Healthcare industry

Article - 25/02/2013

Molecular monitoring of premature infants

Premature births are not uncommon in Germany where around seven percent of newborns are born before week 37 of pregnancy. The WHO estimates that the numbers of preterm births are growing due to the increasing age of mothers. Doctors caring for the tiny patients are faced with a dilemma because regular blood samples required for the clinical monitoring of important blood parameters cannot be taken due to the infants low body volume.

Article - 31/12/2012

Diagnosis of myocardial infarction: a drop of blood is all that is required

Can myocardial infarction be diagnosed with a single drop of blood? The answer is yes: a new application of the ESEQuant Lateral Flow System developed by QIAGEN now makes this possible. The system, which is able to identify a broad range of bacterial and viral pathogens, including HIV, influenza virus and Chlamydia, was originally developed at the company’s site in Stockach. It has recently been adapted for use in the diagnosis of myocardial…

Article - 03/07/2010

Erbasens: Using the power of nature

Before setting up her own company biologist Dr. Elke Schulz amassed a wealth of knowledge in the pharmaceutical industry. Now she harnesses the power of plants to develop and sell dietary supplements and natural cosmetics. Her company Erbasens specialises in combining high-quality oils and plant essences to create products such as Paramirum that safeguards the effectiveness of the immune system and promotes the bodys defence systems.

Article - 06/08/2012

varionostic: specialist in epigenetic analyses

Ulm-based varionostic helps epigenetics researchers to obtain information on gene activity. The company is specifically focused on the analysis of methyl groups (-CH3) that are attached to DNA and turn genes on and off. Just as the field of epigenetics, previously only known to insiders, has emerged as a biomedical area of research, the University of Ulm spin-off has matured and grown over the past six years since it was set up.

To diagnose an infection with the coronavirus, usually a throat swab is taken and genetic viral material detected by using a highly sensitive PCR. To date, more than 65 million of these tests have been performed in Germany alone. Due to the massive increase in testing worldwide and simultaneous loss of production, there was a significant shortage of test materials in the early stage of the pandemic.

Dossier - 01/02/2008

Glycobiotechnology - sugar research is picking up speed

Alongside DNA and proteins sugar structures play an important role in cellular transport and communication processes. They are also part of the molecular control and regulation machinery making them of particular interest to biotechnologists. The pharmaceutical industry as well as the food sector and material sciences have realised the potential of sugar structures.

Retrospective Meet & Match Pharmaceutical Process Technology - 07/04/2016

Speed dating for Pharmaceutical Process Technology – a business flirt at Bosch

The speed dating format is no longer just a popular and simple dating method for lonely hearts, but has also become a rewarding way for establishing new business contacts and connections quickly and efficiently. BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg chose speed networking, as speed dating is called in the corporate world, for its recent Meet & Match event on pharmaceutical process technology, which took place on 15th March 2016 with the support of Bosch…

Article - 13/10/2014

Personalised cancer therapy based on microRNA analysis

microRNAs are not just required for the regulation of gene expression, their expression signatures also allow conclusions to be drawn on the type and progression of cancer. Sensovation AG is therefore working with partners from industry and clinical research to develop an automated microRNA analysis platform that can detect and evaluate microRNA signatures faster than has previously been possible. The system is designed to make it easier to…

Guest article - 15/04/2013

Varied and multi-facetted – life and research in Nanjing

Joachim Koepff spent six months in Nanjing from June to November 2012 doing practical training at the College for Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering. Here he recounts his experiences in China and his thoughts about the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science Research and the Arts scholarship that makes such short-term research stays at a Chinese research institution possible.

Article - 05/11/2010

DITABIS: Custom-made analysis systems for research and industry

Outstanding quality, clever product design, flexibility and rapid implementation make Pforzheim-based DITABIS Digital Biomedical Imaging Systems AG a true racing stable for device developments. The company’s key competences include imaging plate technology and fluorescence scanning, procedures that can be used to record high-resolution digital images in a contrast-rich and highly linear way. The innovative imaging systems are predominantly used…

Press release - 08/01/2009

ILM – Screening methods

Optical screening methods are of huge importance for a broad range of analytical issues. Fluorescence-based methods are highly significant for their high sensitivity amongst other things. Important technological developments have focused for example on reducing sample volumes increasing sample throughput high-throughput screening HTC or on information content high-content screening HCS. With regard to screening methods the ILM is currently…

Scientists from the Center for Prenatal Diagnosis and Human Genetics, Kudamm-199, in Berlin have been working with scientists from GATC Biotech AG and LifeCodexx AG to develop a non-invasive diagnostic test based on Next Generation Sequencing which reliably detects a fetal trisomy 21 (Down syndrome).

High-Tech Gründerfonds is investing EUR 600,000 in Reutlingen-based SIGNATOPE GmbH. SIGNATOPE will use the funds to advance the development of its unique biomarker assay system, that has been established to support pharmaceutical research. The technology is based on special antibodies and allows the early detection of possible side effects during the drug development process. Thereby, the need for animal testing will be reduced while the drug…

Article - 30/07/2009

Dragnet investigation for substance killers

The Ulm-based company Labor Dr. Merk Kollegen with over 40 employees is a specialist company identifying foreign bodies such as viruses bacteria and toxins in biopharmaceuticals and medical products. In addition the medium-sized company has been developing producing and marketing diagnostics for medical use for almost 40 years.

Article - 14/11/2011

BioTeSys GmbH - The basics of substance testing

Esslingen-based BioTeSys GmbH is contracted by its clients to determine the bioactive potential of substances and substance mixtures of foods and dietary supplements. Substances are tested whether or not they have a positive effect on human health using a range of chemical analyses, cell-based tests and clinical trials.

Article - 03/07/2018

The digital laboratory is picking up speed

A new team at the Fraunhofer IPA is developing digital laboratory systems to support industrial partners in planning and managing laboratory processes. This benefits companies in terms of quality assurance, economic efficiency and, notably, ergonomic improvements to the work place.

Press release - 05/09/2011

Sequenom announces European licensing agreement with GATC daughter LifeCodexx

Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM), a life sciences company providing innovative genetic analysis solutions, today announced it has partnered with LifeCodexx AG, a company focused on the development of clinically validated Next Generation Molecular Diagnostics, for the commercialization of prenatal laboratory testing services in Europe. The companies have agreed to collaborate in the development and launch of a trisomy 21 laboratory developed test…

Article - 18/09/2010

Empa Testmaterials: assessing the effectiveness of washing processes

Empa Testmaterials AG focuses on the research and development of test systems and materials that enable biofilm to be successfully removed from washing machines as well as controlling the level of hygiene of individual wash cycles. As a competence centre in washing and cleaning the company specialises in the assessment of washing and cleaning processes in terms of effectiveness energy efficiency damage and hygiene.

Article - 18/08/2014

Biometry: Peter Martus works at the interface of mathematics and medicine

It’s not computer science, but it’s close to data: Prof. Dr. Peter Martus has an in-depth knowledge of how professional biotechnology and medical statistics are generated. Prof. Martus works at the University of Tübingen where he brings his know-how to clinical trials as well as working on life sciences projects where statistical issues need to be resolved.

In a collaborative project scientists in Stuttgart and Heidelberg succeeded in cutting the production costs for highly complex peptide arrays by a factor of 100 at the same time as being able to increase the number of functional peptides by a factor of 20.

Article - 03/03/2016

Liquid biopsies – beacons of hope for cancer diagnosis?

Researchers around the world, including researchers from the Freiburg University Medical Center, are working on developing simple blood tests, so-called liquid biopsies, that can be used to obtain accurate information about tumour staging and the progress of therapy. An international liquid biopsy symposium was held in Freiburg in October 2015 and has produced valuable insights.

Article - 09/08/2010

IBAM GbR - Enzymes, neurotransmitters and Greek mountain tea

The Denzlingen-based company IBAM GbR offers solutions that enable faster and cost-effective drug discovery. IBAM GbR was spun off from the University of Freiburg and supports industrial customers in identifying biochemical targets of potential drugs or the modes of action of enzymes and second messengers in the central nervous system and other tissues. Over the last few years the companys managing director Dr. Rainer Knörle and his partner Dr.…

Article - 17/12/2012

rent-a-lab – the bioassay specialist

rent-a-lab has been offering services to detect and determine the quantity of biomolecules for around ten years. The company is mainly focused on studies related to the binding of biomolecules to GTP-binding protein-coupled receptors, a field that has attracted a great deal of attention following the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2012 for the identification of this important class of receptors.

Press release - 20/01/2008

LifeCodexx AG - Clarity within the genetic data jungle

Constance based GATC Biotech founds the subsidiary company LifeCodexx AG. LifeCodexx is the first web-based information service for the storage and utilisation of biological and medical data from the analysis of genetic codes and protein codes in the EU.

AI-based evaluation of medical imaging data usually requires a specially developed algorithm for each task. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now presented a new method for configuring self-learning algorithms for a large number of different imaging datasets – without the need for specialist knowledge or very significant computing power.