Healthcare industry

Article - 12/09/2011

TransLimm brings new immunotherapies to patients more rapidly

With the establishment of the Center for Translational Immunology TransLimm the University of Tübingen has initiated a network whose objective is to quickly and effectively transfer innovative therapies into clinical application. Patients suffering from acute leukaemia might soon benefit from therapies involving antibodies optimized by recombinant antibody technology.

Under the agreement Nycomed will receive the exclusive worldwide rights to develop manufacture and commercialise the subcutaneous formulation of veltuzumab for the treatment of all non-cancer indications.

After a successful start of the 2009 business year, Boehringer Ingelheim is expecting their sales growth to outpace the world pharmaceutical market; for the tenth time in succession. As announced by this second-largest German pharmaceuticals producer, the company posted growth in local currency (+ 8.3 per cent) over the previous year in the first six months of 2009. Net sales amounted to 6,388 million euro.

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…

Affimed Therapeutics AG announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to the human recombinant antibody AFM13 for the treatment of Hodgkin lymphoma. The designation entitles Affimed to seven-year market exclusivity in the US upon approval of this drug candidate. AFM13 is a novel, bispecific antibody based on Affimed's proprietary TandAb technology.

Article - 09/01/2012

Biomarkers to combat lung cancer

A biomarker-driven personalised therapeutic approach to lung cancer is possible – this is the conclusion reached by the BATTLE trial. The preliminary results of the trial were summarised by scientists from the Thoraxklinik at Heidelberg University Hospital in the May 2011 issue of “Clinical Investigation”.

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.

Press release - 21/10/2009

Meyenburg Award 2009 for the First Targeted Anti-Cancer Drug

The 2009 Meyenburg Award for Cancer Research with an award sum of 50,000 euros goes to American blood cancer expert, Brian Druker. The Meyenburg Foundation honors Druker as a pioneer of molecularly targeted cancer therapies for developing the leukemia drug Imatinib (Gleevec). Druker’s work has turned chronic myeloid leukemia from a deathly threat into a treatable disease for many patients today. The Meyenburg-Award has been presented on…

Press release - 24/01/2011

Synimmune - Close cooperation cuts new cancer drug development time

A development project from Synimmune GmbH, founded in July 2010, made a big impression on the panel of assessors at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). So much so, that the company was awarded EUR 2.5 million as part of the GO-Bio biotechnology start-up scheme.

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.…

Effective drugs for the treatment of diseases of the central nervous system do exist. However, the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain as the body's control center, makes it especially difficult for therapeutic biomolecules to pass through. Thus, researchers from an international consortium coordinated by the Fraunhofer IGB have spent the last four and a half years developing a novel system in the EU project "N2B-patch"…

At the University Hospital Tübingen, clinical evaluation of an in-house developed vaccine (CoVac-1) against SARS-CoV-2 was started in November 2020 under the direction of Prof. Dr. Juliane Walz in the CCU Translational Immunology of the Medical Clinic (Medical Director Prof. Dr. Helmut Salih). Now the results of the Phase I study are available and demonstrate a potent activation of the T-cell response against the coronavirus.

Press release - 05/11/2009

Canadian companies to establish contacts with potential Baden-Württemberg partners

At a Canadian-German partnering event held on 29th October 2009 in Stuttgart, a number of Canadian and German companies presented themselves to an audience of representatives from industry, business associations and politics. The partnering event was jointly organised by the Canadian Consulate and BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg.

Article - 18/10/2010

Maurits Ortmanns: visual prosthesis research benefits from microelectronics research in Ulm

“Around one third of all visual prosthesis research in Germany is done by the Institute of Microelectronics at Ulm University,” said Maurits Ortmanns, a young electrical engineer who has been head of the Institute of Microelectronics since 2008. He is responsible for half of this figure and his colleague Albrecht Rothermel for the other half. The two engineers work for two German manufacturers who are developing competing versions of retinal…

Press release - 06/12/2010

Kihara Foundation

Kihara Memorial Yokohama Foundation for the Advancement of Life Sciences called Kihara Foundation was established in 1985 in memory of the late Dr. Hiroshi Kihara a world famous geneticist and evolutionary scientist Professor of Kyoto University for the advancement of Life Sciences.

Article - 18/05/2015

Parvoviruses can destroy brain tumours

Parvoviruses such as H-1PV have been shown to selectively attack and destroy human cancer cells. However, they are unable to replicate in healthy human cells. A preliminary clinical trial is currently being carried out to assess the suitability of parvoviruses for treating malignant brain cancer. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now discovered the cause of the selective effect of H-1PV. The finding helps identify…

Press release - 12/03/2010

mtm laboratories announces the European launch of CINtec® PLUS

mtm laboratories, a privately held diagnostics company from Heidelberg, Germany, announced the launch of CINtec® PLUS, the company’s next generation cervical cancer screening product with unmatched accuracy for the screening and management for cervical cancer. CINtec® PLUS will be launched with claims direct in Germany, Italy, Spain, France and the UK, and will also be available in other parts of the world via mtm’s nominated distributors.

Press release - 04/07/2018

Phase-I-trial approved for novel stem cell therapy for patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy

Viscofan BioEngineering, the biomedical business unit of the world market leader for collagenous sausage casings Viscofan announced today that the Spanish Agency for Medicines (AEMPS) has given green light to carry out a clinical phase-I-trial with Viscofan BioEngineering’s first product for regenerative medicine. The novel therapy consisting of stem cells on a collagenous carrier membrane can now be tested on ten patients suffering from severe…

Article - 25/08/2014

Frederik Wenz - radiologist sets milestone with new surgical technique for the treatment of bone metastases

Can painful bone metastases be treated in a targeted and quick way? Can metastases that are potentially present in the liver and kidneys be adequately treated at the same time as bone metastases? These are the questions that Professor Dr. med. Frederik Wenz from the University Medical Center Mannheim asked himself before going on to develop an innovative surgical technique. After a long development period, this technique is now recognized as an…

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.

CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced data from preclinical studies of its investigational SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, in mice and hamsters.

Press release - 24/06/2009

Artificial liver for drug testing

The liver is one of the most important metabolic organs in humans. Johanna Schanz and Heike Mertsching, two scientists from Fraunhofer have developed a model of the liver that is both viable outside the body and suitable for testing drugs. For their work, the two researchers have been awarded the Technology for People award, along with a cheque for 10,000 euros.

CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced the publication entitled “Therapeutic HNF4A mRNA attenuates liver fibrosis in a preclinical model” in the peer-reviewed Journal of Hepatology.

Article - 10/01/2014

HybridKnife – an instrument for future endoscopy

Endoscopic and minimally invasive keyhole surgery is increasingly replacing open surgery. For many years now, patients have reaped the benefits of such treatment techniques, which are less stressful than open surgery and usually leave no scarring. People can leave hospital just a few days after treatment, which also contributes to cost savings in healthcare. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is a new technique that enables the endoscopic…

Article - 21/08/2018

Parkinson's disease: vitamin B3 has a positive effect on nerve cells

Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in the world. There are around 4.1 million sufferers worldwide. It is characterised by motor impairments that result from the death of certain nerve cells in the brain. Researchers at the University of Tübingen have now discovered that vitamin B3 has a positive effect on damaged nerve cells and can boost their energy metabolism.