Healthcare industry

Press release - 26/01/2010

MicroTEC Südwest convinces in the second round of the BMBF’s Leading Edge Cluster competition

The winners of the second round of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research’s (BMBF) Leading Edge Cluster competition have now been selected. On 26th January 2010, the chairman of the jury, Prof. Dr. Andreas Barner (spokesperson for the Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH Management Board), and the German Research Minister, Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, announced in Berlin which of the ten finalists of the highly lucrative Leading Edge Cluster…

Press release - 18/01/2010

Measurement instead of culture – rapid detection of Legionella

There has been an unusually high frequency of Legionella infections in the city of Ulm in the period since mid-December 2009. The search for the source of the infection is well underway, although the use of traditional detection methods make it a time-consuming process. New screening methods developed by the Fraunhofer IPM could considerably reduce the time required to detect the source of infection.

Article - 24/09/2012

20 millilitres of blood to diagnose Down syndrome

Down syndrome, or trisomy 21, occurs when there is an extra copy of chromosome 21. LifeCodexx AG has developed PraenaTest®, an innovative diagnostic test that is able to reliably confirm or exclude trisomy 21 from a blood sample of a pregnant woman. The non-invasive test developed by the Konstanz-based biotech company has recently been placed on the market as an alternative to current invasive tests which result in up to 700 miscarriages per year…

The High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and two private investors are convinced of the importance of single-cell isolation for the production of biopharmaceuticals and for genetic analysis in research and diagnostics. EUR 3 million will be invested in the further development of the technology, the expansion of the sales organization and in opening up further applications for Cytena’s single-cell printers.

Review - 09/02/2023

5th Gene Technology Report – a critical observation of a cutting-edge technology

The societal importance of genetic technologies was demonstrated during the coronavirus pandemic, when it was possible to rapidly develop suitable vaccines thanks to genetic engineering methods. As a result, the Fifth Gene Technology Report published in autumn 2021 reads like a validation of many years of work, as well as making it clear that the will to continue the detailed long-term monitoring is very much present.

Press release - 18/04/2012

immatics appoints Dr. Rainer Kramer as Chief Business Officer

immatics biotechnologies GmbH, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic vaccines that are active against cancer, today announced the appointment of Dr. Rainer Kramer as Chief Business Officer (CBO) with immediate effect. In this newly created role, Dr. Kramer will lead immatics’ Business Development Unit in order to create optimal value from the Company’s pipeline of therapeutic cancer vaccines.

To ensure that sepsis patients receive appropriate antibiotics as quickly as possible, Fraunhofer IGB researchers have developed a diagnostic procedure that uses high-throughput sequencing of blood samples and delivers results much faster than conventional culture-based techniques. Thanks to the latest single-molecule sequencing techniques, this process has now been further improved so that pathogens can be identified after just a few hours.

Microfluidic systems - 18/11/2021

Dermagnostix develops molecular diagnostic tests for skin diseases

Dermagnostix GmbH has developed a rapid test to differentiate between psoriasis and eczema. This test is currently undergoing preclinical testing, with market launch planned for 2023. The start-up is already working on two other dermatological tests. Centrifugal microfluidics is the name of the technology on which the tests are based.

Article - 01/03/2017

foxySpec – an analysis system with huge potential for bioproduction and diagnostics

The mass spectrometry-based foxySpec system enables the monitoring of gases and liquids simultaneously in real time. These simultaneous measurements make the system interesting for medical diagnostics applications. However, bioproduction can also benefit from foxySpec, which can also be used to measure a large number of products during the production process in real time, thus supporting smooth processes in fermenters.

Press release - 21/04/2011

Gut bacteria could help with diagnostics and influence treatments

In the future, when you walk into a doctor’s surgery or hospital, you could be asked not just about your allergies and blood group, but also about your gut type. Scientists at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and collaborators in the international MetaHIT consortium, have found that humans have three different gut types.

Article - 10/05/2008

Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Prize 2008

Prof. Dr. Martin Bendszus was awarded the Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Prize 2008. He received the prize together with 10000 euros for his work dealing with in vivo diagnostics of the peripheral nervous system using magnetic resonance imaging.

One year after its seed financing, SpinDiag GmbH closes a second financing round of EUR 3 million (USD 3.4 million) as planned. The financing will enable SpinDiag to complete the product development of its first product for screening for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and to start clinical trials. This will pave the way for regulatory approval in the EU.

Lab-on-a-chip - 11/11/2020

Microfluidic platform for the best possible cancer therapy

Every tumour and every patient is different, and there are individual reactions to drugs as well as the problem of resistance. Patient-specific cancer treatments require innovative and cost-effective approaches. The TheraMe! consortium has developed a novel instrument: a combination of microfluidic experiments and mathematical modelling for use in cancer precision medicine to prevent incorrect therapy options.

The German Research Foundation will continue to fund the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre Inflammatory Cardiomyopathy - Molecular Pathogenesis and Therapy for another four years with a total of 10 million euros. The Department of Cardiology of the University Hospital of Tübingen will also become part of the SFB.

Spindiag GmbH, together with the University of Freiburg and the Hahn-Schickard-Gesellschaft für angewandte Forschung e.V., was awarded the Technology Transfer Prize 2020 from the German Physical Society (DPG) on April 09, 2022 for the development of the PCR-based rapid test system Rhonda.

Article - 15/04/2013

Molecule-specific diagnosis of metabolic diseases

In cooperation with the company Centogene AG Prof. Dr. Michael Przybylski from the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Biopolymer Analysis and Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry at the University of Konstanz has developed a method that involves a novel substance class and enables the parallel measurement of enzyme activity based on fluorometry and mass spectroscopy. The method for which the inventors have recently filed a patent application forms the basis…

The European Research Council is to fund a project at the University Hospital of Freiburg on the development of ultra fast magnetic resonance imaging for applications in the fields of neurology the neurosciences and oncology.

Dr. Pitter Huesgen Dr. Michael Strerath and Dr. Carl Kübler have been awarded this years Nycomed Award. The Award which is worth a total of 15000 distinguishes outstanding doctoral theses in the fields of biology chemistry and physics.

Hummingbird Diagnostics GmbH - 22/09/2022

The great potential of blood-based microRNA analyses

"The early bird catches the worm", is an apt description of what motivates Hummingbird Diagnostics GmbH from Heidelberg. The medium-sized biotechnology company analyses special biomarkers in blood, so-called microRNAs, in order to diagnose diseases at an early stage and to be able to make forecasts about the course of the disease and the success of therapy.

Dossier - 03/07/2008

Molecular imaging - a close look inside the human body

Molecular imaging recognises the functional state of cells and molecules. It visualises biological processes on the cellular and molecular level and is thus able to detect pathological alterations a long time before disease symptoms become apparent. Molecular imaging offers new possibilities for improving diagnosis and enabling more targeted therapies than has previously been possible. Many experts regard molecular imaging as a paradigm shift in…

Article - 07/03/2016

Looking at the control of cellular homeostasis

Many biological processes that occur in our body are driven and controlled by protein complexes. In order to better understand these processes, biochemist Prof. Dr. Florian Stengel from the University of Konstanz is developing methods that will eventually make it possible to study the architecture, interactions and general dynamics of intact protein complexes quantitatively and in detail. Stengel combines structural mass spectrometry methods with…

The resolution of the magnetic resonance imager is so good that it can visualise molecular structures. Siemens has provided the cancer researchers from Heidelberg with the powerful imager.

Article - 30/07/2009

Dragnet investigation for substance killers

The Ulm-based company Labor Dr. Merk Kollegen with over 40 employees is a specialist company identifying foreign bodies such as viruses bacteria and toxins in biopharmaceuticals and medical products. In addition the medium-sized company has been developing producing and marketing diagnostics for medical use for almost 40 years.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an agency of the World Health Organization (WHO), will soon publish the first edition of its classification of childhood cancers. The new WHO classification forms the basis of modern, precise cancer diagnostics for physicians and pediatric oncologists worldwide and is based on the latest international research findings.

Press release - 30/03/2010

Mediagnost GmbH - successfull since 25 years

Mediagnost Gesellschaft für Forschung und Herstellung von Diagnostika GmbH in Reutlingen is one of the oldest biotechnology companies in Germany. Mediagnost offers a broad range of services including the production of antibodies proteins and viruses the analysis of samples and the customisation of raw materials. The company celebrated its 25th anniversary on 19th March 2010 with a series of events.