Healthcare industry

Article - 06/11/2017

HEIDELTEC: gummy bears may replace injections

Peptide- and protein-based drugs like those used for treating diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases cannot be administered orally. This is because these biomolecules degrade in the gastrointestinal tract, thus preventing them from reaching their target site in the body. Protein- and peptide-base drugs therefore have to be administered by way of injection, which is comparatively complicated and painful. However, a start-up company called…

Company profile - 04/09/2017

Mireca: a new drug for stopping the progression of eye diseases

A team of researchers from several EU countries has developed a new drug that stops the progression of hereditary retinal diseases. The project partners founded a company called Mireca Medicines GmbH in the city of Tübingen to bring the drug to market.

The European Research Council awards Wilfried Weber an ERC Proof of Concept Grant. Wilfried Weber, Professor of Synthetic Biology at the University of Freiburg, has received a grant of roughly €150,000 for his project “Hide and Seek with Cancer Drugs” in which he is working to improve the drugs used in cancer treatment.

Article - 18/08/2014

The use of human genes as medical products

In contrast to medications used for treating disease, gene therapy does not use chemical agents to alleviate or cure disease symptoms. Instead, it involves the introduction of a normal copy of a mutated gene to restore the function of a protein. Gene therapy could also be described as a way of restoring the body’s self-healing process. It is an extremely smart idea that enables the sustainable treatment of diseases which cannot usually be…

Article - 22/04/2014

Synthetic nanoparticles as mini-pills for the treatment of tumours

Little is yet known about the risks and dangers of the tiny particles that play a key role in the field of nanotechnology because many applications are still under development. The technology is therefore not without controversy. However, there are promising possibilities for equipping artificial particles with new functions, such as optimizing the targeted delivery of drugs in the human body or developing a non-invasive type of cancer therapy.…

Article - 04/03/2013

TellTargeting Medical GmbH – targeted chemotherapy using CARL®

The needs of cancer patients are clear chemotherapies that are as gentle as possible associated with minimal adverse effects and have a rapid effect. This is often difficult to achieve because the drug that stops tumour growth needs to remain in the body for a certain amount of time during which time it damages cancerous as well as healthy structures. Dr. Gerhard Pütz and Dr. Jürgen Eckes founded the company TellTargeting Medical GmbH Co. KG…

Article - 11/02/2013

Cholesterol boosts the memory of the immune system

Cholesterol has been demonised for a long time as high cholesterol levels are seen as major risk factors for atherosclerosis myocardial infarction and gallstones. However cholesterol is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes and is required for proper membrane function. It exists in huge quantities in the human body. In addition to being essential for cell survival and hence all animal life in general cholesterol also plays a crucial…

Article - 12/12/2011

siRNA in cancer therapy : Tübingen researchers awarded prize by the German Society of Thoracic Surgery

Short ribonucleic acid molecules only 21 nucleotides long are providing new impulses for lung cancer treatment. A team of doctors and biologists from the University of Tübingen have been awarded a prize by the German Society of Thoracic Surgery for their research on siRNA.

Some scientists have their career path totally mapped out from the beginning not so Prof. Dr. Regine Peschka-Süss from the University of Freiburg. She takes the time to re-assess whether she is on the right track and if necessary makes changes. Peschka-Süss is currently working on the optimisation of carriers for gene therapeutic compounds.