Press release - 14/04/2021 Engineering T cells for cancer therapy efficiently and safely Genetically enhancing a patient's immune cells by adding therapeutic genes to them outside the body is regarded as a promising new treatment approach in oncology. However, the production of these therapeutic cells using viruses is not only expensive but time-consuming. Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have developed an innovative non-viral vector that can efficiently introduce therapeutic genes into immune cells. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/engineering-t-cells-cancer-therapy-efficiently-and-safely
Press release - 13/04/2021 Evotec’s BRIDGE “beLAB2122” leverages academic innovation from our region Evotec SE announced today the launch of beLAB2122 in the Rhine- Main-Neckar region to efficiently advance first-in-class therapeutic concepts into investable drug discovery projects. Mediated and supported by BioRN, Evotec’s newest BRIDGE brings together the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (“EMBL”), the German Cancer Research Center (“DKFZ”), the Goethe University Frankfurt, Heidelberg University and the University of Tübingen.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/evotecs-bridge-belab2122-leverages-academic-innovation-our-region
Quantum Technology Ulm - 08/04/2021 Diamonds for life sciences innovations The world's first commercial quantum computer,’IBM Q System One’, is now in operation in Ehningen near Stuttgart. This is a major leap forward in quantum technology in Germany. It marks the point at which conventional computers reach their limits. The University of Ulm is involved in three of six collaborative projects being funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Housing Construction.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/diamonds-life-sciences-innovations
Press release - 30/03/2021 Celonic and Curevac announce agreement to manufacture over 100 Million doses of Curevac's Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV CureVac N.V., a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on mRNA and Celonic Group, a premium biopharmaceutical Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization specializing in the development and production of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products and mammalian cell line-expressed bio-therapeutics, announced their partnership for the production of CureVac’s mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/celonic-and-curevac-announce-agreement-manufacture-over-100-million-doses-curevacs-covid-19-vaccine-candidate-cvncov
Press release - 24/03/2021 Liver cancer: which patients benefit from immunotherapy? Immunotherapy using checkpoint inhibitors is effective in around a quarter of patients with liver cancer. However, to date, physicians have been unable to predict which patients would benefit from this type of treatment and which would not. Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center have now discovered that liver cancer caused by chronic inflammatory fatty liver disease does not respond to this treatment. On the contrary: in an…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/liver-cancer-which-patients-benefit-immunotherapy
Press release - 19/03/2021 New single-cell analysis of leucemic stem cells A new method allows stem cells and cancer stem cells to be studied at the single cell level and the resulting cell clones to be traced directly. Studying thousands of individual cells in parallel, the researchers combined the analysis of the genomic cancer mutations with the associated expression profiles.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/new-single-cell-analysis-leucemic-stem-cells
Article - 10/03/2021 Faster to single cells using miniature grinder Tissue cells are needed for medical diagnostics, cell therapies and tissue engineering, among other things. A novel tissue grinder gently and automatically dissociates cells from tissue. In November 2020, the newly founded biotech company Fast Forward Discoveries GmbH (FFX) delivered its first tissue grinders to customers.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/faster-single-cells-using-miniature-grinder
Press release - 24/02/2021 Disease progression in childhood cancer: Lengthening of telomeres promotes relapse Neuroblastoma can spread relentlessly or shrink spontaneously. Scientists from the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the University of Heidelberg and the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg have shown that some malignant neuroblastomas employ a trick to avoid cell death: they use a special mechanism to lengthen the telomeres at the end of their chromosomes. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/disease-progression-childhood-cancer-lengthening-telomeres-promotes-relapse
Article - 17/02/2021 Whole blood model enables development of early warning system for sepsis Sepsis is a life-threatening disease that can be treated all the more successfully the faster therapy is initiated. It is not just the infection itself that is so dangerous, but a dysregulated response of the immune system. Physicians at Ulm University Hospital have now developed an animal-free test system that can be used to research the disease and develop innovative diagnostic tools to quickly assess a patient's sepsis risk and optimise…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/whole-blood-model-enables-development-early-warning-system-sepsis
Press release - 01/02/2021 Targeting a rapid market breakthrough for new vaccine production method 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. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/targeting-rapid-market-breakthrough-new-vaccine-production-method
Press release - 25/01/2021 Protein anchors as a newly discovered key molecule in cancer spread and epilepsy Certain anchor proteins inhibit a key metabolic driver that plays an important role in cancer and developmental brain disorders. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the University of Innsbruck, together with a Europe-wide research network, discovered this molecular mechanism, which could open up new opportunities for personalized therapies for cancer and neuronal diseases. They published their results in the journal Cell.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/protein-anchors-newly-discovered-key-molecule-cancer-spread-and-epilepsy
Article - 14/01/2021 Newly discovered RNA as growth driver in liver cancer Non-coding RNA (ncRNAs) molecules that do not encode proteins have many different functions, and some are associated with certain diseases. Prof. Dr. Sven Diederichs from the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research and the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg has been conducting research into these molecules at the Freiburg University Medical Centre and discovered a ncRNA that regulates cell proliferation in cancer cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/newly-discovered-rna-growth-driver-liver-cancer
Press release - 09/12/2020 Combatting cancer with biological circuits The Freiburg engineer and biologist Prof. Dr. Barbara Di Ventura receives a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC), one of the most prestigious prizes for European researchers, for her project "InCanTeSiMo - Intelligent cancer therapy with synthetic biology methods". Di Ventura will use the 2 Million Euros to develop a novel cancer treatment based on molecular methods from synthetic biology.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/combatting-cancer-biological-circuits
Press release - 03/12/2020 HepaRegeniX achieves further milestone related to proof of safety and efficacy for MKK4 inhibition in an advanced chronic liver disease model New preclinical data indicate beneficial therapeutic effects in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-associated liver carcinomas.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/heparegenix-erreicht-meilenstein-mit-dem-nachweis-von-sicherheit-und-wirksamkeit-der-mkk4-inhibition-im-model-fuer-fortgeschritt
New method for analysing blood samples - 26/11/2020 Personalised therapy monitoring for malignant melanomas Immunotherapy has greatly improved the survival chances of patients with malignant melanoma. A study has now begun at the Department of Dermatology at the University Hospital of Tübingen to develop a way to monitor the course of treatment as effectively as possible. It involves personalised monitoring using liquid biopsies in addition to conventional PET/CT examinations. This analysis procedure of blood samples could enable closer monitoring of…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/personalised-therapy-monitoring-malignant-melanomas
Press release - 17/11/2020 The Long Road to Dementia The chain reaction which leads to toxic protein deposits in Alzheimer’s disease starts even earlier than assumed. Researchers from Tübingen show how this process could be stopped early on.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/long-road-dementia
Lab-on-a-chip - 11/11/2020 Microfluidic platform for the best possible cancer therapy Every tumour and every patient is different, and there are individual reactions to drugs as well as the problem of resistance. Patient-specific cancer treatments require innovative and cost-effective approaches. The TheraMe! consortium has developed a novel instrument: a combination of microfluidic experiments and mathematical modelling for use in cancer precision medicine to prevent incorrect therapy options.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/microfluidic-platform-best-possible-cancer-therapy
Press release - 09/11/2020 Infection diagnostics 3.0: Faster thanks to nanopore sequencing To ensure that sepsis patients receive appropriate antibiotics as quickly as possible, Fraunhofer IGB researchers have developed a diagnostic procedure that uses high-throughput sequencing of blood samples and delivers results much faster than conventional culture-based techniques. Thanks to the latest single-molecule sequencing techniques, this process has now been further improved so that pathogens can be identified after just a few hours.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/infection-diagnostics-30-faster-thanks-nanopore-sequencing
Press release - 04/11/2020 Which treatment is best for childhood brain tumors? Global trial receives funding of EUR 2.2m The German Childhood Cancer Foundation is providing EUR 2.2m to fund the phase III clinical trial to investigate the treatment options for certain types of childhood brain cancer with a chronic course. Initiated by the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg, the trial will compare two standard chemotherapy treatments and a targeted therapy to establish which is the most effective and well tolerated as a standard therapy for young patients.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/welche-behandlung-ist-die-beste-bei-hirntumoren-im-kindesalter-weltweite-studie-wird-mit-22-mio-euro-gefoerdert
Press release - 02/11/2020 Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia: International classification model allows for customized treatment Juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML) is a rare blood cancer of early childhood. Previous research activities have shown that JMML patients can be divided into three groups based on certain genetic markers, DNA methylation. Depending on the subgroup, statements can be made about the course of the disease. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/juvenile-myelomonocytic-leukemia-international-classification-model-allows-customized-treatment
Press release - 26/10/2020 How to prevent the spread of tumor cells via the lymph vessels What role do the lymphatic vessels play in the metastasis of cancer cells? Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center and the Mannheim Medical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg developed a method to investigate this question in mice. The aim of the work was to identify new ways to block the dangerous colonization and spread of tumor cells. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/how-prevent-spread-tumor-cells-lymph-vessels
Press release - 20/10/2020 EIB backs Atriva Therapeutics with €24 million for the development of a potential COVID-19 treatment The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Atriva Therapeutics GmbH, a biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of host-targeting antiviral therapies, concluded a €24 million financing agreement today to facilitate the company’s development and clinical testing of a novel therapy treating severe respiratory infections with RNA viruses. RNA viruses cause diseases such as influenza, SARS and COVID-19. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/eib-backs-atriva-therapeutics-eur24-million-development-potential-covid-19-treatment
Press release - 15/10/2020 Pancreatic cancer: Subtypes with different aggressiveness discovered Tumors of the pancreas are particularly feared. They are usually discovered late and mortality is high. Until now, no targeted and personalized therapies exist. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine* (HI-STEM) have now succeeded for the first time in defining two differently aggressive molecular subtypes of pancreatic carcinoma.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/pancreatic-cancer-subtypes-different-aggressiveness-discovered
Press release - 15/10/2020 Common Vulnerabilities of Coronaviruses International study in which Freiburg scientists are participating maps molecular targets for possible therapy for MERS, SARS-CoV1, and SARS-CoV2.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/common-vulnerabilities-coronaviruses
Intestinal peptide heals lung - 14/10/2020 Inhalation of intestinal hormone VIP helps against immunotherapy-induced pneumonia If cancer patients develop pneumonitis, an inflammation of the lungs resulting from immunotherapy, their symptoms and restrictions in lung function can often only be alleviated with cortisone. Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Joachim Müller-Quernheim and Dr. Björn Frye from the Freiburg University Medical Centre have been able to cure a patient's pneumonitis by inhalation of a long-known neuropeptide.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/inhalation-intestinal-hormone-vip-helps-against-immunotherapy-induced-pneumonia