Healthcare industry

Martin Wabitsch has received the Science Award of the city of Ulm. Wabitsch head of Paediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at the University Hospital of Ulm received the award for his research on the consequences of adipositas at a young age.

Article - 09/03/2008

Successful attack on resistant tumour cells

In laboratory experiments Dr. Anja Apel from the University Hospital in Heidelberg proved that cancer cells that are resistant to radiation therapy can be made to become susceptible to this kind of treatment again by blocking the cells own recycling system.

The new cancer medication sorafenib inhibits resistant tumour stem cells in pancreatic cancer and is especially effective when combined with sulforaphane, an organic compound found in broccoli and cauliflower.

Press release - 28/01/2010

Kenta and Rentschler to develop antibodies against hospital-acquired infections

The young Swiss company Kenta Biotech will work with the Laupheim-based contract manufacturer Rentschler to develop a fully human monoclonal antibody against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Article - 28/08/2017

SpinDiag GmbH – rapid test makes it difficult for pathogens

Antibiotic-resistant pathogens are becoming an increasing problem, especially in hospitals. Infected patients must be isolated as soon as possible. However, appropriate methods for testing patients upon admission to hospital and isolating them if necessary are still lacking. A young biotechnology company from Baden-Württemberg called SpinDiag GmbH has developed a cost-effective method for the rapid testing of microbial resistance in normal…

Article - 17/10/2010

A high-tech strategy to become a reference laboratory

The Konstanz-based Labor Dr. Brunner is the first medical laboratory in Germany to use a worldwide revolutionary instrument for liquid sample processing in bacteriological laboratories. The Walk-Away Specimen Processor (WASP) is a faster and more reliable processor that automatically identifies resistant pathogens such as MRSA or ESBL-type bacteria that have become part of the growing number of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that cause…

Article - 20/02/2018

New strategies against malaria

Malaria, which is a mosquito-borne disease caused by Plasmodium parasites, is still one of the worst infectious human diseases. The parasites have developed resistance against previously effective drugs and new strategies to combat malaria are urgently needed.

Article - 30/07/2012

Fungus protects strawberries against grey rot and does away with the need for chemicals

Summer time is strawberry time: strawberries are grown worldwide on an area of 300,000 hectares and are harvested in early summer. Fungicides that are used to treat grey rot might actually be the only thing that diminishes the pure pleasure of eating juicy, tasty strawberries. The Konstanz-based company bio-ferm Research GmbH has developed a fungicide that protects strawberries against Botrytis cinerea infections, one of the most common fruit…

The Comprehensive Infectious Diseases Centre at the University of Ulm was recently presented to the public. The centre is responsible for coordinating the cooperation between specialists in the diagnosis and therapy of complex infectious diseases.

Claudia Friesen and her team of researchers from Ulm University discovered that methadone an agent used as a replacement-opiate in heroin addicts is able to kill leukaemia cells that are resistant to chemotherapy and radiation.

Press release - 02/08/2011

New peptides to fight ovarian cancer drug resistance

Italian and German scientists have designed peptides to target the protein-protein interface of a key enzyme in DNA synthesis crucial for cancer growth. The peptides act by a novel inhibitory mechanism and curb cancer cell growth in drug resistant ovarian cancer cells. The multidisciplinary research project was led by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE) and the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS).

Dossier - 04/07/2011

Implants of the future: bioactive, corrosion-resistant and antibacterial

People’s life expectancy is increasing due to constantly improving medical treatment. One result of this is the greater wear of joints, which then need to be replaced with implants. Increased life expectancy means that the implants remain in the body for much longer and therefore need to be longer lasting. The revision rate of implant materials used in clinical practice is still as much as 10 per cent, particularly in the case of hip and knee…

Article - 28/04/2014

New ways to interfere with bacterial strategies

Bacteria themselves provide the key to their destruction. New insights into the growth and interaction between different pathogens are used in microbial genetics to develop new methods and active substances for combatting multidrug-resistant bacterial strains.

Press release - 12/10/2009

Methadone for treating brain tumours - finally an effective therapy in sight?

Every year, around 5,500 people in Germany are diagnosed with malignant brain tumours. The chances of effectively treating patients with such tumours have barely improved over the last decades. A new therapeutic appears to be promising. Scientists at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University Hospital of Ulm have been able to show that methadone has the ability to combat brain tumours.

Article - 19/09/2011

k-labor GmbH – a specialist in material analysis and characterisation

k-labor GmbH focuses on the initial inspection of samples for the automotive industry and the testing of a broad range of different materials. k-labor also specialises in environmental simulations and durability testing and offers consulting and the transfer of technologies in the plastics sector.

Article - 02/03/2017

Personalised antibiotics therapy: fewer antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Antibiotics have long been used as all-purpose weapons against infectious diseases – too often and too early, as we now know. This tendency has caused many bacteria to become resistant to standard antibiotics. The search for new substance classes has proved quite difficult. Care must therefore be taken to use existing antibiotics prudently in order to reduce the number of bacteria becoming resistant to them in the long term. Researchers from…

The increasing number of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics is becoming a great problem in the treatment of infected wounds. The Hohenstein Institutes are developing novel wound dressings that use bacteriophages to combat even the most virulent pathogens.

Press release - 23/12/2009

The spread of HIV: optimal adaptation to the human host

A new study led by the virologist and Leibniz Award winner Frank Kirchhoff from Ulm might be about to provide an explanation as to why only one of several independent transmissions of simian immunodeficiency viruses (SIV) from chimpanzees to humans led to the global AIDS pandemic. The researchers now hope that these new findings will contribute to the search for new strategies to prevent the further spread of AIDS viruses.

Article - 22/04/2014

Sugar code and hygiene in the fight against multi-resistant pathogens

Horizontal gene transfer between bacteria is a major reason for the spread of bacterial antibiotic resistance. It is the transfer of bacterial DNA from one bacterium to another, even distantly related species, by bacteriophages, viruses that infect bacteria. Microbiologists from the University of Tübingen are investigating these mechanisms with the aim of finding new strategies that would effectively combat bacteria such as methicillin-resistant…

One year after its seed financing, SpinDiag GmbH closes a second financing round of EUR 3 million (USD 3.4 million) as planned. The financing will enable SpinDiag to complete the product development of its first product for screening for antibiotic-resistant bacteria and to start clinical trials. This will pave the way for regulatory approval in the EU.

Article - 16/01/2012

Alexander Titz: molecular design to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has become an important cause of infection, and is often picked up in hospitals, especially by patients with weakened immune systems. It can cause respiratory and urinary tract infections, as well as lead to infections on implants and wounds. P. aeruginosa lives in a gel-like matrix, a so-called biofilm that is highly resistant to antibiotics, making it very difficult to eradicate. Dr. Alexander Titz and his team at the…

CeCo Labs UG, founded as a spin-off from the University of Tübingen, has developed an internationally unique method for isolating bacterial cell walls. These are used in research to investigate antibiotic resistance, for example. Unlike conventional techniques, the method developed by CeCo Labs is able to supply a very high number of ultra-pure cell walls extremely quickly. Orders have already been placed by customers across the globe.

The Freiburg-based startup SpinDiag GmbH recently closed a 1.6 Mio. EUR seed-round with three private investors. The team developed a revolutionary point-of-care screening system for testing patients for antibiotic-resistant bacteria at their admission to hospitals and almost instantly so. The seed-capital will make it feasible to bring SpinDiag’s system from its current laboratory environment to first tests in hospitals.

Cells with irreparable DNA damage normally induce programmed cell death, or apoptosis. However, this mechanism often fails in tumor cells so that transformed cells are able to multiply and spread throughout the body. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center have now discovered a possible cause of this failure.

Article - 03/12/2009

Matthias Giese: DNA vaccine to combat worldwide honeybee deaths

Varroa mites attach to the body of bees and weaken them by sucking hemolymph infecting them with viruses that are believed to be the cause of the mass death of European honeybee colonies. Matthias Giese of the Heidelberg-based Institute for Molecular Vaccines developed a DNA vaccine that might just lead to a breakthrough in the quest to get rid of the Varroa parasites. Giese tells us about his project in the following interview.