Healthcare industry

The INTERREG programme of the European Union will provide funding for a liver disease research project conducted by the Department of Internal Medicine II at the Freiburg University Medical Centre. The “Hepato-Regio-Net” will receive a total of one million euro in funding for a period of three years. Prof. Dr. Robert Thimme, executive senior physician in the Department of Medicine, will serve as the project’s spokesperson and Dr. Richard Fischer,…

Press release - 18/12/2012

Phenex enters into a research collaboration and license agreement with Janssen

Phenex Pharmaceuticals AG Phenex today announced it has entered into an agreement with Janssen Biotech Inc. and its affiliates Janssen to jointly discover compounds that target the nuclear hormone receptor RORT and may have utility in the treatment of chronic autoimmune and inflammatory disorders including rheumatoid arthritis psoriasis and inflammatory bowel disease.

In a so-called inactivated or killed vaccine, the virus particles it contains are first rendered inactive by means of the toxic chemical formaldehyde. A better way of achieving this, however, is to irradiate the pathogens with low-energy electrons. Four Fraunhofer Institutes have now developed a new method of vaccine production based on this technique that is not only quicker but also guarantees a higher quality of product.

The RNA Printer® is CureVac’s integrated and automated manufacturing solution for RNA vaccines and therapeutics. CureVac RNA Printer GmbH to provide dedicated infrastructure to accelerate development and broaden application range of The RNA Printer®. Dr. Markus Bergmann appointed as General Manager for CureVac RNA Printer GmbH.

Article - 28/11/2009

"You cannot afford to fail twice in Germany"

Prof. Dr. Bodo Liedvogel and Dr. Heinz Haubruck founded the company DIARECT AG in Freiburg in 1998. They not only brought 20 years of experience in industry to the company but also their entire savings. In the following interview Dr. Heinz Haubruck tells Christoph Bächtle about the return investors expect from companies how to win over potential clients and the risks associated with setting up ones own business.

Press release - 20/06/2011

CureVac presents new data for prostate and lung cancer vaccines

CureVac GmbH presented promising new data for prostate cancer vaccine CV9103 and lung cancer vaccine CV9201 at the ASCO Conference in Chicago. Final trial results confirm safety and excellent antigen-specific immunogenicity of prostate cancer vaccine CV9103. And initial promising data from phase I/IIa trial of lung cancer vaccine CV9201 further supports the potential of CureVac’s RNActive® vaccination technology in cancer immunotherapy and…

A fully automated process is set to improve the production of artificial tissue medical scientists can perform transplants with skin produced in the laboratory. This tissue is also suitable for testing chemicals at a low cost without requiring animal experiments.

Article - 22/03/2010

IBR Inc.: Dual strategy for safe and effective drugs

IBR Inc. a science-based provider of preclinical and clinical services specialises in inflammatory diseases. The analyses it carries out for the pharmaceutical and biotech sector help exclude potential side effects of specific drug candidates early in the development process.

Article - 15/03/2010

The first active immunisations against cancer

The first anti-cancer vaccines were developed to prevent women from becoming infected with papillomaviruses and to protect them against cervical cancer. The development of vaccines can be traced back to the work of Nobel Laureate Harald zur Hausen and his colleagues at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. But more development is required in the field of anti-cancer vaccines and this is why researchers worldwide are working on vaccines…

Article - 02/05/2016

Biopolymers – raw materials for innovative medical products

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biodegradable biopolymers that are becoming increasingly important. Bioplastics are now used not only in everyday objects such as plastic bags and yogurt pots but also increasingly in the field of medicine, which is why intensive research into medical devices made from biodegradable polymers such as PHA has been going on for quite some time.

Scientists from Heidelberg and Mannheim launch research and development task force

Article - 29/11/2010

Against chronic liver inflammation and liver cancer

Chronic hepatitis B and C are the major causes of liver cancer. In contrast to hepatitis B viruses, there is no hepatitis C virus vaccination available. New research carried out by Professor Bartenschlager and his colleagues from Heidelberg might give rise to new strategies for the development of vaccines and medications for the prevention and treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infections.

Article - 09/01/2012

Nutritional medicine: Can certain foods help treat cancer?

Researchers at the Centre for Nutritional Medicine (ZEM), a joint institution of the Universities of Hohenheim and Tübingen, are investigating whether and to what extent certain food components can support the treatment of cancer and are hoping to derive scientifically founded dietary recommendations from their findings.

Press release - 09/07/2009

Marcus Groettrup: Discovery in the kingdom of cells

Prof. Marcus Groettrup has been closely investigating the daily defence battle of the human immune system for a number of years. The researcher from Constance has now found a substance that has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of rheumatism.

The main goal of the European Research Council (ERC) is to fund Europe’s brightest minds and thus encourage the highest quality research. In April 2016, the ERC announced the awarding of its prestigious Advanced Grants, and three life sciences researchers from Baden-Württemberg were among the recipients.

Press release - 24/11/2009

Three new collaborative research centres in Baden-Württemberg

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is set to establish 17 new collaborative research centres (SFBs) on 1st January 2010. Ten of the new SFBs will focus on life science research projects, and will initially be funded for a period of four years with a total of 78 million euros in funding. One of the SFBs will be established at the University of Freiburg. Six of the 17 new SFBs are SFB/Transregio projects involving researchers from several German…

Scientists of the Translational Lung Research Center Heidelberg (TLRC) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have discovered a new link between excessive airway mucus and chronic airway inflammation that is characteristic of cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The researchers showed that mucus in the airways reprograms certain cells of the immune system.

Article - 29/11/2013

QIAGEN Lake Constance: a “disk player” for rapid diagnoses

The diagnosis of infectious diseases frequently not only depends on the reliable identification of the pathogenic species that has caused them, but also on obtaining rapid results in order to immediately initiate appropriate therapy or further diagnostic measures. Tests are normally carried out in central laboratories, samples need to be sent to the laboratories and the results are rarely immediate. As part of the BMBF-funded project “ResCheck”,…

Press release - 07/08/2012

immatics announces publication of IMA901 cancer vaccine data in Nature Medicine

immatics biotechnologies GmbH, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing advanced therapeutic vaccines that are active against cancer, today announced that key data covering the scientific and clinical development of its lead cancer vaccine, IMA901, have been published in Nature Medicine. The paper highlights that renal cell carcinoma patients experience longer survival times when their immune system produces an immune response to…

Article - 14/11/2010

Maria Leptin – the first woman scientist at the head of the renowned EMBO

In January 2010, the developmental biologist Prof. Dr. Maria Leptin, internationally known for her work on the signalling pathways that regulate tissue differentiation and morphology during Drosophila embryogenesis, was appointed director of the EMBO, one of the most prestigious science organisations in Europe.

Article - 01/12/2014

Stem cell research for preventing radiation-induced developmental damage

Although ionizing radiation is known to cause cell damage and genetic modifications, its effects on embryonic development are still poorly understood. This is why Prof. Dr. Suzanne Kadereit from the Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences is involved in a cooperative project that uses human embryonic stem cells for studying the effects of ionizing radiation on prenatal brain development. She heads up the only university of applied…

CureVac N.V., a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (“mRNA”), today announced the strategic decision to focus its COVID-19 vaccine development towards the development of second-generation mRNA vaccine candidates in collaboration with GSK and to withdraw its first-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, from the current approval process.

Article - 24/03/2014

Vaccine against papillomaviruses protects from skin cancer

Papillomaviruses are thought to cause non-melanoma skin cancer in people exposed to UV radiation, especially those who have suppressed immune systems. Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Charité University Hospital in Berlin have developed a vaccine that protects mice against such skin tumours. The vaccine is even effective in mice that have previously been infected with papillomaviruses and that have suppressed…

Press release - 12/10/2010

Clarification of stem cell migration – hope for more effective bone marrow transplants

Researchers from the University of Ulm, Germany, and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, USA, have shown that pharmacological inhibition of a signalling pathway triggered by EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) increased the mobilisation of haematopoietic stem cells in mice.

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…