Article - 07/08/2013 New regulations covering the use of laboratory animals The new directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes was adopted on 22nd September 2010 and was implemented into the German Animal Welfare Act which came into force in February 2013. These regulations have implications for companies and researchers alike. In recent years a growing number of alternative methods to animal testing have been developed. Dr. Nina Hasiwa CEO of…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/new-regulations-covering-the-use-of-laboratory-animals
Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB - 24/04/2020 A rapid pyrogen test: the human immune system as model Every year, around 11 million people die of sepsis (blood poisoning) caused by microorganisms or microbial residues, known as pyrogens, entering the bloodstream. The smallest amounts can trigger fever. Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB in Stuttgart have developed a pyrogen test that does not require a laboratory and is not tested on animals. It is expected to be placed on the market soon.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/A-rapid-pyrogen-test-the-human-immune-system-as-model
Article - 25/02/2013 Molecular monitoring of premature infants Premature births are not uncommon in Germany where around seven percent of newborns are born before week 37 of pregnancy. The WHO estimates that the numbers of preterm births are growing due to the increasing age of mothers. Doctors caring for the tiny patients are faced with a dilemma because regular blood samples required for the clinical monitoring of important blood parameters cannot be taken due to the infants low body volume.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/molecular-monitoring-of-premature-infants
Article - 18/08/2016 Moonlighting proteins can make bacteria pathogenic The mechanism underlying the export of biomolecules from cells remains unknown. Prof. Dr. Friedrich Götz and his team at the Institute of Microbial Genetics at the University of Tübingen have found out that staphylococci can turn into dangerous pathogens by excreting normally harmless enzymes. The researchers believe that the enigmatic excretion of such enzymes is due to a completely new mechanism and are thus planning to carry out further…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/moonlighting-proteins-can-make-bacteria-pathogenic
Article - 01/05/2008 Peter Öhlschläger - New strategies for the treatment of cancer Professor Peter Öhlschläger established his major scientific interests very early on. During his degree thesis at the German Cancer Research Centre DKFZ in Heidelberg the immunologist succeeded in combining his two major interests namely virology and cancer. Öhlschläger is now junior professor at the University of Constance and mainly deals with the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/peter-hlschlaeger-new-strategies-for-the-treatment-of-cancer
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…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/vaccines-beacon-hope-fight-against-pandemics
Atriva Therapeutics - 21/10/2020 COVID-19 pioneer drug in Phase II clinical trial – with double the power The effective treatment of people with severe COVID-19 is a major goal during the corona pandemic. ATR-002, an oral small molecule that targets RNA viruses such as influenza virus and SARS-CoV-2, has a dual effect: it impairs viral propagation and also has an immunomodulatory effect. And what’s more, due to its unique cellular mechanism of action, the efficacy of Atrivia Therapeutics’ drug candidate is not reduced by virus mutations and…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/covid-19-pioneer-drug-phase-ii-clinical-trial-double-power
Article - 11/05/2009 Metastasis-inducing cancer stem cells Just a small subpopulation of cancer cells namely metastasis-inducing cancer stem cells MICs is potentially responsible for the formation of distant malignant tumour metastases. The characterisation of MICs and the clarification of mechanisms that lead to their reactivation from a dormant state opens up new strategies for the development of new effective therapies against metastasising tumours.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/metastasis-inducing-cancer-stem-cells
Article - 14/11/2011 Marina Freudenberg and Chris Galanos – more than 40 years of bacterial defence research This years Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology was awarded to three renowned scientists one of whom is the American Bruce Beutler who was instrumental in clarifying the structure of the mammalian Toll-like 4 TLR4 receptor. Prof. Dr. med. Marina Freudenberg and Dr. Dr. h.c. Chris Galanos from the Freiburg-based Max Planck Institute MPI of Immunobiology and Epigenetics have co-authored the key publication that led to the award of the Nobel Prize…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/marina-freudenberg-and-chris-galanos-more-than-40-years-of-bacterial-defence-research
Article - 17/10/2011 Papillomaviruses as cancer-causing agents and how they can be fought off Studies presented at the recent International Papillomavirus Conference in Berlin demonstrate that vaccination can prevent infection with the types of HPV that cause the majority of cervical cancers. New improved vaccines to prevent HPV infections as well as therapeutic vaccines that are effective in people that are already infected are currently being developed. In addition, research has shown that other cancers can also be caused by infective…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/papillomaviruses-as-cancer-causing-agents-and-how-they-can-be-fought-off
Article - 29/04/2021 Nanobodies for determining neutralising antibodies after corona infection After contact with a pathogen, ideally our immune system generates neutralising antibodies to prevent a future infection. With NeutrobodyPlex, scientists from Reutlingen and Tübingen have developed a highly specific test procedure based on single-domain antibodies (nanobodies) that can be used to easily and reliably determine the quality of the immune response against the novel coronavirus.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/nanobodies-determining-neutralising-antibodies-after-corona-infection
Article - 10/09/2012 Jan Wehkamp to investigate the causes of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases It takes a great deal of courage to question a common scientific doctrine especially for scientists at the very beginning of their careers. But around ten years ago Dr. Jan Wehkamp did not shy away from doing just that and as a result he and his scientific partner Professor Dr. Eduard Stange came up with a new explanation for the pathogenesis of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/jan-wehkamp-to-investigate-the-causes-of-chronic-inflammatory-bowel-diseases
Article - 08/09/2008 Research increases hope Duchenne muscular dystrophy DMD is a severe disease affecting boys characterised by rapid progression of muscle degeneration so that boys as young as 10 to 12 years of age have to use a wheelchair and leading to death in young men. In Germany about 2500 children and young adults suffer from DMD.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/research-increases-hope
Article - 17/10/2011 “The only way of keeping competition in the international market at bay” Biotech companies operate mostly on a global level. This is either because they follow their customers or because their major markets are abroad or because their domestic markets are so small that they are obliged to market their products abroad. Patents do not play a key role in all industries, but are of decisive strategic importance in the biotechnology sector. "However, patents are not always the best," says Ulrike Cremer, a patent…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/the-only-way-of-keeping-competition-in-the-international-market-at-bay
Article - 27/06/2011 The EURAT project at the Marsilius Kolleg in Heidelberg Bioinformaticians, human geneticists, molecular biologists, oncologists, pathologists, lawyers and theologians are all participating in the project “Ethical and legal aspects of the total sequencing of the human genome” (EURAT) being carried out at Heidelberg University’s Marsilius Kolleg. The project partners are developing a common viewpoint and working out solutions for problems arising from the possibilities of total genome sequencing. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/the-eurat-project-at-the-marsilius-kolleg-in-heidelberg
Dossier - 22/02/2010 Respiratory disease - congestion in the respiratory system Lung diseases are by far the most frequent cause of death worldwide. Every year three million people die from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases 2.3 million die from lung cancer and 1.5 die from tuberculosis WHO World Health Organisation. There is no improvement in sight and experts believe that the number of deaths will continue to rise particularly in the case of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases COPD lung cancer and tuberculosis TB.…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/respiratory-disease-congestion-in-the-respiratory-system
Vaccine development - 02/06/2020 CureVac as a pioneer of mRNA technology – what is behind the novel COVID-19 vaccine? All eyes are on vaccines against the coronavirus. The Tübingen-based company CureVac is doing pioneering work in this field, and intends to initiate clinical testing of its lead vaccine candidate in June. At the same time, Curevac is manufacturing the material for this vaccine candidate. But that’s not all: the novel mRNA technology also has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of cancer and metabolic diseases. What makes the method so…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/curevac-als-pionier-der-mrna-technologie-was-steckt-hinter-dem-neuartigen-covid-19-impfstoff