Healthcare industry

Vaccine development - 25/05/2021

Vaccines – a beacon of hope in the fight against pandemics

Having long been considered less lucrative for the big pharmaceutical companies, vaccine development is taking off in an unforeseen way in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial support is flooding in and all kinds of vaccine development strategies are being deployed. Among the winners in the competition for effective coronavirus vaccines are vaccines based on RNA technology. The development of much-needed vaccines against many other…

Bayer has signed a collaboration and services agreement with CureVac, a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid. Under the terms of the agreement, Bayer will support the further development, supply and key territory operations of CureVac´s COVID-19 vaccine candidate CVnCoV.

Development of the genomDE genome database - 04/12/2020

Whole genome sequencing for diagnosing rare diseases

Grouped together, rare diseases are by no means a rare phenomenon; however, they are rarely correctly diagnosed and rarely properly treated. In most cases, there is no effective medication available. Rare disease centres staffed by experts have been set up in many German cities to speed up the often long and painful search for the right diagnosis and treatment. Whole genome sequencing is a component of general healthcare, used to identify…

CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), reports the European Commission’s announcement that tomorrow it will authorize an Advanced Purchase Agreement for CureVac´s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Atriva Therapeutics GmbH, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of host-targeting antiviral therapies, concluded a €24 million financing agreement today to facilitate the company’s development and clinical testing of a novel therapy treating severe respiratory infections with RNA viruses. RNA viruses cause diseases such as influenza, SARS and COVID-19.

At a virtual event on Tuesday, the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems presented the broad scope of research its units will cover in the field of modern AI.

Stem cell therapy for regenerating intervertebral discs - 16/07/2020

Ulm’s simulator has Europe’s back

Back pain is often caused by intervertebral disc disorders. Much has already been tried and is available to help patients. Despite extensive progress, there is still no surefire recipe for success. iPSpine, an EU-funded project to which researchers from Ulm are contributing interdisciplinary engineering and biomedical expertise, aims to design a novel therapy for back pain based on intervertebral disc regeneration.

EIT Health has announced over €6m of funding in the fight against COVID-19. The funding will be dedicated to 14 specially selected health innovation projects across Europe which will focus on immediate and impactful solutions that can be found to arm health services with better tools in navigating the pandemic.

The European Commission has found Luxembourg's €300 million scheme to support companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak to be in line with EU State aid rules. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak adopted by the Commission on 19 March 2020.

Today, the European Commission launched an advisory panel on COVID-19 composed of epidemiologists and virologists from different Member States to formulate EU guidelines on science-based and coordinated risk management measures.

Press release - 28/01/2019

5,5 millions for project on smart matrices for knee cartilage repair

A research project in cartilage regeneration, in which the Institute of Orthopaedic Research and Biomechanics at Ulm University participates together with partners from eight european countries, was recently financed by the European Commission with 5.5 million Euro. Named RESTORE, the project aims to create 3D matrices incorporating smart nanomaterials to repair knee cartilage lesions thereby reducing or delaying the onset of osteoarthritis,…

Three researchers at the MPI for Immunobiology and Epigenetics receive millions in funding from the European Research Council. Dominic Grün, Nicola Iovino and Ritwick Sawarkar from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg will each be awareded one of the prestigious Consolidator Grants of the European Research Council. This means that 6 million euros in funding will go to fundamental research in Freiburg over the next…

Article - 29/10/2018

Aminolipine: formaldehyde-free substitute for preserving biological tissues

For almost 125 years, undertakers as well as physicians in the fields of anatomy and pathology have used formaldehyde to preserve biological tissue and whole cadavers. Yet, formaldehyde is highly toxic and linked to cancer. A team led by Prof. Dr. Bernhard Hirt from the Institute of Clinical Anatomy and Cell Analysis at the University Hospital in Tübingen has developed a formaldehyde-free replacement substance.

Article - 15/09/2017

Zika virus infections and their consequences

Infections caused by mosquito-borne Zika viruses during pregnancy can lead to severe brain defects in babies. The European Union has provided funding of around ten million euros for an international research programme on Zika virus infections in which the University Hospital of Heidelberg plays a key role.

Article - 26/04/2017

Chaperones disassemble Parkinson’s disease-specific amyloid fibrils

Amyloid fibrils consisting of clumped α-synuclein protein are characteristic of Parkinson's disease. Chaperones, which ensure the correct folding of newly synthesised polypeptides, can inhibit α-synuclein aggregation and, as a consequence, prevent fibrils from forming. Researchers from Heidelberg have shown that a specific combination of human molecular chaperones is able to disassemble fibrils and transform them into non-toxic α-synuclein…

The Commission welcomes the adoption of its proposal for two Regulations on medical devices which establish a modernised and more robust EU legislative framework to ensure better protection of public health and patient safety.

Prenatal diagnosis - 23/03/2017

Microdroplets for safe and rapid prenatal diagnoses

Although the methods used to carry out amniocentesis are quite sophisticated, there is still a 0.5 percent risk of miscarriage following the intervention. Therefore, an EU-funded project called AngeLab is developing a rapid test that only requires a blood sample of the mother rather than amniotic fluid. The test yields information on the genetic health of the foetus within only a few hours. As part of the project, researchers from the…

Article - 22/02/2017

MammaScreen – blood test for early detection of breast cancer

The MammaScreen team from the University of Heidelberg Women’s Hospital has developed a blood test for diagnosing breast cancer. This new test can detect breast cancer at a very early stage. It works on women of all ages with tumours of any type and size.

High-tech - 20/10/2016

Industry 4.0 in the medical technology and pharmaceutical industry sectors

The digitalisation of industry affects the entire value chain. From individual products to digitising workflows in companies and connecting companies with clients and service providers via the Internet of Things – Industry 4.0 makes completely new manufacturing processes possible and requires new and specific business models.

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced today the 302 winners of its 2015 Consolidator Grant competition. These excellent mid-career scientists are awarded a total of €585 million, as part of the European Union Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020. With grants worth up to €2 million each, they will be able to consolidate their research teams and to develop their innovative ideas.

Article - 02/02/2016

EU consortium to speed up innovations in the healthcare sector

EIT Health is a large-scale European project launched in December 2014 that aims to help people in Europe to live a healthier life and stay active as they grow older. The consortium brings together 140 leading companies and institutions from 14 European countries and has a total budget of two billion euros. It is one of the largest networks worldwide in the healthcare sector.

Article - 04/08/2014

Europe’s first gene therapy

Scientists from the National Center for Tumour Diseases (NCT) have shown that adeno-associated viruses (AAV) do not pose a cancer risk. This conclusion is based on the analysis of several million patient cells treated with AAV and the finding that the viruses do not integrate into the patient genome. AAV is the first-ever gene therapy for clinical use in the Western world. AAV vectors could also potentially be used as prototypes for the treatment…

Dossier - 03/06/2013

Food analytics – applied consumer protection

Consumers – in other words, all of us – rightly expect to be supplied with healthy, high-quality and safe foods. However, over the past few years, food scandals have frequently hit the headlines. They are brought to light in laboratories that have a huge arsenal of methods and procedures to analyse food. Although the media would have us believe otherwise, the vast majority of foods are safe and very rarely hazardous to human health. This is in…

Dossier - 21/05/2013

No new drugs to be placed on the market without clinical trials

New pharmaceuticals are subject to approval by drug authorities. Prior to approval of a new pharmaceutical several hurdles such as preclinical and clinical studies need to be cleared. Clinical trials are performed to ensure the quality efficacy and safety of a medicinal product. Clinical development is a time-consuming and costly process and takes on average ten to fifteen years before a pharmaceutical company can apply for the approval of the…

Press release - 12/11/2012

GATC Biotech joins a new EU research network for young researchers

Seven European research institutions and GATC Biotech have formed a consortium providing cutting-edge training in the scientific study of the human past. The BEAN (Bridging the European and Anatolian Neolithic) Initial Training Network has been awarded four years of funding from the European Commission through the Marie Curie Actions program. It is a new multinational and multidisciplinary Marie Curie Research initiative exploring the origins of…