Healthcare industry

Article - 30/08/2010

Bodensee Brustzentrum offers effective breast cancer prevention services

The two Brustzentrum Bodensee (Lake Constance Breast Centre) sites at the Hospital in Constance and the Women’s Hospital in Friedrichshafen have a principal goal: to enable the best possible early detection of all types of breast cancer, to reduce the morbidity and mortality of breast cancer patients and to increase survival rates by offering ultra-modern breast cancer prevention measures.

Glycotope GmbH, a leading glycobiology company, has received regulatory approval by German and Italian regulatory authorities for a Phase I study of Glycotope´s next generation antibody CetuGEX™ (GT-MAB 5.2-GEX) for the treatment of various solid cancers.

The research group led by Prof. Ralf Reski is a moss specialist and has now, for the first time, succeeded in producing a human protein in a moss bioreactor – the complement factor H. The lack of this protein leads to age-related macular degeneration in about 50 million people worldwide. The complement factor H has been assigned ‘orphan drug’ status by the respective EU authorities.

Press release - 02/08/2010

Stephanie Combs – excellent research on the treatment of brain tumours

Dr. Stephanie Combs radiooncologist at the University of Heidelberg was awarded the Hermann Holthusen Prize for her achievements in improving the treatment of malignant brain tumours. The prize which comes with a purse of 5000 euros is the most prestigious prize in the field of radiooncology in Germany. Dr. Combs received the prize from the German Society of Radiooncology DEGRO at its annual meeting held in Magdeburg in June 2010. Dr. Combs most…

CureVac GmbH, the mRNA company, today announced that the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute, the German regulatory authority for medicinal products, has approved the start of a Phase IIa trial for CV9201 to treat Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).

immatics biotechnologies GmbH announced on June 2nd, 2010 that it has signed a Clinical Trial Agreement with the Center for Cancer Research (CCR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA. The Agreement covers the clinical development of immatics’ therapeutic cancer vaccine IMA950 which is to be evaluated in the field of brain cancer, specifically glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.

Press release - 14/05/2010

Viruses against cancer: complete regression of malignant brain tumours after treatment with parvoviruses

Studies by scientists from the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) have shown that advanced glioblastomas regressed completely in rats after treatment with parvoviruses, thus significantly increasing the survival time compared with untreated animals. Parvoviruses do not cause any disease symptoms in humans and the rats treated did not show any undesired side effects, either. A clinical phase I trial on parvovirus treatment of patients with…

Press release - 23/04/2010

Ernst & Young: "German Biotechnology Report 2010"

During the global crisis in 2009, the revenues, number of companies and the number of employees in the German biotechnology industry remained unchanged from the previous year. However, considerable progress was made in terms of product development and market admissions. As in the previous year, 2009 saw a strong slump in terms of equity financing. Investments in research and developments fell. Collaborations and strategic alliances acted as…

Press release - 15/04/2010

Nycomed and Baxter receive FDA approval for TachoSil®

Today Nycomed and its partner Baxter International Inc. NYSE BAX received the approval for TachoSil a surgical patch from the US Food and Drug Administration FDA. TachoSil has been approved as an adjunct to haemostasis control of bleeding in cardiovascular surgery.

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 - 18/02/2010

New molecules promise improved diagnosis of pancreatic cancer

Being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer is often a death sentence. One reason for the high mortality rate of pancreatic cancer patients is that there is currently no reliable diagnosis of early stages and no cure once the disease has reached a late stage. In an EU-funded project, 23 research groups from six countries have developed new strategies for the improved diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Researchers at the Ulm-based Hospital for Nuclear…

Press release - 26/01/2010

Apogenix Initiates Clinical Phase II Study with its Lead Compound APG101 in Glioblastoma

Apogenix GmbH, a biopharmaceutical company today announced the start of a clinical Phase II trial with its lead compound AGP101 in Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). The first patient has been treated with APG101 since December 2009 at the University Hospital in Heidelberg, Germany.

Article - 25/01/2010

Intelligent use of suitable biomarkers

How quickly does a pharmaceutical substance exert its effect? What mechanisms does it use to exert its effect on people and how long does it remain active? In a team headed by Prof. Dr. Martin Elmlinger Nycomed GmbH has developed an efficient biomarker discovery concept specially adapted to the companys requirements and designed to clarify such questions. The concept is specifically geared to the phases and requirements of the companys projects.…

Article - 25/01/2010

Hope for effective ulcerative colitis treatment

Ulcerative colitis, a chronic form of inflammatory bowel disease, is characterised by a reduced amount of the lipid phosphatidylcholine in the colon mucosa. This fact was discovered by Wolfgang Stremmel and his team at the University Hospital of Heidelberg. In collaboration with the Heidelberg-based biotechnology company Lipid Therapeutics, the researchers are now working on the development of a phosphatidylcholine drug for the treatment of this…

Article - 18/01/2010

New substance helps PKU patients enjoy food

For many decades, a special low-protein (low-phenylalanine) diet has been the only way of treating children suffering from phenylketonuria (PKU) that effectively prevents them from developing severe impairments in mental function. However, this type of diet is not very tasty and it is often difficult to get children to cooperate. A paediatrician from Reutlingen, Prof. Dr. Friedrich Trefz, has now been able to show that the substance sapropterin…

Press release - 13/11/2009

Single molecules under the laser: How the genetic material is unwrapped

The genetic material found in cells is not in its free state, but is bound to large protein complexes and tightly wrapped. To activate genes that could well play a role in carcinogenesis, the genetic material first needs to be unwrapped and made accessible to other cell components. Using a new biophysical method called single molecule spectroscopy, scientists from the “Biophysics of Macromolecules” division at the German Cancer Research Centre…

Press release - 11/11/2009

Hematopoietic stem cell treatment with a new gene therapy vector: A first success treating a brain disease

Two children with adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a fatal brain disease, have been successfully treated with a new gene therapy vector. Two years after treatment, the disease evolution has been stopped, and no adverse effect of the gene therapy has been observed so far. The results of this clinical trial conducted by Drs Nathalie Cartier and Patrick Aubourg (Inserm, France) in collaboration with European partners have just been published in Science…

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.

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…

Lipid Therapeutics GmbH and Dr. Falk Pharma GmbH announced on 30th, September, that they have entered into a co-development and licensing agreement for LT-02. Under the terms of the agreement, Dr. Falk Pharma will receive exclusive access to the European rights to Lipid Therapeutics’ lead product LT-02 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is a severe inflammation of the colon affecting more than one million people…

Malignant brain tumours do not often respond to promising new drugs. Researchers from Heidelberg have now uncovered a mechanism and a tumour marker that are linked to the development of this resistance. A “death receptor” might possibly indicate the chances of success of chemotherapy at the same time as providing new approaches for developing a new therapy for the successful treatment of brain tumours.

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 - 21/08/2009

Patenting and clinical trials go hand in hand

Back when he was doing his degree thesis at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg the immunologist Prof. Peter Öhlschläger who now works at the University of Constance laid down the basic principles for developing an artificial gene for the treatment of cervical cancer. Prof. Öhlschläger is currently in the process of filing a patent for DNA vaccines for HPV. In the following interview the scientist says that the greatest challenges are…

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.

Press release - 28/07/2009

New trachea made from human tissue

A team of doctors from the Schillerhöhe Hospital, which is part of the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, in cooperation with researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute of Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart, has developed a method that enables artificially produced autologous tissue to be implanted into patients with severe tracheal injuries. The method involves the cultivation of extensive parts of the human trachea and…