Press release - 22/06/2010 CureVac starts Phase IIa with mRNA immunotherapeutic in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer CureVac GmbH, the mRNA company, today announced that the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute, the German regulatory authority for medicinal products, has approved the start of a Phase IIa trial for CV9201 to treat Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC).https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/curevac-starts-phase-iia-with-mrna-immunotherapeutic-in-non-small-cell-lung-cancer
Dossier - 14/06/2010 Engineers of life Synthetic biology focuses on the development of biological systems with new defined characteristics assembled according to the principles of engineering. Synthetic biology has the potential to be used for a broad range of applications and has solutions in store for major problems of the future. It also fuels fears that human beings are playing the role of creators and going beyond natural boundaries. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/engineers-of-life
Press release - 02/06/2010 immatics enters Collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) 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. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/immatics-enters-collaboration-with-the-national-cancer-institute-nci
Article - 24/05/2010 Alternative CAM: chicken eggs to precede mouse experiments Researchers who test whether in vitro results can be transferred to living organisms prefer to use mice rats or rabbits. Many questions can be answered using the chorioallantoic membrane CAM of fertilised chicken eggs an alternative model to animal experiments that provides rapid results and only costs 50 cents per egg.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/alternative-cam-chicken-eggs-to-precede-mouse-experiments
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. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/the-road-to-individualized-tumour-vaccines
Press release - 12/05/2010 CureVac raises EUR 27.6 Million in Financing Round CureVac GmbH, the mRNA vaccine company, today announced the closing of a EUR 27.6 million (US$ 35.25 million) financing round with its major shareholder, dievini Hopp BioTech holding GmbH & Co. KG.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/curevac-raises-eur-27-6-million-in-financing-round
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. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/the-biopharmaceutical-industry-remained-stable-in-times-of-crisis
Article - 19/04/2010 Natural antibodies to treat Alzheimer’s Alzheimers disease is characterised by changes in the substance and structure of the brain that are caused by the depositing of protein plaques in the brain. Prof. Michael Przybylski and his team of researchers at the University of Constance have deciphered the structure of the site where mouse antibodies attach to the plaques subsequently causing them to dissolve. These findings will now be used to identify the binding structure of a component…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/natural-antibodies-to-treat-alzheimer-s
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…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/how-do-killer-cells-manage-to-survive
Article - 18/03/2010 Cancer treatment adapted to individual patient requirements There is still no treatment available for a number of non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas. Chemotherapy, which is the standard method of treating the lymphomas, has unpleasant side effects. Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Hendrik Veelken at the Freiburg University Medical Centre in cooperation with Freiburg-based CellGenix Technologie Transfer GmbH have developed a promising new treatment strategy. Results of the Phase I and the Phase II study, which has…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/cancer-treatment-adapted-to-individual-patient-requirements
Dossier - 15/03/2010 Vaccine development As the recent discussion on the pros and cons of swine flu vaccinations has shown vaccinations are not very popular in Germany. However people tend to forget that no other medical development has helped people to the same extent as immunisation with vaccines has done. Examples include the discovery of the cow pox vaccination by Edward Jenner in 1796 and all the programmes that have been set up by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/vaccine-development
Article - 15/03/2010 Campaign to eradicate malaria After many decades, efforts to develop an effective vaccine against malaria have finally brought researchers closer to their goal. However, the goal of eradicating malaria completely can only be reached through a complex strategy, to which researchers from Heidelberg are making intensive contributions.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/campaign-to-eradicate-malaria
Article - 15/03/2010 The first active immunisations against cancer The first anti-cancer vaccines were developed to prevent women from becoming infected with papillomaviruses and to protect them against cervical cancer. The development of vaccines can be traced back to the work of Nobel Laureate Harald zur Hausen and his colleagues at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. But more development is required in the field of anti-cancer vaccines and this is why researchers worldwide are working on vaccines…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/the-first-active-immunisations-against-cancer
Article - 15/03/2010 Innovative navigation system enables gene shuttles to reach their destination If everything goes to plan the Department of Gene Therapy at the University of Ulm will soon lose a work group to industry. Florian Kreppels team plans to turn a particular technology into hard cash using a method that can do something other gene shuttles are unable to do namely transport their freight to a specific destination.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/innovative-navigation-system-enables-gene-shuttles-to-reach-their-destination
Article - 13/03/2010 Assembling life from building blocks? As part of its “Bioethics Forum”, the German Ethics Council recently held a meeting in Berlin to inform the public about the fundamentals of synthetic biology and potential ethical problems and consequences in terms of our ideas about life and mankind in general arising from the progress made in this new field of research. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/assembling-life-from-building-blocks
Dossier - 22/02/2010 Respiratory disease - congestion in the respiratory system Lung diseases are by far the most frequent cause of death worldwide. Every year three million people die from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases 2.3 million die from lung cancer and 1.5 die from tuberculosis WHO World Health Organisation. There is no improvement in sight and experts believe that the number of deaths will continue to rise particularly in the case of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases COPD lung cancer and tuberculosis TB.…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/respiratory-disease-congestion-in-the-respiratory-system
Press release - 04/02/2010 World Cancer Day: encouraging the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer World Cancer Day on the 4th of February is designed to raise awareness that cancer remains one of the major, often fatal human diseases. Every year, more than twelve million people worldwide develop cancer. The Helmholtz Association carries out research into the development of cancer and the underlying risk factors, and comes up with effective strategies for the prevention of cancer and for better diagnostics and targeted therapies.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/world-cancer-day-encouraging-the-prevention-detection-and-treatment-of-cancer
Article - 15/12/2009 Arming the immune system against cancer The theory that immune cells are able to attack tumours has long been a theory with only a minority of supporters. However, this theory is currently experiencing a renaissance. In the future, it might even be possible to specifically alter T-lymphocytes in order to improve their ability to identify and destroy certain tumour types. Prof. Dr. Hanspeter Pircher and his team at the Freiburg University Medical Centre are focusing on the development…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/arming-the-immune-system-against-cancer
Press release - 08/12/2009 Vaccination of honeybees against the Varroa mite is possible For the first time ever, honeybees were orally ‚vaccinated’ with a genetically engineered product that was later detected in the bloodsucking Varroa mite. This product is a DNA-plasmid that is normally used for man, horses, swine and also for fish. The inventor of this innovative DNA-vaccination system for bees is Matthias Giese, PhD, who launches his own Institute for Molecular Vaccines (IMV) in Heidelberg/Germany starting in 2010.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/vaccination-of-honeybees-against-the-varroa-mite-is-possible
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.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/matthias-giese-dna-vaccine-to-combat-worldwide-honeybee-deaths
Article - 14/11/2009 "A little naivety always helps" The biotech company CureVac based in Tuebingen is working on the development of a new tumour therapy based on RNA molecules. Dr. Ingmar Hoerr one of the scientists who founded CureVac tells Christoph Bächtle about the obstacles the young company had to overcome and the tough decisions that led to success. At the very start he tells us the company owes its origins to a huge dollop of luck.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/a-little-naivety-always-helps
Press release - 04/11/2009 CureVac launches Phase IIa mRNA Vaccine Trial in Prostate Cancer CureVac GmbH, the mRNA vaccine company, today announced that the German authorities approved the start of the Phase IIa trial in Prostate Cancer after assessment of the first safety data of lead candidate CV9103, a RNActive®-derived mRNA vaccine. Results so far from the Phase I show CV9103 to be safe and well tolerated.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/curevac-launches-phase-iia-mrna-vaccine-trial-in-prostate-cancer
Press release - 12/10/2009 Immatics appoints Carsten Reinhardt as Chief Medical Officer The biopharmaceutical company immatics biotechnologies GmbH announced the appointment of Dr Carsten Reinhardt as Chief Medical Officer (CMO) effective October 1, 2009. “I am very pleased to be joining immatics at this exciting stage of the company’s development” said Dr Reinhardt.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/immatics-appoints-carsten-reinhardt-as-chief-medical-officer
Press release - 12/10/2009 Cancer Cells Suppress the Body’s Own Defense Mechanisms 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…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/cancer-cells-suppress-the-body-s-own-defense-mechanisms
Press release - 24/09/2009 Call for innovative technologies that address global health concerns The World Health Organization is seeking innovative technologies, in particular medical devices that offer solutions to global health concerns in low- and middle-income countries. The deadline for submission of proposals is January the 31st 2010.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/call-for-innovative-technologies-that-address-global-health-concerns