Novel coronavirus outbreak - a status report on recent developments - 04/03/2020

Waiting for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine

Researchers around the world are working frantically on the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus. A project by the Tübingen-based biotechnology company CureVac, funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), uses the company’s technology platform for mRNA-based vaccines to accelerate vaccine development, thus contributing to the future prevention of the disease.

Expert interview - 13/05/2019

Innovation management in the life sciences – Inova DE provides insights

Personalized medicine, medical technology, digital health and artificial intelligence are revolutionizing diagnostics and product development. Analyses are becoming faster and more precise, and data volumes can now be networked and used effectively. The goal of improving people's quality of life is within reach, and this will also strengthen Germany’s future viability. However, not every good idea can be turned into a marketable commodity.…

Article - 03/04/2019

HKK Bionics empowers hand gripping functions

A spin-off from the Ulm University of Applied Sciences is aiming to provide people whose hands have been paralysed due to accident or illness with a new kind of orthopaedic aid. Dominik Hepp and Tobias Knobloch are currently starting serial production of a hand orthosis prototype. The two medical engineers from Ulm, who founded HKK Bionics GmbH in 2017, plan to commence final tests in 2019.

Article - 28/03/2019

Supporting the human use of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is no longer a vision of the future, but is already in our midst: whether it is parking aids or search engines, we use the technology quite naturally in many areas of daily life. It promises new, unlimited opportunities, but also poses risks. Experts from the Integrata Foundation in Tübingen work on ethical issues and the human use of IT for improving the life of as many people as possible.

Article - 22/03/2019

Personalised therapies for treating metastasing breast cancer

Breast cancer is characterised by broad genetic diversity. Successful treatment is made even more difficult by the fact that, in advanced breast cancer, the properties of metastases often differ significantly from the primary tumour. The Heidelberg CATCH study is now collecting genetic profiles from patients' metastasis tissue samples, which can be used to tailor therapy to individual requirements.

Dossier - 10/11/2014

Cell and gene therapies from bench to bedside

While cell therapy has become standard treatment for a number of blood cancers, most cell and gene therapy approaches for the treatment of hereditary and metabolic diseases, neurodegenerative disorders and cancer are still in the experimental phases or early clinical trials. However, recent successes give rise to the hope that cell and gene therapies will in future make important contributions to previously incurable diseases.

Dossier - 18/11/2013

Innovative textiles made possible by biotechnology

Biotechnology plays a part in many high-tech fabrics that have become an integral part of our everyday life. Whether it is products for the treatment of wounds, fabrics for marquees or for clothing, many materials have been developed or are produced using biotechnological techniques and processes. Many products marketed as “micro” or “nano” are inspired by nature.

Dossier - 04/11/2013

Biotechnology driver of innovation in the pharmaceutical industry

The biotech industry is the innovative driver for a pharmaceutical industry that, due to the shift from blockbluster products to personalised medicine, now depends on new concepts. The production of new drugs using genetic engineering relies on knowledge gained from genomics, proteomics and systems biology and creates new treatment strategies that combine therapy and diagnostics (i.e. companion diagnostics) to provide a specific individualised…

Dossier - 05/08/2013

Progress expands bioethical boundaries

Bioethics is a rich and continually evolving field. In the broadest sense, bioethics relates to the way human individuals treat any form of life. The issue of whether human beings have the right to do whatever they want goes way back. Rapid progress in genetic engineering and cell biology means that it is necessary to look at certain issues in a new way and recognise that not everything that is technically feasible should actually be carried out.

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. Here 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 drug. The costs including failures can amount to approximately one billion US dollars per drug.

Dossier - 13/05/2013

The human proteome the next major goal

The “Human Proteome Project”, a ten-year global initiative that is making a systematic effort to map all human proteins, has moved from the planning to the experimental stage. How significant and how effective the project will be depends on how much the resources offered are used by proteome researchers and on the data that the researchers bring into the project.

Dossier - 20/12/2012

Medical technology serving healthcare

Modern healthcare would be impossible without medical technology. The achievements in medical technology are indispensable for our health and quality of life. The range of medical technology available covers surgical instruments and implants to diagnostic methods and medical devices.

Dossier - 26/11/2012

Genetic diagnostics technology reaches the limits of what is medically reasonable

Rapid progress in sequencing technologies is poised to set the imagination of biomedical researchers on fire. Experts now believe that progress is about to make possible what seemed to be utopian a few years ago – it seems likely that it will soon be possible to sequence the human genome in only a few minutes and store and automatically analyse it using tiny automates. However, is everything that is technically feasible also reasonable?

Dossier - 10/09/2012

Horizon 2020 the EU framework programme for research and innovation a boost for top-level research in Europe

In the face of the ongoing financial crisis Europe is working on a new research strategy that is aimed at creating new economic growth and jobs. The new EU framework programme for research and innovation Horizon 2020 replaces the 7th Framework Programme FP7 and will run from 2014 with a budget of 80 billion. In July 2012 Brussels launched the final FP7 calls for proposals for 2013 that offer numerous market-based instruments designed to bridge…

Dossier - 12/03/2012

Regenerative medicine makes use of patients own resources

Die Regenerative Medizin bietet neue Therapieoptionen quer durch die ärztlichen Fachgebiete. Zumeist sind es zellbasierte Verfahren und sie werden häufig mit innovativen Biomaterialien kombiniert. Regenerative Therapien vereinen Know-how aus den Biowissenschaften mit moderner Medizintechnik und sie profitieren von den Fortschritten in den Ingenieur- und Materialwissenschaften.