitis treatment Ulcerative colitis, a chronic form of inflammatory bowel disease, is characterised by a reduced amount of the lipid phosphatidylcholine in the colon mucosa. This fact was discovered by Wolfgang Stremmel and his team at the University Hospital of Heidelberg. In collaboration with the Heidelberg-based biotechnology company Lipid Therapeutics, the researchers are now working on the development of a phosphatidylcholine drug for the treatment of this…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/hope-for-effective-ulcerative-colitis-treatment
Press release - 25/01/2010 Amedrix GmbH - New investment paves the way for own production operations The High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Life Science Fonds Esslingen are jointly investing a total of 700,000 EUR in Amedrix GmbH, which was founded in January 2009. The Esslingen-based company develops innovative, acellular medical products based on animal collagen for wound regeneration and the reconstruction of degenerated soft tissue, for example. The new investment means that necessary steps can be taken to gain approval for first medical…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/amedrix-gmbh-new-investment-paves-the-way-for-own-production-operations
Press release - 21/01/2010 Membrane-coat proteins: bacteria have them too Although they are present almost everywhere, on land and sea, a group of related bacteria in the superphylum Planctomycetes-Verrucomicrobia-Chlamydiae, or PVC, have remained in relative obscurity ever since they were first described about a decade ago. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, have discovered that these poorly-studied bacteria possess proteins thought to exist only in eukaryotes –…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/membrane-coat-proteins-bacteria-have-them-too
Press release - 21/01/2010 Resequencing: HybSelect from febit in use The Molecular Genetics Core Facility (MGCF) at Children’s Hospital Boston chose febit’s HybSelect technology which will enable genetics researchers to conduct the highly economic targeted enrichment of genes of interest for resequencing. In January the core facility will be receiving the Geniom RT Analyzer® from febit to perform HybSelect.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/resequencing-hybselect-from-febit-in-use
Press release - 21/01/2010 Open access drug discovery database launches with half a million compounds ChEMBLdb a vast online database of information on the properties and activities of drugs and drug-like small molecules and their targets was launched on January 18 2010 with information on over half a million compounds. The data lie at the heart of translating information from the human genome into successful new drugs in the clinic.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/open-access-drug-discovery-database-launches-with-half-a-million-compounds
Article - 20/01/2010 A new metabolic disease? We take up amino acids with our food. They play a key role in almost all life processes in the human body. But what happens when the molecular machinery in the cells is no longer able to correctly process the amino acids? It was only about six years ago that Prof. Dr. Jörn Oliver Saß and his colleagues at the Freiburg University Medical Centre discovered a new metabolic disorder characterised by the defective degradation of a N-acetylated amino…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/a-new-metabolic-disease
Press release - 19/01/2010 Affimed Therapeutics AG Completes Move Into Drug Development Affimed Therapeutics AG, the therapeutic antibody company from Heidelberg, announced today that it is now concentrating all activities on the exclusive development of its in-house drug candidates derived from the company's proprietary TandAb technology platform. In line with this, the Company has spun-out its antibody discovery activities into a new company: AbCheck s.r.o, (Plzen, Czech Republic). https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/affimed-therapeutics-ag-completes-move-into-drug-development
Press release - 18/01/2010 Measurement instead of culture – rapid detection of Legionella There has been an unusually high frequency of Legionella infections in the city of Ulm in the period since mid-December 2009. The search for the source of the infection is well underway, although the use of traditional detection methods make it a time-consuming process. New screening methods developed by the Fraunhofer IPM could considerably reduce the time required to detect the source of infection.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/measurement-instead-of-culture-rapid-detection-of-legionella
Article - 18/01/2010 New substance helps PKU patients enjoy food For many decades, a special low-protein (low-phenylalanine) diet has been the only way of treating children suffering from phenylketonuria (PKU) that effectively prevents them from developing severe impairments in mental function. However, this type of diet is not very tasty and it is often difficult to get children to cooperate. A paediatrician from Reutlingen, Prof. Dr. Friedrich Trefz, has now been able to show that the substance sapropterin…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/new-substance-helps-pku-patients-enjoy-food
Press release - 14/01/2010 Deep brain stimulation successful for treatment of severely depressive patient A team of neurosurgeons at Heidelberg University Hospital and psychiatrists at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim have for the first time successfully treated a patient suffering from severe depression by stimulating the habenula, a tiny nerve structure in the brain. The 64-year-old woman, who had suffered from depression since age 18, could not be helped by medication or electroconvulsive therapy. Since the procedure, she is for…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/deep-brain-stimulation-successful-for-treatment-of-severely-depressive-patient
Article - 14/01/2010 A biological test for environmental toxins Every day, we breathe in gas emitted by waste incineration plants, evaporation from chemicals in wooden furniture and particulate matter from car exhausts or office equipment. Scientists in Dr. Richard Gminski’s group at the Institute of Environmental Medicine and Hospital Hygiene (IUK) at the Freiburg University Medical Centre are investigating the components that can cause damage to body cells. The researchers are using living human cells to…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/a-biological-test-for-environmental-toxins
Press release - 14/01/2010 First Population-wide Evidence: Colonoscopy Protects From Cancer Persons who have had a colonoscopy in the past ten years are much less likely to be diagnosed with advanced precancerous stages of bowel cancer. Particularly on the left side of the colon, the risk for cancer and precancerous stages is dramatically reduced, as scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have found out. Their results underline the great potential of colonoscopy for preventing bowel…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/first-population-wide-evidence-colonoscopy-protects-from-cancer
Press release - 14/01/2010 Evolution caught in the act Mutations are the raw material of evolution. Charles Darwin already recognized that evolution depends on heritable differences between individuals: those who are better adapted to the environment have better chances to pass on their genes to the next generation. A species can only evolve if the genome changes through new mutations, with the best new variants surviving the sieve of selection. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/evolution-caught-in-the-act