The medaka fish, sometimes known as the Japanese rice fish, has a long history as a pet. In recent years it has also been a model organism for biological research – most recently in a study of the regeneration of damaged retinal cells.
Australian researchers have identified two genes that control a universal molecular programme responsible for placing immune cells at a point where they can quickly fight off pathogens before they establish themselves in the body. This role is said to be particularly important for protecting organs against disease.
Four years on from a study that classified breast cancer into 10 distinct subtypes, researchers at the University of Cambridge have dug deeper into the genetic evidence to discover that 40 mutated genes cause the disease to progress.
Paris-based Neovacs SA and Boston-based Stellar Biotechnologies Inc have agreed to form a new company, Neostell SAS, to manufacture and sell conjugated vaccines to third parties worldwide as well as to support Neovacs’ proprietary therapeutic vaccine pipeline.
Novimmune SA, a Swiss antibody developer, has raised a second round of CHF 30 million ($31 million) from its existing shareholders after obtained the same amount from them in January.
Scientists from the University of Luxembourg have developed a new tool that can accurately replicate the human microbiome thereby enabling a more detailed analysis of the interaction between this ecosystem and human disease.
H. Lundbeck A/S has raised its guidance for 2016 after experiencing strong sales in the first quarter for its schizophrenia, depression, and hypotension drugs. This follows a major restructuring programme that resulted in significant redundancies in Europe.
Up to 15% of applications for new medicines to the European Medicines Agency come from companies that employ fewer than 250 people and in 2015, three quarters of these applications were granted a marketing authorisation.
The $9 billion agreed merger of Quintiles Transnational Holdings Inc and IMS Health Holdings Inc is the latest, and one of the most ambitious, attempts by industry to use advances in information technology to bring down the cost of drug development.
The France-based diagnostics company Novacyt SA is poised to complete the acquisition of Primerdesign Ltd of the UK giving it new technology for analysing DNA as well as a commercial presence in more than 100 countries.