Industry News
Prima adds veteran oncologist to advisory board
Prima BioMed (ASX:PRR) has appointed leading ovarian cancer researcher Dr Bradley Monk to its scientific advisory board, and revealed it narrowed its 1H14 loss by 26%. [ + ]
Mesoblast wins key cardiovascular patent in EU
Mesoblast (ASX:MSB) has secured a European patent giving it exclusive rights to use its MPCs and MSCs to treat cardiac and vascular conditions such as heart failure and stroke. [ + ]
Simavita commences trading on ASX
Simavita (ASX:SVA) has commenced trading on the ASX, as the company gears up for the US launch of its Smart Incontinence Management product. [ + ]
Stem cell competition caught on tape
The epithelial lining of the small intestine needs to be regenerated by stem cells every few days in order to stay functional. Researchers from the Hubrecht Institute have captured recordings of these stem cells in living mice. [ + ]
Funding for medical research
The latest NHMRC funding round will see $133 million allocated to grant support for medical research. [ + ]
Potential new approach to treating melanoma
Blocking the delivery of amino acids to melanoma cells may provide another way of tackling this difficult-to-treat disease. [ + ]
Australia to put spotlight on global brain mapping initiatives
Australia is to host an eminent world congress as the prominence of brain mapping is growing around the globe. Recent and significant initiatives from the US and Europe have been initiated to better understand the brain and develop new and better treatments for conditions like Alzheimer's, autism and depression, and to help people suffering from brain injuries. [ + ]
FDA to hold public meeting on human germline modification
The US Food and Drug Administration will next week hold a public meeting to discuss ‘oocyte modification in assisted reproduction for the prevention of transmission of mitochondrial disease’. [ + ]
ABCA appoints Ken Matthews as chairman
Former Department of Agriculture secretary Ken Matthews has joined the Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia (ABCA) as chairman. [ + ]
Identifying new drug candidates using genome sequences
A new technique is using computational approaches to identify optimal drug targets by mining a database of drug-RNA sequence interactions against thousands of cellular RNA sequences. [ + ]
Invion teams with 3M for inhaled respiratory drugs
Invion (ASX:IVX) has signed a deal to develop and evaluate inhaled versions of its two respiratory drug assets using inhaler technology from 3M Drug Delivery Systems. [ + ]
Starving melanoma cells
Researchers from the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney have suggested that it could be possible to treat melanoma by cutting off its food source. [ + ]
Lower BMI equals fewer nasal bacteria in men
Researchers from the University of Wroclaw have found a link between body mass index (BMI) and the number of bacteria colonising noses. [ + ]
New drug 'cures' bacteria of antibiotic resistance
A chemist based at the University of Copenhagen has taken out a patent for a drug that can make previously multidrug-resistant bacteria responsive to antibiotics. [ + ]
$133 million for NHMRC medical research
Minister for Health Peter Dutton has announced $133 million to fund 153 grants across five National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) schemes. [ + ]
