RNA therapeutics have emerged as a transformative approach to treating many conditions, but the industry still typically relies on inefficient batch manufacturing methods.
By By Michael Braunagel, managing director, Actigen
Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) made its debut in 1991, heralding a breakthrough in medical science for individuals and families grappling with rare diseases stemming from single gene mutations.
A benchtop DNA sequencer developed by the U.S. DNA sequencing company Element Biosciences, Inc., has seen sales grow by triple digits and has received more than 100 orders since its launch in March 2022.
A study published by graduate students at MIT showed that a synthetic mRNA-based ‘programming language’ can control protein expression in gene therapy.
Lonza has inked a biologics deal with Denali to make neurodegenerative disease therapies, offering the Californian firm opportunity to have production “on their back doorstep.”
Dyadic has agreed to sell its enzyme-producing fungal expression system and the rest of its industrial technology business to DuPont for $75 million (€70 million).
Outsourcing-pharma.com presents a roundup of contract manufacturing news with deals for Lonza, DSM and Ark Therapeutics and an expanded agreement with Shire for AMRI.
Catalent Pharma Solutions and German expression system developer Cevec Pharmaceuticals have partnered to create a cell development service that, they claim, will help drugmakers generate stable lines faster.
ISCO’s stem cell manufacturing facility has passed final building inspection, enabling it to implement the processes and cGMP standards needed to produce clinical-grade products.
Clinical Data is to sell Cogenics division, which provides services including sequencing and gene expression, to Beckman Coulter’s Agencourt Biosciences' business for $17m.
Genstruct and Gene Logic are partnering to improve their service offerings, with the collaboration hoping to produce network models that fully capture the toxicity potential of any compound.
BioTrove has launched a series of assay panels that enable researchers to skip the laborious initial steps of gene selection and assay optimisation and start studying disease pathways straightaway.
Agilent and Millipore have formed a collaboration to develop fully validated chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) microarray kits that will improve productivity and streamline epigenetic analysis.
WaferGen has launched a new subsidiary in Kedah, Malaysia, with the
express purpose of overseeing research and development of its
real-time PCR system.
Gene expression analysis expert Exiqon is to pay up to $45m
(€30.7m) for diagnostics company Oncotech as a first step towards
becoming a world leading miRNA diagnostic manufacturer.
Researchers have developed a nanoparticle signalling system that
can be used as cellular 'nano-flares' that enable the visualisation
and quantification of RNA in living cells.
Geneart has launched the first fully on-line gene construct design
and ordering system, dubbed Mr Gene, which is targeting the
emerging 'low-price' segment of the synthetic biology market.
Caliper Life Sciences has launched a new high throughput (HT)
microfluidic assay that automates RNA quality and concentration
assessment for gene expression analysis.
Loneliness has been linked to serious diseases such as cancer,
heart disease and infection but a new study could point to new ways
of reducing its impact on health.
A non-invasive technique that uses hair plucked from cancer
patients to guide the development of new chemotherapy drugs has
attracted the attention of UK pharma giant AstraZeneca.
The dream of personalised medicine has taken another step towards
reality as scientists have developed an innovative nanomechanical
sensor for detecting disease and observing the body's reaction to
treatment.
Drug companies have been encouraged by recent studies that suggest
that by blocking the binding of transcription factors may be a way
to short-circuit the harmful effects of diseases.
Applied Biosystems (AB) make available a wider range of microRNA
assays, expanding the selection to 300 individual assays that are
ideal for cell differentiation, developmental biology, stem cell
and cancer research.
A novel lab technique, which involves RNA interference to silence
genes in immune cells, is set to provide biology researchers
broader access to RNA interference, especially for scientists doing
research in immunology.
Scientists have made available a powerful new tool for studying
brain development, which will help scientists discover the genetic
origins of brain cancers, which could speed development of novel
drugs to treat them.
Sigma-Aldrich has strengthened its position in the RNAi and
cell-based assay market by signing a series of agreements in which
the life science company has acquired a minority equity stake in
Genospectra and is granted access to various...
Pharmion and MethylGene has announced the formation of an
international licensing agreement potentially worth $272 million
(€224 million) for new class of compounds that inhibits gene
expression providing a tumour and haematological...
Beckman Coulter makes available a new workstation that automates
microarray sample preparation for gene expression studies that
offered at a lower cost than other options on the market. The
workstation is an evolution of the higher...
Agilent Technologies launches its latest microarray solution for
analysing activity at regulatory regions of genomes, enabling
researchers to examine gene regulation in a more efficient and
cost-effective manner.
Tecan, supplier of compound and sample storage, releases the new HS
Pro series of automated microarray hybridisation stations, which
providing fully automated slide processing, from pre-hybridisation
to automated slide drying.
Expression Analysis introduces a new technique that is set to
improve the performance of the Affymetrix Genechip. The technique,
which eliminates the effect caused by potentially invariant probes
within a probe set, will provide cost...
Beckman Coulter has launched a gene analysis system that aims to
deliver high-throughput, cost effective gene expression via
scalable, multiplexed PCR and overcome the biases that limit
standard PCR analyses to just a few genes...
Qiagen has announced the acquisition of RNAture's nucleic acid
isolation products from Hitachi Chemical Research Centre. The
latest acquisition sees Qiagen purchase an extensive range of
products that addresses high-throughput...
Celera Genomics have filed an Investigational New Drug (IND)
application for a novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor that
has proved effective in inhibiting cancer cell proliferation. The
filing also signifies Celera's transformation...
US researchers have discovered a specific pattern of gene
expression linked to multiple-drug resistance of leukaemia cells is
giving unique insights into why standard therapies fail to cure
some children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia...
Hamilton Life Science Robotics has taken Invitrogen's Gateway
Technology one step further by creating an automated cloning system
that monitors and tracks each plate undergoing various processes.
The system aims to further refine...
EiRx Therapeutics has entered into an agreement with Merck to carry
out research using its cancer cell assays to use its technology for
identifying drug targets.
Dharmacon and Genentech have entered into a collaboration in which
RNA interference (RNAi) technology is to be used in future drug
discovery and development research. One focus of the deal is gene
silencing, a powerful and increasingly...
Biotechnology company Mergen Limited has announced the launch of a
new service reselling DNA microarrays for gene expression analysis.
The service signals a cost effective approach to providing
custom-built microarrays to the market.
RNA interference (RNAi) technology took a major leap forward after
Sirna Therapeutics initiated the first program that uses RNAi to
treat asthma, a condition that costs an estimated $13 billion (€9.8
billion) in healthcare costs in...
US biomolecular company, Quantum Dot, has added impetus in its
drive to position the company from product development to a
commercially driven organization by appointing a new vice
president.
