IMI launches €371 million call with focus on Alzheimer's, arthritis, cancer, and more
The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is launching its 11th Call for proposals with 8 topics designed to address a range of challenges in drug research and development. The Call has a total budget of €371 million, with €170 million coming from the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and €201 million coming from in kind contributions by the large pharmaceutical companies taking part in the projects. With this Call, IMI is on track to make use of its entire €2 billion budget.
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£3m Dementia Consortium launched to boost dementia drug discovery
As the UK today hosts the first G8 summit on dementia research, a new £3 million Dementia Consortium bringing together research experts from the charitable, academic and private sectors has launched to expedite development of new drugs for dementia. The Dementia Consortium unites the charity Alzheimer's Research UK with life science technology transfer experts MRC Technology and two pharmaceutical companies; Eisai and Lilly. The Consortium will seek to end the long wait since the last dementia treatment by closing the gap between fundamental academic research and the pharmaceutical industry's drug discovery programmes. The Dementia Consortium will provide funding, resources and expertise to both increase the number of, and capitalise upon, new drug targets emerging from across the academic sector that hold promise of bringing patient benefit.
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Antibiotic-resistant typhoid likely to spread despite drug control program
Restricting the use of antibiotics is unlikely to stop the spread of drug resistance in typhoid fever, according to a study funded by the Wellcome Trust and published in the journal eLife. The findings reveal that antibiotic-resistant strains of Salmonella Typhi bacteria can out-compete drug sensitive strains when grown in the laboratory, even in the absence of antibiotics. Typhoid fever is transmitted by consuming food or drink that is contaminated with Salmonella Typhi bacteria and the disease is linked to poor sanitation and limited access to clean drinking water. The disease can be treated but there is widespread drug resistance to common antibiotics and resistance to the recommended, more specialised antibiotic therapy for typhoid fever is increasing.
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Novel cancer cell DNA damage repair mechanism unveils
Cancer cells have an exceptional ability to repair damage to their DNA caused during uncontrolled cell division. Scientists have now unveiled a novel piece of the puzzle of cancer cell DNA repair mechanisms that explain the mechanistic changes in the genetic code of cancer cells. These findings result from application of the cell microarray screening method developed by Juha Rantala, Senior Scientist at VTT. Research with a material impact on cancer drug development was published in Science magazine on 5 December 2013. The new findings explain partially why cancer cells, unlike normal cells, fail to die as a result of DNA damaging insults, and how this mechanism causes new genetic mutations in cancer cells. This new information directly benefits cancer research. Now that scientists understand the repair mechanism, they are better equipped to develop drug therapies that specifically target cancerous cells.
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International prize for VTT's allergy vaccine development work
The European Association of Research and Technology Organisations EARTO has awarded VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland an innovation prize for the technological development work behind allergy vaccine. VTT patented technology helps the human body to develop resistance to allergens. The award ceremony was held in Brussels on Wednesday 4 December. VTT also has last year's EARTO innovation prize for its bio-oil production process.
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CNIO scientists create the first large catalog of interactions between drugs and proteins
The three-dimensional structures of proteins determine how, when and where they bind to drugs and other compounds. In 2012 alone, thousands of structures like this were resolved. Now this mass of information needs to be translated into a biological context that can be used to extract relevant functions from these interactions, as well as significant pharmacological and disease-related effects. A Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) work, led by Alfonso Valencia, Vice-Director of Basic Research, and Michael L. Tress, a researcher on his team, brings together the biggest collection of interactions between pharmacological molecules, including other compounds, and proteins, in the latest edition of the journal Nucleid Acids Research.
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New immuno-therapy for malignant brain tumors
Glioblastoma is one of the most ominous brain tumors. Despite aggressive surgery, radiation and chemotherapy the outcome of this disease is almost always fatal. A UZH research team has now achieved success with a novel form of treatment that involves encouraging the body's own immune system to recognise and eliminate cancer cells in the brain. Animal experiments show that it is relatively easy to treat cancer in the early stages. However, it is far more difficult to successfully treat advanced cancer. Treatment of brain tumors is particularly challenging because regulatory T-cells accumulate in brain tumors and suppress an immune attack.
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