Healthcare industry

Dr. Pitter Huesgen Dr. Michael Strerath and Dr. Carl Kübler have been awarded this years Nycomed Award. The Award which is worth a total of 15000 distinguishes outstanding doctoral theses in the fields of biology chemistry and physics.

Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek dermatologist and head of the Department of Dermatology and Allergology at the University Hospital of Ulm has spent a long time investigating skin ageing. Her specific focus on skin has not however restricted her understanding of ageing to barely deterministic or mechanistic details. Quite the opposite is true.

On 20th November 2008 Tetec AG opened a new facility for the production of cartilage transplants. The company market leader and a subsidiary of B. Braun Melsungen AG based in Reutlingen is expanding its production capacities.

Schölly Fiberoptic GmbH based in the city of Denzlingen in the south of Germany has experienced rapid growth over the last few years with its endoscopic solutions. Over the last five years the company has doubled its revenues to 44 million euros per year.

The company empire of the Ulm-based billionaire Adolf Merckle stung by losses on Volkswagen shares is apparently preparing for the loss of the generic drug manufacturer ratiopharm. This seems to be the implication of a ratiopharm press release following a staff meeting.

Certain wavelengths of light encode vital information about the plants environment. Dr. Andreas Hiltbrunner an his team from the University of Freiburg has recently shown how phytochrome A transmits this information into the cell.

Professor Giovanni Galizia from Constance is investigating the processing of odour cues. Together with other scientists Galizia has initiated a DFG research priority on olfactory processing in humans and animals.

Dossier - 20/11/2008

Anti-Ageing is still a far-off dream

Is it possible to halt the ageing process? This question was first raised in the 1980s when researchers succeeded in delaying the ageing process in threadworms by modifying a specific gene. Nowadays hundreds of gene mutations are known to prolong the lifespan of yeast fruit flies and mice. Will the human dream of eternal youth eventually become reality? The truth is probably not.

Karen Grave-Hermann and Dr. Robert Hermann founded cr.applications in 2003. The two specialists who have wide-ranging experience in drug development talked to Michael Statnik about current trends in their field and about the development of the German biotech sector.

It runs and runs and is extremely successful The SFB 592 established in 2001 and entitled Signalling mechanisms in embryogenesis and organogenesis investigates the biological functions of different signalling pathways. Since its foundation the scientists of the SFB have published many excellent papers in highly renowned journals. Their work has been of such a high standard that the German Research Foundation DFG has decided to fund the…

The 14th annual edition of BIO-Europe which toke place in Mannheim strengthened its claim to being the worlds largest stand-alone partnering event with the participation of 1250 biotech pharma and professional service organizationsa and 190 company presentations.

There are only a few signalling pathways that have been as well conserved during evolution as the Notch signalling pathway. This is due to the pathways unique biological function. Notch enables two identical cells to develop into completely different tissues. Anette Preiß professor at the University of Hohenheim has been working on the function of the Notch signalling pathway for almost 20 years.

Researchers from Heidelberg have discovered that certain oxygen compounds are produced in greater quantities in the body due to cancer or inflammation and that this leads to the alteration of a protein that controls the flexibility and adaptability of certain immune cells.

Scientists from the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg have developed a software programme RepliExplore that enables the construction of individualised models for use in complicated surgical interventions.

The Europe-wide MARK-AGE project involving scientists from 14 countries commenced on the 1st April 2008. Scientists have joined forces to investigate the factors involved in ageing. They are using standardised questionnaires and analysing data acquired from physical and biochemical examinations of the blood and urine from 3700 volunteers. The team of experts includes the medical expert Professor Alexander Bürkle and the mathematician Prof.…

Despite the worldwide financial crisis the majority of German medical device manufacturers do not anticipate high revenue losses up until the end of 2009. The medical technology association SPECTARIS anticipates a revenue increase of around 5 to 18.2 billion euros for 2008 and a growth of 2- 3 for 2009.

Does tactile sensation also depend on structure and order? Using modern imaging methods the research group led by Prof. Dr. Jürgen Hennig from the University Hospital of Freiburg is investigating whether mice with disturbed brain organisation are able to process tactile stimuli normally.

The European Commission adopted a Communication and a proposal for a Council Recommendation on rare diseases setting out an overall Community strategy to support Member States in diagnosing treating and caring for the 36 million EU citizens with rare diseases.

Prof. Johannes Schropp and Gilbert Koch from the University of Constance are developing mathematical models for the pharmaceutical company Nycomed. These models examine the relationship between the concentration and the effect of administered drugs.

Nycomed has announced encouraging results from a preliminary analysis of four Phase III trials of Daxas roflumilast in the treatment of symptomatic COPD. The application for marketing authorisation of the drug is expected for 2009.

The Heidelberg team of 16 students has achieved an outstanding result at the renowned iGEM competition organised by the MIT in Boston. The team won the largest number of prizes with its project Ecolicence to Kill including a gold medal for their scientific work.

Press release - 14/11/2008

Salt aggregates proteins or dissolves them

A group of researchers at the University of Tübingen led in cooperation with colleagues from Saarbrücken and Oxford have shown that proteins aggregate when certain salts are added and that the proteins dissolved again when more salt was added.

Hartmut Geiger a biochemist and stem cell researcher at Ulm University Hospital is using genetic methods to investigate the molecular basis of the physiological ageing of haematopoietic stem cells. After having spent a period in Cincinnati Geiger is currently head of the clinical research group Molecular and cellular ageing from the mechanisms of action to clinical perspectives.

In principle human tracheas and porcine small intestines do not have much in common. However both have a tube-like structure. This was the basis for Dr. Thorsten Walles extraordinary idea. In collaboration with Professor Dr. Heike Mertsching he is working on the development of methods for turning the intestines into bioartificial trachea substitutes.

Some heavy metals are trace elements that are necessary for the plants metabolism others are toxic in the smallest concentrations. Scientists from Hohenheim are investigating the mechanisms that plants use to adapt to specific soil situations.