Healthcare industry

Expert interview on NTDs – part 3 - 24/09/2019

Neglected tropical diseases – Franz-Werner Haas: the role of technology and pharmaceutical companies

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are poverty-related infectious diseases that suffer from scant attention in terms of research or control. NTDs exist in the shadow of the "big three": malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. They affect many people living in poverty in the emerging and developing countries of the tropics and subtropics. Active control can only be achieved when people with NTDs are treated effectively and given information…

Expert interview on NTDs – part 2 - 29/05/2019

Neglected tropical diseases - Gisela Schneider: the burden of disease

"Leaving no one behind". The motto of the 2030 Agenda with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which was signed by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 makes clear that combatting poverty and its consequences is an essential part of sustainable development. The fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) is defined as a major aim of the Agenda’s sustainable development goals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) regards twenty…

Expert interview - 13/05/2019

Innovation management in the life sciences – Inova DE provides insights

Personalized medicine, medical technology, digital health and artificial intelligence are revolutionizing diagnostics and product development. Analyses are becoming faster and more precise, and data volumes can now be networked and used effectively. The goal of improving people's quality of life is within reach, and this will also strengthen Germany’s future viability. However, not every good idea can be turned into a marketable commodity.…

Expert interview on NTDs – part 1 - 11/04/2019

Neglected tropical diseases – Carsten Köhler: impulses from Baden-Württemberg

More than one billion people worldwide suffer from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). NTDs are mostly poverty-related infectious diseases that prevail in tropical countries due to lack of research and measures to detect, prevent and control them. Dr. Dr. Carsten Köhler reports on the political, economic and scientific contributions Germany and Baden-Württemberg can make to successfully change this situation.

Article - 30/10/2018

Eucor – bringing the European Campus to life

Enrolling at one university and being able to use the services of a total of five universities is unique in the European Research Area. A model project called Eucor - The European Campus offers students and young scientists this opportunity at universities in the Germany-France-Switzerland border triangle, which simultaneously acts as a borderless academic area for the sciences.

Expert interview - 08/08/2018

Ludolph: diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative disorders

Ulm has long been a world leader in diagnosing and treating rare neurological disorders, notably amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Huntington's disease (HD). We spoke with Professor Albert C. Ludolph, spokesperson for the Ulm DZNE site, medical director of the Clinic for Neurology at the RKU (University and Rehabilitation Clinics of Ulm) and world-renowned ALS researcher.

Expert interview - 26/06/2018

Genome analyses: "Germany lags behind dramatically"

Around 6,000 genetic diseases can be diagnosed using genetic tests. Genetic testing enables the accurate identification of diseases especially when symptoms are unclear, and also allows statements to be made about disease progression. However, restrictive regulations considerably hinder the use of genetic diagnostics. BIOPRO spoke with Dr. Dr. Saskia Biskup, a human genetics specialist and co-founder of the Tübingen-based company CeGaT.

Big Data - 26/03/2018

Eliciting reliable information from big data with classifiers and multimodal data fusion

Prof. Hans A. Kestler knows a great deal about large amounts of data. He heads up the Institute of Medical Systems Biology at the University of Ulm and is constantly inundated with cooperation enquiries from clinicians. On behalf of BIOPRO, Walter Pytlik asked him whether the conditions for using big data more in biomedical research are already largely present.

CureVac AG, a leading clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of pioneering mRNA therapeutics, and Arcturus Therapeutics Ltd. (NASDAQ:ARCT), an RNA medicines company, today announced they have entered into a broad strategic collaboration to jointly discover, develop and commercialize novel messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics.

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.

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.…

Article - 08/08/2016

First achromatopsia gene therapy clinical trial in Germany is going well

Around 3000 people suffer from achromatopsia in Germany. Achromatopsia is an inherited visual disorder characterised by the absence of full colour vision. The disease is caused by a genetic defect that makes the retina's cone photoreceptors, needed for daylight and colour vision, non-functional. There is currently no cure for achromatopsia. Scientists from Tübingen University Hospital and their colleagues from Munich and New York have now…

Article - 26/05/2015

Novel effect of B-Raf inhibitors against bowel cancer discovered

Colorectal carcinoma is the most frequent type of bowel cancer and the second most common tumour disease in men and women in Germany. A particularly aggressive form occurs when a mutation is present in the proto-oncogene BRAF. As part of the Collaborative Research Centre 850 at the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Cell Research at the University of Freiburg, Dr. Ricarda Herr and Dr. Tilman Brummer are trying to find out how a mutated BRAF gene…

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 - 04/08/2014

Europe’s first gene therapy

Scientists from the National Center for Tumour Diseases (NCT) have shown that adeno-associated viruses (AAV) do not pose a cancer risk. This conclusion is based on the analysis of several million patient cells treated with AAV and the finding that the viruses do not integrate into the patient genome. AAV is the first-ever gene therapy for clinical use in the Western world. AAV vectors could also potentially be used as prototypes for the treatment…

Article - 18/03/2013

Protein depositions in the brain promote the development of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)

Being aware of ones own physical degradation as intellect and cognition remain completely intact this is what the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS also known as Lou Gehrigs disease means to sufferers. The disease is currently not curable as far too little is known as yet about its causes. However basic research is making progress and providing increasing insights into the causes of ALS. Dr. Günter Fritz and his colleagues from the…

Article - 18/12/2012

Gene therapy medicinal products: the first gene therapy product has been approved – where does the future lie?

Is gene therapy close to broad clinical application? Following negative headlines at the end of the 1990s gene therapy had almost disappeared from the public radar to become an issue almost exclusively dealt with by research laboratories. Gene therapy has now reappeared in the public domain since the European Medicines Agency EMA gave the Dutch biotech company uniQure the go-ahead for the application of somatic gene therapy for the treatment of a…

Article - 17/12/2012

Rare diseases – the long road to correct diagnosis and treatment

Rare diseases are conditions that are too often neglected by research, industry and medicine. Here we use Wilson’s disease as an example to illustrate the particular problems associated with research into and treatment of rare diseases and to provide information on measures that can be taken to improve the situation of people with rare diseases. These measures include central treatment and care institutions and programmes like the Wilson’s…

Press release - 13/11/2012

immatics’ renal cancer vaccine IMA901 completes phase 3 patient recruitment

immatics biotechnologies GmbH announced that it has completed patient recruitment into the pivotal phase 3 trial evaluating its lead cancer vaccine IMA901 for renal cell carcinoma RCC. The first interim overall survival results are expected during the first half of 2014.

Article - 26/03/2012

More public attention for exotic diseases - Part 2

An international conference on rare diseases was held in Freiburg Germany in February 2012 where BIOPRO talked with Prof. Dr. Bodo Grimbacher director of the Centre of Chronic Immunodeficiency CCI in Freiburg and Prof. Dr. Maximilian Muenke paediatrician and human geneticist from the National Human Genome Research Institute NHGRI in the USA. Between them the two experts have a great deal of experience in rare diseases amongst other areas. Read in…

Article - 26/03/2012

More public attention for exotic diseases - Part 1

An international conference on rare diseases was held in Freiburg Germany in February 2012 where BIOPRO talked with Prof. Dr. Bodo Grimbacher director of the Centre of Chronic Immunodeficiency CCI in Freiburg and Prof. Dr. Maximilian Muenke paediatrician and human geneticist from the National Human Genome Research Institute NHGRI in the USA. Between them the two experts have a great deal of experience in rare diseases amongst other areas. Read in…

Press release - 10/11/2011

EU-Commission unveils new and ambitious Health and Consumer Programmes

The European Commission adopted proposals for the new Health for Growth and Consumer Programmes. The two programmes aim to foster a Europe of healthy, active, informed and empowered citizens, who can contribute to economic growth. These new programmes will run from 2014-2020 with a budget of €446 million for the Health for Growth Programme and €197 million for the Consumer Programme. Focus will be on fewer concrete actions that offer clear EU…

Article - 29/08/2011

Ute Schepers – the therapeutic potential of small RNAs and molecular transporters

Small RNAs can specifically interfere with cellular mechanisms; or more precisely, with the cells’ protein biosynthesis machinery. Scientists have therefore decided to exploit this potential by using small RNAs against cancer cells or cells damaged in other ways. But the question arises as to how the small RNAs can reach the site where their role is to prevent the generation of dangerous proteins. Dr. Ute Schepers and her team from the Karlsruhe…

Press release - 01/06/2011

Heidelberg expert to coordinate European network on inherited metabolic disorders

A European network for research into rare inherited metabolic disorders will be coordinated by PD Dr. Stefan Kölker, head of the Division of Inherited Metabolic Diseases at the Centre for Paediatric and Adolescent Medicine, University of Heidelberg. The project, which will initially run for three years, has a financial volume of 1.3 million euros. More than 40 partners from 17 European countries are part of the “European registry and network for…

Article - 25/04/2011

New Centre for Rare Diseases established at the University of Heidelberg

It is believed that there are around 9000 rare diseases of which around 6000 have been described. The Centre for Rare Diseases ZSE at the University of Heidelberg brings together doctors and scientists from a broad range of different disciplines to work with experts in Germany and around the world. The ZSE was officially opened on 15th April 2011.