Healthcare industry

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.

Vaccine development - 25/05/2021

Vaccines – a beacon of hope in the fight against pandemics

Having long been considered less lucrative for the big pharmaceutical companies, vaccine development is taking off in an unforeseen way in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial support is flooding in and all kinds of vaccine development strategies are being deployed. Among the winners in the competition for effective coronavirus vaccines are vaccines based on RNA technology. The development of much-needed vaccines against many other…

Article - 04/07/2016

Epigenetic modifications for the treatment of oesophageal cancer

Oesophageal cancer is a rare but highly aggressive type of cancer with a rather poor prognosis. Dr. Theresa Ahrens, a researcher in a group led by Prof. Dr. Silke Laßmann and Prof. Dr. Martin Werner at the Institute of Clinical Pathology at the Freiburg University Medical Centre, has tested a variety of epigenetic drugs that can interfere with the development of oesophageal cancer.

Article - 25/04/2016

Pancreatic cancer and its resistance to therapy

Pancreatic tumours are among the cancers with the worst prognosis. In many cases they are resistant to treatment. Prof. Dr. Andreas Trumpp and his colleagues from the DKFZ and the Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine HI-STEM have discovered that the reason why some pancreatic tumours are so resistant to treatment is down to larger quantities of the enzyme CYP3A5 in subtypes of pancreatic cancer. Molecular…

Article - 10/03/2014

From structure to mechanism

Life would be impossible without the broad range of enzymes that enable the flow of cellular metabolites in plant, animal and microbial organisms. Enzymes are biocatalysts that control and facilitate difficult chemical reactions associated with inheritance, breathing and digestion as well as the synthesis of natural products. Enzymes like chorismatase have long been attractive drug discovery targets. Junior professor Dr. Jennifer Andexer from the…

Micro-biolytics GmbH now based in the Esslingen-based Life Science Centre develops and produces microsystems solutions for bioanalytical issues. With the support of networks micro-biolytics is hoping to considerably expand its activities.

Article - 07/12/2017

GoSilico: a formula for the industrial purification of biomolecules

“Stop experimenting – GoSilico” is the motto of a young start-up company from Karlsruhe. The founding team of GoSilico GmbH is causing a furore with a simulation software that would make many laboratory experiments obsolete. The chromatographic separation of biomolecules from organisms, samples and cell cultures can be reliably simulated after just a few starter experiments. This saves time, work, material and costs in pharmaceutical development.

Press release - 26/03/2009

Sygnis Pharma AG increases capital

SYGNIS Pharma AG reported its financial results for the first nine months of the fiscal year 20082009. The company improved its cash position significantly as a result of a successful capital increase. Following the capital increase the stake of dievini Hopp BioTech in SYGNIS Pharma AG increased to approximately 44.90 of the total share capital. The preparations for the phase II efficacy trial of its lead candidate AX200 in acute ischemic stroke…

Article - 14/02/2018

Animal-free diabetes research with the pancreas chip

Quite a number of promising drug candidates for the treatment of diabetes are currently in the pharmaceutical pipeline, including innovative drugs that can stimulate the regeneration of insulin-producing pancreatic cells. However, they will have to be safety tested in animals. Scientists from Ulm University Hospital have now begun to develop a pancreatic chip from stem cells.

Article - 28/03/2019

Supporting the human use of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is no longer a vision of the future, but is already in our midst: whether it is parking aids or search engines, we use the technology quite naturally in many areas of daily life. It promises new, unlimited opportunities, but also poses risks. Experts from the Integrata Foundation in Tübingen work on ethical issues and the human use of IT for improving the life of as many people as possible.

Article - 28/10/2013

Peptides as drugs – researchers from Ulm hope to unearth the treasures of the human body

The human body harbours unsuspected resources. It also produces customised drugs such as peptides. Although this sounds like a far too bold hypothesis, it is not. Researchers from Ulm consider the approach so promising that they have now established the Ulm Centre for Peptide Pharmaceuticals (UPEP).

Article - 17/05/2016

Innovative biochip for discovering drugs for treating neuronal conditions

Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and epilepsy are three prominent examples of neuronal conditions (disorders affecting the nerve cells) for which drugs for treatment are intensively sought. Paolo Cesare from the NMI in Reutlingen has developed an innovative 3D system for testing drugs that does not require animal testing. In 2015, the MEAFLUIT system was awarded first prize in BioRegio STERN Management GmbH's Science2Start idea competition.

Trenzyme GmbH - 20/05/2020

The SARS-CoV spike protein and its receptor

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus uses a spike protein to bind to the ACE2 receptor on the cell surfaces of lung tissue. Additional cofactors are needed to allow the virus genome to penetrate human cells and multiply. Knowing these relationships can help understand the course of the infection and develop counterstrategies. To this end, the Constance-based company Trenzyme has produced a recombinant spike protein to support coronavirus research.

Dossier - 25/03/2013

Biotechnology goes automated

Processes that previously required pipetting analysis and production to be carried out manually are increasingly now controlled by automated systems. However this has not necessarily involved a complete reinvention of the wheel instead automation systems used in the plant construction and mechanical engineering sectors are being adapted and optimised for application in the life sciences.

Press release - 01/11/2008

Boris Mizaikoff and Christine Kranz – on the way to systems analytics

The two chemists Boris Mizaikoff and Christine Kranz have a great deal in common they are married to each other they have children together and they work at the same university on projects that combine technologies and methods to create multifunctional analytical platforms at the Department of Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry at Ulm University.

Affimed will receive $96 million upfront and committed funding and is eligible for up to an additional $5.0 billion including milestone payments, and royalties on sales.

Article - 04/04/2011

FreiBiotics GmbH – new drugs against resistant bacteria

Bacteria adapt quickly to their environment and also to antibiotics. Many of the antibiotics used to treat bacterial infections have become ineffective as a great many bacteria have become resistant to them. Freiburg-based FreiBiotics GmbH is looking for completely new classes of antimicrobial substances. A screening method that has been developed over the last few years based on biosensors makes the identification of new substance classes more…

Dossier - 11/05/2009

Diabetes, a danger that is still underestimated

In 2010 there will be 10 million diabetes patients in Germany and nearly 33 millions in Europe. The diabetes avalanche is rolling and what is Germany doing? So far so little say experts. There is a lot happening at the same time in different places little is evaluated and a lot is lost in the maelstrom of individual interests. The figures are clear The metabolic disease known as diabetes has reached the proportions of a worldwide epidemic. It not…

SICOS BW GmbH - 18/06/2020

High-performance computing and data analytics to combat coronavirus

In an epidemic, data exchange and the use of innovative technologies are essential to be able to act effectively and quickly against the infection. High-performance computers and data analytics make a valuable contribution to this. SICOS BW is a promising solution centre that bridges the gap from numerical simulation, big data and AI to companies in the medical technology sector.

Article - 19/11/2009

Cellzome - kinase inhibitors for therapy

Cellzome is a privately-owned biotechnology company which develops new drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and chronic inflammatory intestinal diseases at its two company sites in Heidelberg (Germany) and Cambridge (UK).

Microfluidics in medical technology - 24/03/2021

Ultra-compact: valves with shape memory actuators

Karlsruhe-based company memetis shows that this is possible. Intelligent components for controlling fluids open up huge potential in the medical technology and biotechnology sectors - from vaccine development and cell line analysis to drug research and point-of-care solutions.

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.…

“In order to fully understand an organism, it is necessary to consider it as a whole,” said Dr. Uwe Schulte, biochemist and CEO of Logopharm GmbH in Freiburg. A growing number of scientists hold the same view, and there is a growing inclination to research the big picture. This is reflected in the continuously increasing number of projects looking into systems biology research.

Article - 01/09/2011

Quality by Design – a paradigm change in bioprocess development

Bioprocess technology has undergone a fundamental change with regard to the criteria used for validating product quality: around ten years ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised the 1987 process validation guidance and the subsequent establishment of the Process Analytical Technology (PAT) initiative heralded a paradigm change in bioprocess understanding and control. The FDA’s guidance underwent a paradigm shift from what was…

Novel coronavirus outbreak - a status report on recent developments - 04/03/2020

Waiting for a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine

Researchers around the world are working frantically on the development of a vaccine against the new coronavirus. A project by the Tübingen-based biotechnology company CureVac, funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), uses the company’s technology platform for mRNA-based vaccines to accelerate vaccine development, thus contributing to the future prevention of the disease.