Healthcare industry

The 14th Biotech Finance Forum offered selected biotechnology and medical technology companies from all over Europe the opportunity of an exclusive meeting with internationally operative investors from the venture capital VC scene.

Press release - 07/05/2008

ChemCon – and how an ideal niche was found and occupied

At first sight the business idea seems somehow strange Who would deliberately choose to develop and produce pharmaceutical substances that are hardly required and if so only in small quantities. Dr. Raphael Vogler and Dr. Peter Gockel the founders and owners of Freiburg-based ChemCon GmbH have done exactly that - and found an ideal niche for their company. Even the largest companies of the industry are benefiting from ChemCons know-how and…

Immatics biotechnologies GmbH announced the start of a Phase III trial of its IMA910 cancer vaccine in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. The study will enroll about 70 patients in 8 European countries. The vaccine is developed to slow or halt tumor progression.

Professor Peter Öhlschläger established his major scientific interests very early on. During his degree thesis at the German Cancer Research Centre DKFZ in Heidelberg the immunologist succeeded in combining his two major interests namely virology and cancer. Öhlschläger is now junior professor at the University of Constance and mainly deals with the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines.

Article - 28/04/2008

A milestone in the treatment of leukaemia

Blood cancer experts in the team of Professor Peter Dreger Head of the Section of Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation at the University Hospital of Heidelberg have achieved a major success in the treatment of leukaemia. For the 500th time the physicians from the Department of Haematology Oncology and Rheumatology transferred blood stem cells from a healthy donor to a patient suffering from leukaemia or lymphoma.

Scientists from Mannheim Heidelberg an Freiburg working together in the cooperative research area Vascular Biology have developed a method that can be used to create a human vascular system in mice which stays functional even after several months.

Article - 20/04/2008

varionostic develops test systems for tumour markers

The Ulm-based company varionostic GmbH has received a research grant from the German Ministry of Economics and Technology. Details on the level of the grant were not disclosed. The company will research tumour markers and develop detection systems for DNA methylations.

Professor Roland Schuele from the University Womens Hospital in Freiburg originally studied biochemistry. Nowadays Schuele is researching the development of prostate cancer. During his scientific career he has learnt that research cannot be steered in a particular direction. It develops and we follow it said Schuele who has been able to gain astonishing insights into the molecular processes in tumour cells.

Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center have discovered a key molecule that is responsible for the immature structure of blood vessels in malignant tumors. If this molecule is switched off in mice vessels normalize so that immune cells are better able to get to the tumor tissue.

Article - 13/04/2008

Selective internal radiotherapy

Since early 2008 the Institute of Clinical Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Mannheim University Hospital has been offering a new therapy for the treatment of liver cancers selective internal radiotherapy SIRT.

Scientists have shown that a particular variant of a receptor gene impacts smoking behaviour and hence confers a 30 increase in risk of lung cancer and a 20 increase in risk of peripheral artery disease PAD.

In the second article in the series on the platforms successful cooperations BioValley presents an encouraging approach for improving the quality of life of severely ill cancer patients and the successful establishment of an industrial biochip platform.

Article - 31/03/2008

First biosimilar from Ulm close to approval

ratiopharm Germanys second largest generics producer received a positive assessment from the EU regulatory body EMEA in London for the first filgrastim biosimilar. The company expects to receive marketing authorisation for its first biosimilar by mid to end April.

The first European Conference for Clinical Nanomedicine is to be held soon in Basel. BIOPRO has therefore discussed this promising area of application with Beat Löffler and Dr. Patrick Hunziker the founders of the European Foundation for Clinical Nanomedicine.

Somatic cell nuclear transfer or reprogramming of somatic cells into a near embryonic state - it is now expected that stem cell experts rate their findings in the field of stem cell research. What can be called a breakthrough? What is the scientific value?

Article - 16/03/2008

New indication for lead compound of Apogenix

Isolated tumour cells use to invade healthy brain tissue during the development and growth of glioblastoma multiforme GBM. This mechanism involves the CD95CD95L death system. These results supports the therapeutic potential of Apogenix APG101 for the treatment of glioblastomas.

Of twelve applications which qualified for the decisive final round of the top cluster competion two are from the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan area the Forum Organic Electronics cluster and the Cell-Based Molecular Medicine biotechnology cluster.

Nils Johnssons work focuses on communication research involving living objects. The 48-year-old biochemist is investigating how proteins manage the complicated process of cytokinesis the division of the cell plasma. Thanks to a specific method Johnsson is able to detect when proteins are interacting with each other.

Article - 09/03/2008

Successful attack on resistant tumour cells

In laboratory experiments Dr. Anja Apel from the University Hospital in Heidelberg proved that cancer cells that are resistant to radiation therapy can be made to become susceptible to this kind of treatment again by blocking the cells own recycling system.

Since the 1st March 2008 the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at the University Hospital in Heidelberg has a new medical director Professor Dr. Hans-Ulrich Kauczor 45 succeeds Professor Dr. Günter Kauffmann.

The Dietmar Hopp Foundation has donated one million euro for a new small-animal tomograph at the University Hospital in Heidelberg. The new system is suitable for small animals such as rats and mice and can be used to investigate diseases and therapies.

Dr. Gilbert Gorr has been fascinated by the moss Physcomitrella patens for many years in fact it occupies a great deal of his waking moments. The enthusiasm with which the CSO of greenovation Biotech GmbH talks about the key object of his work is both intoxicating and contagious. The latest discovery The moss produces a therapeutic antibody that is far more effective than its predecessors created in animal cell cultures.

Haemochromatosis is not as has been previously assumed a disease of the small intestine but a disease of the liver. Scientists from Heidelberg have shown in the animal model that the disease is caused by a mutated gene influencing hepcidin production.

mtm laboratories has launched the Cervatec assay for the early diagnosis of cervical cancer. The Cervatec assay will initially be commercialized as an adjunct to the Pap test for the screening of women aged 35 and younger.

Article - 10/02/2008

4th Biomarker Workshop at the NMI in Reutlingen: another success

The Biomarker Workshop held at the NMI in late January has become a fixed date for a growing number of proteomics researchers. With an attendance of 130 this years workshop exceeded all previous ones. Those who were keen to find out more about the latest trends and findings were presented with a successful mix of basic and applied research information.