Healthcare industry

Article - 30/07/2009

Keeping as many valuable attachments as possible

The goal of many projects focusing on the purification of recombinant proteins is to rapidly and effectively remove substances and side products that would compromise the quality and quantity of biopharmaceutical compounds. A consortium of industrial and scientific partners is currently focusing on a different step in the biopharmaceutical production process: the goal is to keep as many as possible of the drugs’ ‘attachments’. The project focuses…

immatics biotechnologies GmbH announced on June 2nd, 2010 that it has signed a Clinical Trial Agreement with the Center for Cancer Research (CCR), National Cancer Institute (NCI), USA. The Agreement covers the clinical development of immatics’ therapeutic cancer vaccine IMA950 which is to be evaluated in the field of brain cancer, specifically glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.

Article - 29/04/2010

The biopharmaceutical industry remained stable in times of crisis

The German biopharmaceutical industry has come through 2009 without experiencing too many major slumps. The roaring growth of the biopharmaceutical industry in previous years has been replaced by more moderate growth. This is the result published by the 4th Medical Biotechnology report in 2010 compiled on behalf of the biotech interest group of the vfa bio Association of Research-Oriented Pharmaceutical Companies by the Boston Consulting Group.

Press release - 21/05/2010

The road to individualized tumour vaccines

What are the typical cancer cell characteristics that our immune system is directed against? Using a new biochemical method, scientists from the Neurosurgery Department of the Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Centre (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) are now able to answer this question for each individual patient. The method is expected to help identify new target structures for individualized tumour vaccines.

Article - 26/03/2010

How do killer cells manage to survive?

It is not easy for the body to protect itself once a virus has broken through the body’s lines of defence and caused a chronic infection. This task is made even more difficult when the intruders are viral hepatitis pathogens that attack the liver, the place where immunological tolerance is induced. Jörg Reimann (physician) and Reinhold Schirmbeck (biologist) are working on the development of T-cell-mediated therapeutic vaccination strategies to…

Cancer cells use tricks to evade the immune system. Thus, for example, they attract specific blood cells which suppress the body’s own defense mechanisms. Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), collaborating with colleagues of the University Surgical Hospital in Heidelberg and an international research team, have investigated these processes in bowel cancer. The results of their research have now…

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.

Article - 03/09/2012

Systems biology and hepatitis C research

The international research project SysPatho aims to advance the understanding of HCV (hepatitis C virus) infections using systems biology approaches. The goal of the project coordinated by Universität Heidelberg is to develop new mathematical and computational methods to reconstruct HCV-infected hepatocytes, which can be used to identify new drug targets and help treat this dangerous disease.

Dossier - 30/04/2012

Human infectious diseases: new threats

The serious EHEC outbreak in Germany in 2011, the 2009 swine flu pandemic, the bird flu pandemic in 2005 and 2006 and the SARS outbreak in China in 2003, all of which have fuelled the fear of devastating epidemics for many people in Germany, have fortunately all been contained – at least up until now. However, experts warn of new dangerous pathogens that are spreading as a result of globalization and global climate warming. This is leading to new…

The German Research Foundation (DFG) has approved funding for a new research project at the Universities of Freiburg and Heidelberg. The researchers are working on improving our understanding of the mechanisms that lead to chronic virus infections: how do hepatitis viruses manage to evade immunological defence reactions and survive in the organism without damaging the organism?

Article - 22/12/2014

Fighting hepatitis viruses with their own weapons

Virologist Prof. Dr. Stephan Urban from the University of Heidelberg has been awarded the DZIF Prize for Translational Infection Research for the discovery and development of a promising peptide drug for the treatment of hepatitis B virus infections. The peptide prevents viruses from entering the liver cells, and is also effective against hepatitis D infection. Hepatitis D is the deadliest of all viral liver diseases and no specific antiviral…

Article - 21/08/2009

Patenting and clinical trials go hand in hand

Back when he was doing his degree thesis at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg the immunologist Prof. Peter Öhlschläger who now works at the University of Constance laid down the basic principles for developing an artificial gene for the treatment of cervical cancer. Prof. Öhlschläger is currently in the process of filing a patent for DNA vaccines for HPV. In the following interview the scientist says that the greatest challenges are…

Article - 04/02/2013

G protein-coupled receptors and their importance for research and development

Brian Kobilka and Robert Lefkowitz were awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their groundbreaking discoveries of the inner workings of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). These transmembrane receptors play a key role in the processing of odours and the recognition of hormones. The work of the two American scientists has had an impact on many researchers around the world. In the following interview, Professor Dr. Daniel Legler, head of…

Scientists from Heidelberg and Mannheim launch research and development task force

Article - 14/02/2011

Marilena Manea: targeted chemotherapy to treat cancer

After cardiovascular diseases cancer is the second leading cause of death in Germany. At the University of Konstanz Dr. Marilena Manea and her research group are working on the development of bioconjugates for targeted cancer chemotherapy. The researchers goal is to improve the efficiency and tolerability of the chemotherapeutic drugs that are already being used in hospitals.

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…

Company profile - 27/06/2016

Atriva Therapeutics GmbH: new ways to treat influenza

Influenza viruses constantly change and mutate. This makes treatment difficult and vaccination rather touch and go. But what about targeting virus-manipulated cell events rather than using the virus itself as drug target? Atriva Therapeutics GmbH, a start-up company from Tübingen, shows how this works.

Doctors and scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and from Heidelberg University's Medical Faculty Mannheim have successfully tested a neoantigen-specific transgenic immune cell therapy for malignant brain tumors for the first time using an experimental model in mice.

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.

Article - 30/09/2013

CureVac GmbH: RNA-based vaccines and immunotherapies

CureVac GmbH, a biopharmaceutical company based in Tübingen, develops immunotherapies for cancer along with prophylactic vaccines based on its proprietary messenger RNA (mRNA) technology platform. CureVac also uses RNA for developing adjuvants. Two clinical trials, a Phase I trial in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and a Phase IIb trial in prostate cancer, are currently underway to test the efficiency of mRNA-based drugs in treating cancer and…

A study by the University of Konstanz shows that voluntary motivation to comply with anti-Covid-19 policies is relatively high in Germany, but can be undermined by enforcement - The consequence of this finding differs depending on the policy.

Article - 15/02/2016

Bacteria – a treasure box for genetic engineers

Bacteria have developed a versatile defence system to protect themselves against viral infections. One of these defence tools, known as CRISPR/Cas9 system, is currently hogging the headlines as it promises to revolutionise the way genetic material can be modified. Prof. Rolf Backofen from the Institute of Bioinformatics at the University of Freiburg has managed to classify the defence system of all bacterial species sequenced to date. This will…

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 - 18/11/2019

Researchers successfully rejuvenate the immune system in animal models

It is well known that stem cells age. Even the human immune system loses its power with age. Since all immune cells are derived from blood-forming stem cells, it is quite natural to associate the weakening of the immune system (immune senescence) with the ageing of blood-forming stem cells. Stem cell researchers and immunologists from the University of Ulm have now demonstrated the important role that blood-forming cells play in the ageing of the…