Cardio3 BioSciences SA of Belgium has acquired the US medical device specialist, CorQuest Medical Inc, for an undisclosed amount of money in order to strengthen its heart failure franchise. Cardio3 already has an autologous stem cell treatment for heart failure in Phase 3 development.
Bluebird bio Inc has treated the first patient in a Phase 1/2 trial designed to establish the safety and efficacy of a gene therapy procedure in patients with sickle cell disease. This is reportedly the first ever gene therapy study in patients with this disorder.
Data showing that robust human pancreatic beta cells can be produced in vitro is being described as a breakthrough for modern science and specifically for the future treatment of Type 1 diabetes.
In a major expansion of an existing gene-therapy deal, Oxford BioMedica Plc has reached an agreement with Novartis to supply it with greater quantities of lentiviral vector that can be used to gene
The Japanese stem cell scientist Yoshiki Sasai, whose papers on somatic cell reprogramming created controversy earlier this year and were later retracted by Nature, was found dead in early August, reportedly by suicide.
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), a type of adult stem cell, have properties that make them potentially suitable for a wide range of therapies. Depending on how they are cultured, they can produce cartilage, bone and fat and help control inflammation and immunity.
UniQure NV of the Netherlands, the first company in the western world to market a licensed gene therapy, has expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of a German biotechnology company with a preclinical product for the treatment of congestive heart failure.
The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union has given a fresh interpretation to restrictions laid down by the court in 2011 on the patentability of human embryos for industrial or commercial purposes.
Cardio3 BioSciences SA of Belgium is to sell shares valued at €25 million to Medisun International Ltd of Hong Kong in a two-part deal that will also see it participate in a joint venture with
A US-based research team has created the first patient-specific stem cells from an adult donor with Type 1 diabetes, and a healthy control, demonstrating that it may one day be possible to treat people with the disease with their own insulin-producing cells.