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Institute to Provide On-Board Space Payload Specialists

SpaceShipTwo (Virgin Galactic)

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas says today it agreed to send scientists as payload specialists aboard eight suborbital flights, some to altitudes greater than 350,000 feet. SwRI researchers will also fly at least six high altitude missions flown by XCOR Corporation.

At least two SwRI researchers will . . . → Read More: Institute to Provide On-Board Space Payload Specialists

Tufts University Gets Patent for Kidney Disease Treatment

(USPTO.gov)

Researchers at Tufts University’s veterinary school in Grafton, Massachusetts have received a U.S. patent for an antibody-based treatment for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially fatal outcome of E. coli poisoning and a leading cause of kidney failure in children. The Tufts technology covered by the patent, developed by microbiology professor Saul . . . → Read More: Tufts University Gets Patent for Kidney Disease Treatment

Universities, Brewery Partner on Biofuels from Brewery Waste

Researchers from Anheuser-Busch Inbev Inc. in St. Louis, Missouri and three universities have discovered stable microbe communities in brewery sludge with the potential to produce the basic building blocks of fuels. Their findings appear in the 22 February online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The team from Cornell University, University . . . → Read More: Universities, Brewery Partner on Biofuels from Brewery Waste

Biotech Licenses Technology for Colorectal Cancer Blood Test

(James. J. Caras, NSF)

Epigenomics AG in Berlin, Germany says it has an agreement for QIAGEN NV in the Netherlands to further develop Epigenomics’s research into a blood test for colorectal cancer. QIAGEN also has an option under the agreement to take the blood test to market.

The technology is based on Epigenomics’s . . . → Read More: Biotech Licenses Technology for Colorectal Cancer Blood Test

Venture Fund to Finance Univ. Tech. Start Ups

Osage University Partners in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania says it completed fund raising for its first venture capital fund financing new enterprises that license technology developed in university labs. The company says the fund, called Osage University Partners 1, achieved its goal of raising $100 million.

Osage University Partners was founded in 2009 by venture professionals . . . → Read More: Venture Fund to Finance Univ. Tech. Start Ups

Finance Friday: 25 February 2011

(Photos8.com)

Here are recent angel and venture finance transactions for science- and engineering-based companies, as reported by Xconomy.

Biomedical/Life Sciences

CardioFocus in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Attrial fibrilliation devices. $13.6 million in equity financing.

CalciMedica in San Diego, California. Biotech with experimental psoriasis candidate. $6 million in venture financing.

Acetylon Pharmaceuticals, in Boston, Massacusetts. Drugs . . . → Read More: Finance Friday: 25 February 2011

USDA Tests Climate Change Impact on Arizona Wheat

(USDA.gov)

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) research center in Maricopa, Arizona devised a method of testing the potential impact of warming temperature from climate change on the wheat crop in the U.S. southwest. The technology and the results are discussed in the February issue of USDA’s Agricultural Research magazine, and . . . → Read More: USDA Tests Climate Change Impact on Arizona Wheat

Small Business Grant Awarded for Tuberculosis Test

Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria (CDC)

Chembio Diagnostics Inc. in Medford, New York has received a three-year $2.9 million Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue development of a simple, rapid, inexpensive, and accurate blood serum test for tuberculosis. The grant funds further development of the test, . . . → Read More: Small Business Grant Awarded for Tuberculosis Test

Georgetown Univ., FDA to Partner on Regulatory Science

Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) in Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Rockville, Maryland signed a new agreement to encourage research and education in the fields of regulation and public health. The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed today covers regulatory science, ethics, education, and training.

The five-year agreement is expected . . . → Read More: Georgetown Univ., FDA to Partner on Regulatory Science

Pharma Companies Developing 460 Orphan Drugs

(FDA.gov)

A report from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) says there are now 460 medicines for rare or “orphan” diseases in late stages of the pipeline, either in clinical trials or awaiting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review. The group says this is the largest number of drugs for orphan . . . → Read More: Pharma Companies Developing 460 Orphan Drugs