Healthcare industry

Dossier - 29/10/2008

Signal transduction - exciting research with huge potential for the future

Signal transduction is one of the most innovative fields of research in the life sciences. Although the scientists are far from being able to understand and decipher everything the signal researchers nevertheless have a good deal of knowledge about the transduction of signals and the different signalling pathways.

The Ludwig Heilmeyer Tumour Centre Comprehensive Cancer Centre Freiburg has received a grant from the Pfizer Foundation USA for an innovative anti-smoking cure programme developed as part of the CCCFs cancer prevention strategy.

Prof. Dr. Michael Reth is active in the field of immunology and signalling. He is an experienced scientist who is well aware of the difficulty and the cumbersome nature of deciphering signals and signalling pathways. The Freiburg bioss excellence cluster - the Centre of Biological Signalling Studies - is Reths brainchild. Karin Bundschuh from BioRegio Freiburg spoke with the scientist who works at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and the…

A group of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Frank-Michael Müller from Heidelberg has shown that mould fungi like Aspergillus fumigatus are able to develop biofilms in the lungs and protect themselves against the bodys immune defence system and drugs.

Boehringer Ingelheim has three oral compounds for the treatment of diabetes type II in phase II and III of clinical development. The most advanced compound a DPP-4 inhibitor is in the final clinical phase.

Harald zur Hausen the long-time chairman and scientific director of the German Cancer Research Centre DKFZ a member of the Helmholtz Society discovered that human papillomaviruses HPV lead to cervical cancer. His discovery led to the development of a vaccine for cervical cancer which is the third most frequent type of cancer in women.

Prof. Karin Scharffetter-Kochanek has recently become a member of the renowned Leopoldina Academy of Sciences. In her research the skin has become a model system that serves as the basis for a trans-organ systemic approach looking at the underlying mechanisms and the complex interactions with other organs.

ratiopharm has been given approval by the EU regulatory office for its filgrastim biosimilar which will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2008. The company has already applied for market authorisation of another genetically engineered pharmaceutical.

The Comprehensive Infectious Diseases Centre at the University of Ulm was recently presented to the public. The centre is responsible for coordinating the cooperation between specialists in the diagnosis and therapy of complex infectious diseases.

Professor Dr. Christoph Borner from the University of Freiburg and his team are investigating the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis. Their research also provides insights into the medical treatment of cells that do not want to die - cancer cells.

The German Society for Medical Physics DGMP has awarded its science prize to the medical physicist Gerhard Glatting for his research into the specific irradiation of tumour tissue using radioactively labelled antibodies.

The test detects K-RAS mutations and could be an additional tool for targeted therapies of patients with colorectal cancer who stand to benefit from newly developed cancer therapies that rely on the genotype of the K-RAS oncogene.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy DMD is a severe disease affecting boys characterised by rapid progression of muscle degeneration so that boys as young as 10 to 12 years of age have to use a wheelchair and leading to death in young men. In Germany about 2500 children and young adults suffer from DMD.

Many cancers are difficult to treat with drugs because they are resistant to them. A research group at Heidelberg is investigating the molecular mechanisms of multidrug resistance and has the goal to improve the treatment of cancer patients.

Professor Dr. Günther Schützs work on the cell- and development-specific gene regulation using nuclear receptors has led amongst other things to new insights into the steroid hormone-dependent early development and differentiation of the nervous system the molecular mechanisms of learning and the development and regulation of drug addiction. Schütz has now been appointed Helmholtz professor which will enable him to continue his work beyond…

The primary objective of greenovation Biotech GmbH is the implementation of a stable production platform for the manufacture of glycoproteins for industrial pharmaceutical applications in accordance with GMP guidelines. Now Gregor Mirow succeeds Hans Bodo Hartmann as the new managing director.

The Lake Constance region offers a broad range of cancer therapies and is home to several institutes and companies that are dealing with cancer research. The BioLAGO biotechnology network offers them a joint platform for co-operation and exchange of information.

Renal cell carcinoma is a rare disease. In addition, the disease is difficult to treat, and the majority of pharmaceutical companies find the development of new drugs for its treatment too financially risky. Their argument: the market is too small to make up for the high development costs. The Tübingen biotech company immatics was courageous enough to do so and will now be rewarded. The immatics scientists have developed a therapy that not only…

Worldwide less than 10000 people suffer from Gauchers disease which is the most common lysosomal storage disease. Genzyme has been offering the drug Cerezyme for the treatment of this rare genetic disease since 1994. The companys subsidiary in Constance markets and sells this enzyme replacement therapy in Europe and Asia. The active substance is produced in Chinese hamster ovary cell cultures.

Nycomed agreed with Bayer Schering Pharma on the sale of the preclinical anti-cancer program. The agreement is part of Nycomeds strategic decision not to further invest in oncology RD activities.

For the first time ever a team from Heidelberg will participate in the renowned iGEM competition. A student team under the direction of Dr. Roland Eils is developing a biological machine that recognises and specifically kills pathogens or tumour cells.

Researchers at the University Hospital in Ulm are investigating whether patients genotypes interfere with the effect and tolerability of specific cancer medicaments. This might help to estimate how patients respond to the therapy a certain EGF-R inhibitor.

The medical importance of vitamin D calciferol is most likely even higher than suggested by recently published studies. A study which also involves the endocrinologist Bernhard Böhm from Ulm has attracted enormous attention as it suggests that vitamin D deficiency increases mortality.

Despite having thousands of applicable ideas and having set up his own company, Prof. Alfred Nordheim sees himself as a true basic scientist. At this year’s International Genetics Congress in Berlin, the director of the Interfaculty Institute of Cell Biology at the University of Tübingen was elected president of the International Genetics Federation (IGF).

The new iNNOVATION fORUM of the Baden-Württemberg MicroMountains Network offered researchers and the medical device industry an intensive moderated dialogue and the chance to make new contacts and to improve their chances for future innovations.