Article - 05/04/2018 Crossing the valley of death with translational cancer research It can take many decades before promising research results become therapies that have a positive effect on cancer patients. Most research projects go adrift somewhere between the laboratory and the bedside in the so-called "valley of death". Projects carried out at the DKFZ show that translational cancer research actually works.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/crossing-the-valley-of-death-with-translational-cancer-research
Alternative to animal experiments - 21/03/2018 Drug tests using miniature organs At present, potential new drugs have to be tested on animals before they can be used on humans. However, results obtained from animals are not always transferrable to the situation in humans, which is why researchers around the world have long been seeking alternatives. Miniature human organs that can be used to test the efficacy of potential human drugs might provide a solution.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/drug-tests-using-miniature-organs
Article - 19/03/2018 Regenerative medicine: curing rather than simply treating diseases Some scientists refer to the latest developments in the field of regenerative medicine as the "next revolution in medicine". With the help of gene therapies or stem cells, regenerative medicine aims not only to treat disease symptoms, but to cure them at source. Some approaches are already being used to treat patients and several others are close to application.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/regenerative-medicine-curing-rather-than-simply-treating-diseases
Big Data - 13/03/2018 “More data does not automatically imply more knowledge“ In Germany, one of the big names in evidence-based medicine is Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Gerd Antes, co-director of Cochrane Germany. In the following interview, Antes talks about the hype surrounding big data, warns against false promises and reminds us about what is taken for granted. https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/more-data-does-not-automatically-imply-more-knowledge
Article - 21/02/2018 HepaRegeniX – a start-up is taking it up a step! HepaRegeniX, a biotech company founded in 2016, specialises in developing drugs that restore the regenerative capacity of diseased livers. The three founders of the biotech start-up, Prof. Dr. Lars Zender, Prof. Dr. Stefan Laufer and Dr. Wolfgang Albrecht, anticipate starting clinical testing of the first drug candidate in 2019.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/heparegenix-a-start-up-is-taking-it-up-a-step
Article - 18/01/2018 Medications that target metastasing tumours Tumour metastases are often resistant to the drug that is used to eliminate the primary tumour. Genome-wide analyses of mutation patterns in the primary tumour and its metastases provide information on the aggressiveness of cancer and may help to find the best available means of further treatment. This has been demonstrated by scientists from Heidelberg in a clinical trial on the molecular evolution of renal cancer.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/medications-that-target-metastasing-tumours
Press release - 04/01/2018 CureVac and Arcturus Therapeutics Announce Broad Strategic Collaboration to Advance Next Generation of Lipid-Mediated mRNA Therapeutics CureVac AG, a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of pioneering mRNA therapeutics, and Arcturus Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ:ARCT), an RNA medicines company, today announced they have entered into a broad strategic collaboration to jointly discover, develop and commercialize novel messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/curevac-and-arcturus-therapeutics-announce-broad-strategic-collaboration-to-advance-next-generation-of-lipid-mediated-mrna-thera
Big Data - 14/12/2017 Looking at the whole genome raises new questions Research laboratories around the world have long focused on studying the whole human genome. It is hoped that knowing the whole human genome will improve diagnostics and enable more specific therapies. Although genome analysis has not yet reached routine clinical application, whole genome sequencing has already raised many ethical and legal issues - for researchers, physicians and patients.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/looking-at-the-whole-genome-raises-new-questions
Press release - 04/10/2017 Immatics Receives $58 Million in Financing to Develop T-Cell Receptor Based Immunotherapies Tuebingen, Germany and Houston, Texas, October 4, 2017 – Immatics, a leading company in the field of cancer immunotherapy, today announced the completion of its Series E financing, raising $58 million.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/immatics-receives-58-million-in-financing-to-develop-t-cell-receptor-based-immunotherapies
Company profile - 04/09/2017 Mireca: a new drug for stopping the progression of eye diseases A team of researchers from several EU countries has developed a new drug that stops the progression of hereditary retinal diseases. The project partners founded a company called Mireca Medicines GmbH in the city of Tübingen to bring the drug to market. https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/mireca-a-new-drug-for-stopping-the-progression-of-eye-diseases
Article - 24/07/2017 Cancer medicine development as a science and industry partnership The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Bayer AG are collaborating on a strategic partnership focusing on the development of innovative cancer therapies. The two partners have developed an active substance which selectively blocks a mutation of a metabolic enzyme that occurs in certain types of cancer. The substance has been successfully tested in preclinical studies and is now also being tested in a clinical trial on patients with brain…https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/cancer-medicine-development-as-a-science-and-industry-partnership
Article - 04/07/2017 Ruxolitinib – successful graft-versus-host disease treatment Graft-versus-host disease is a serious complication in leukaemia patients who have been given a blood stem cell transplant from a genetically different person. Prof. Dr. Nikolas von Bubnoff and Prof. Dr. Robert Zeiser from the Department of Haematology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at Freiburg University Medical Centre initiated a Germany-wide study to show that an active substance called ruxolitinib has a promising therapeutic effect.…https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/ruxolitinib-successful-graft-versus-host-disease-treatment
Article - 26/06/2017 Hope for mRNA vaccines despite damper The pressure is on to develop novel vaccines based on messenger RNA and aimed at combating cancer and protecting against pandemics. Although mRNA vaccination as a cancer monotherapy has suffered a setback this year, the industry is nevertheless confident that it will succeed because of existing proof that mRNA vaccines stimulate the body's immune defence.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/hope-for-mrna-vaccines-despite-damper
Article - 31/05/2017 Peritoneal cancer – long-term survival with good quality of life Thanks to an innovative treatment procedure that has been in use since 2005, surgeons from Tübingen University Hospital have been able to prolong the survival of patients with peritoneal cancer and give them a higher quality of life. This is done using a technique based on complex surgery followed by immediate intraoperative local chemotherapy on the peritoneum.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/peritoneal-cancer-long-term-survival-with-good-quality-of-life
Article - 24/05/2017 Ralf Reski: from moss to humans Prof. Dr. Ralf Reski conducts basic research at the University of Freiburg. But this is not all the well-known plant biotechnologist does. He also wants his ideas to become concrete products. This is why he established Greenovation Biotech GmbH, a company which produces novel drugs in mosses. The company’s first moss-produced drug candidate – Moss-aGal – a recombinant form of human α-galactosidase, is now being tested in a phase I clinical trial.…https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/ralf-reski-from-moss-to-humans
Press release - 23/05/2017 TolerogenixX secures seed funding and completes Phase I clinical trial TolerogenixX GmbH has developed a patented and clinically tested cell therapy technique for individualised immunosuppression in transplant patients. The technique enables the targeted disabling of undesired reactions caused by the immune system’s defences. As a seed stage investor, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) will finance this innovative technique and the preparations for Phase II of the clinical trial, which begins in spring 2018. Further…https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/tolerogenixx-secures-seed-funding-and-completes-phase-i-clinical-trial
Personalised Medicine - 04/05/2017 Big data make therapy work better An international team of researchers has shown for acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) that cancer therapy can be personalised using big data. The authors of the study “believe this paper is a step towards validation of genetic techniques as a route to personalised medicine”. https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/mit-big-data-genauer-therapieren
Article - 20/04/2017 Health app to be integrated into clinical trials Questionnaires are a thing of the past, now it is becoming increasingly likely that information for clinical trials will be collected via apps in the future. A new research platform has been developed to prepare patient data transmitted via smartphone applications. Doctors who are carrying out research will thus have access to more accurate results that will also ultimately benefit patients. https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/health-app-to-be-integrated-into-clinical-trials
Press release - 06/04/2017 Start-up in the garage – a location with prospects Newly established start-up wins award – Mireca Medicines GmbH develops treatment for hereditary eye disease and receives Innovation Award of the biotechnology regions in Germanyhttps:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/start-up-in-the-garage-a-location-with-prospects
Press release - 05/04/2017 New EU rules on medical devices to enhance patient safety and modernise public health 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.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/new-eu-rules-on-medical-devices-to-enhance-patient-safety-and-modernise-public-health
Article - 07/03/2017 KiTZ: Hopp Children’s Tumour Center at NCT Heidelberg The Heidelberg University Hospital and the DKFZ have established the "Hopp Children's Tumor Center at NCT Heidelberg" (KiTZ) where doctors, scientists, nursing staff and other specialists work side by side on new diagnostic and therapeutic options to help children with cancer.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/kitz-hopp-childrens-tumour-center-at-nct-heidelberg
Article - 22/02/2017 Review: New European directives will impact the medical technology industry The new Medical Device Regulation (MDR) and the first In Vitro Diagnostic Devices Regulation (IVDR) are likely to become European law in the second half of 2017, with transitional periods of three and five years, respectively. https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/review-new-european-directives-will-impact-the-medical-technology-industry
Article - 26/01/2017 Clinical cancer registration to improve patient treatment and care Germany records around 500,000 new cases of cancer every year. The number is steadily growing, mainly due to an ageing population that leads to an increased risk of cancer. The German government is planning to establish clinical cancer registries in all German states so that all cancer patients receive the best possible treatment. In Baden-Württemberg, all new cancer cases are already recorded. However, the data are still not as comprehensive as…https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/clinical-cancer-registration-to-improve-patient-treatment-and-care
Dossier - 17/01/2017 Phytopharmaceuticals – fighting disease with natural substances Phytopharmaceuticals are herbal medicines whose efficacy is down to one or several plant substances or active ingredients. They have been used for treating diseases since time immemorial. This traditional knowledge is still the basis for many medicinal products made from plants or parts thereof. Herbal medicines have been produced in Baden-Württemberg for many generations. https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/phytopharmaceuticals-fighting-disease-with-natural-substances
Press release - 05/01/2017 HepaRegeniX GmbH Raises €9 million in a Series A Financing to Develop Kinase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Acute and Chronic Liver Diseases HepaRegeniX GmbH, a new Biotech company developing innovative treatments for liver diseases, announced today the completion of a €9 million Series A financing. The round was led by Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund GmbH (BIVF) and Novo Seeds, and complemented by the High-Tech Gruenderfonds and coparion.https:////www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/heparegenix-gmbh-raises-9-million-in-a-series-a-financing-to-develop-kinase-inhibitors-for-the-treatment-of-acute-and-chronic-li