Healthcare industry

Staying healthy as you get older that is probably what many people would wish for. As part of the European research network LifeSpan 130 scientists are now looking into how to make this wish come true. Prof. Dr. Graham Pawelec from the University Hospital of Tübingen UKT is one of the 130 scientists and his principal focus is immunological ageing processes.

Harald zur Hausen the long-time chairman and scientific director of the German Cancer Research Centre DKFZ a member of the Helmholtz Society discovered that human papillomaviruses HPV lead to cervical cancer. His discovery led to the development of a vaccine for cervical cancer which is the third most frequent type of cancer in women.

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.

Renal cell carcinoma is a rare disease. In addition, the disease is difficult to treat, and the majority of pharmaceutical companies find the development of new drugs for its treatment too financially risky. Their argument: the market is too small to make up for the high development costs. The Tübingen biotech company immatics was courageous enough to do so and will now be rewarded. The immatics scientists have developed a therapy that not only…

Frank Kirchhoff an AIDS researcher from Ulm has learnt to pose important questions and find the right answers during his post-graduate studies. This recipe has brought him and his research group international recognition and makes him one of the best AIDS researchers worldwide. Important publications within a very short time and numerous awards are clear evidence of his outstanding achievements. In addition he has just started a clinical trial…

immatics biotechnologies GmbH announced that the company has received grants from three public research funding programs to advance its cancer immunotherapy programs with a special focus on glioblastoma and cancer stem cells.

CureVac GmbH has entered into a partnership with the Department of Urology University of Florida Gainesville U.S. to jointly advance its lead candidate CV9103 into the clinical development. The alliance covers preclinical studies and a US phase III trial.

In a collaborative project scientists in Stuttgart and Heidelberg succeeded in cutting the production costs for highly complex peptide arrays by a factor of 100 at the same time as being able to increase the number of functional peptides by a factor of 20.

The Chemical Biology graduate school at Constance University was officially opened on 7th May 2008. It was created as part of Germanys excellence initiative and has been training doctoral students since the beginning of April 2008.

Noroviruses often might be the causative agents of Nausea vomiting diarrhoea fever. The Chemical and Veterinary Investigation Office in Stuttgart has now developed a method that enables the detection of these viruses on food.

The German Cancer Research Centre and the Spanish company Chimera Pharma SL have signed an exclusive licensing and cooperation agreement. The two partners will develop a therapeutic vaccine against cervical cancer.

The 14th Biotech Finance Forum offered selected biotechnology and medical technology companies from all over Europe the opportunity of an exclusive meeting with internationally operative investors from the venture capital VC scene.

Immatics biotechnologies GmbH announced the start of a Phase III trial of its IMA910 cancer vaccine in patients with advanced colorectal cancer. The study will enroll about 70 patients in 8 European countries. The vaccine is developed to slow or halt tumor progression.

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.

Burst bark mucus secretions blackened leaves crop failures - these all represent huge ecological and economic damage and are known as fire blight. Fire blight is an example of how global trade and traffic leads to the spread of a pathogen across almost the entire world.

Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center have discovered a key molecule that is responsible for the immature structure of blood vessels in malignant tumors. If this molecule is switched off in mice vessels normalize so that immune cells are better able to get to the tumor tissue.

Article - 01/03/2008

New active substance against hepatitis B

Scientists at the University Hospital in Heidelberg have discovered a hepatitis B virus peptide that can prevent viral infections in a mouse model. A team led by Professor Stephan Urban is developing a virus blocker against hepatitis B infections. Despite vaccinations every year about 750000 people die from the consequences of hepatitis B infections.

As one of the people who initiated the establishment of EMBL and in his role as founding director of the ZMBH Hermann Bujard has made a considerable contribution to the transformation of Heidelberg into a leading location for molecular and biological research in Germany. As the director of EMBO Bujard is now promoting the development of molecular biosciences across Europe.

Nycomed and its licence holder Wyeth Pharmaceuticals a division of Wyeth NYSEWYE today announced the U.S. launch of an own generic version of PROTONIX Pantoprazole tablets in response to the at-risk launch of generic Pantoprazole tablets by Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.

Scientists at the German Cancer Research Centre DKFZ have now succeeded in generating peptides on a microchip - faster and thus cheaper than with previous methods.