prandd's blog
Vienna, 25 September 2008. The successful progress of several vaccine programmes run by AFFiRiS GmbH has prompted investor MIG AG to increase its investment in the company. It has set up two new funds - MIG 5 and MIG 7 - to give private investors in Germany and Austria the opportunity to invest in this promising biotech company. The company decided to take this step for two reasons. First, to ensure the early coverage of future capital demand for the continued successful development of vaccines against Alzheimer's disease and atherosclerosis and, second, the tremendous potential that the proprietary AFFITOME platform technology offers the global pharmaceutical market.
ONE MILLION SWISS FRANCS (AROUND 820.000 USD, 410.000 GBP) FOR EACH OF THE
FOUR SUBJECTS - HALF OF THE AMOUNT MUST BE DESTINED BY THE WINNERS TO
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Milan, 8 September 2008 - The names of the 2008 Balzan Prize winners were
announced today in a public event:
MAURIZIO CALVESI (Italy), Università di Roma "La Sapienza", for the Visual
Arts since 1700
THOMAS NAGEL (USA), University of New York, for Moral Philosophy
IAN H. FRAZER (Australia), Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and
Metabolic Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, for Preventive
Medicine, including Vaccination
WALLACE S. BROECKER (USA), Columbia University, New York, for Science of
Climate Change
For the first time, researchers are examining who it is that sets the election themes in Austria - political parties or the media. This new research project, which is supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, will analyse all the general elections held in Austria over the past 40 years - including the current campaign. The results will show whether election campaign communication in Austria is undergoing a process of "Americanisation". Information on the project will also be provided during the AM PULS Nr. 8 event, which is to be held on 10 September at the Haus der Forschung, Vienna.
Zurich, 4. September 2008. Axentis Pharma AG has initiated a clinical phase
IIa trial to assess the safety and tolerability of a new therapeutic
formulation for the treatment of severe pulmonary infection in cystic
fibrosis patients. The new formulation allows an established therapeutic
agent to be delivered directly to the site of infection. The forthcoming
trial will also compare the effects of two different doses of the new drug.
Initial results are expected in summer 2009. Axentis Pharma acquired all the
necessary rights for this formulation from international partners just eight
months ago. In addition to these advances, the company has also succeeded in
appointing two renowned experts to its Scientific Advisory Board.
The International Balzan Foundation will announce the winners of this year’s prestigious Balzan prizes on 8 September 2008 in Milan. The foundation will be awarding the prizes in honour of exceptional research in Preventive Medicine, the Science of Climate Change, the Visual Arts Since 1700 and Moral Philosophy. The prizes, which are each worth one million Swiss Francs, are to be presented on 21 November in the presence of Italy’s President, Giorgio Napolitano, during an official ceremony at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome.
Unusually high levels of physical exertion do cause oxidative stress, but this does not result in any long-term damage to DNA. This is just one of the many outcomes revealed by an extraordinary research project funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF that are now published. As part of this project, 42 male athletes took part both in a triathlon and an extensive biomedical study, which examined numerous physiological values parameters during the period from two days before to 19 days after the triathlon.
For the first time, the question of whether France is experiencing an ever more diverse range of family models is to be investigated on the basis of complete life histories. These will reveal how family structures develop throughout the course of a lifetime and the various different family constellations which emerge in the process. The project - now under way as part of an Erwin Schrödinger Fellowship from the Austrian Science Fund FWF - will identify the associated effects on birth rates and enable comparisons with other countries in Northern Europe and with Austria.
In applying for a patent for a highly-efficient chromatographic separation principle, Vogelbusch GmbH has confirmed its role as a leading force in the development of biotech process technologies. The process adapts the separation process known as "simulated moving bed" to the specific needs of pharmaceutical companies. A prototype was presented to an audience of experts for the first time at the PREP 2008 conference in San Jose, California, where it attracted a great deal of interest.
In-depth studies of how human land use is having an ever greater impact on ecosystems over a period of three centuries are being carried out for the first time. This project, funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, investigates on a global level how the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society has affected ecosystems. Knowledge about past processes will be used to model and assess possible consequences of growing biomass demand and land use for global sustainability.
Vienna (Austria), 16. July 2008. In the clinical phase I trial AFF001, AFFiRiS GmbH has now recruited the 24 Alzheimer patients planned for this trial. The trial aims to investigate the tolerability and safety of an innovative Alzheimer's vaccine (AFFITOPE AD01). In the trial, all patients have now been vaccinated at least once and have so far tolerated the vaccine extremely well. The treatment provides for four vaccinations administered at monthly intervals and is due to be fully completed by this October. The vaccine's tolerability can then be conclusively evaluated. So far the results indicate good tolerability for this Alzheimer's vaccine from AFFiRiS GmbH. It is on this basis that recruitment of further patients has already begun for the clinical trial of a second Alzheimer's vaccine by AFFiRiS.
Terrace-like elevations of just a few nanometres can form during production of organic thin films made from electrically conductive material. This phenomenon was previously only known from inorganic materials and is crucially important for future production of a new generation of semi-conductor components based on organic thin films. The data now published in the first July edition of SCIENCE was collated as part of a national research network funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF.
Zurich, 26 June 2008. The rights to key patents for an innovative screening tool for treatments for cystic fibrosis were transferred today to Swiss biotech company Axentis Pharma AG. The company has acquired the rights from an Austrian firm that has made a vital contribution to the development of new approaches to treating the disease. The core element of the platform technology involves human proteins which - despite offering sufficient functionality - are subjected to enzymatic digestion in untreated cells due to genetic mutations in their structure.
The discovery of an ancient city buried beneath the sands of modern-day Syria has provided evidence for a Hellenistic settlement that existed for more than six centuries extending into the time of the Roman Empire. The site provides a unique insight into the structures of a pre-Roman Hellenistic settlement. The project, funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, sheds new light on city life in the Hellenistic period.
Salmonella can also infect plant cells and successfully evade all the defence mechanisms of plants. As a result, cleaning the surfaces of raw fruits and vegetables, e.g. by washing, is not sufficient to protect against food poisoning. This surprising discovery, made during a project supported by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, has been published today. The results of the project are based on a model plant, which also represents the ideal basis for future development work on treatment and testing systems in the area of food safety.
According to the central hypothesis of a project undertaken by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, Old Albanian had a significant influence on the development of many Balkan languages. Intensive research now aims to confirm this theory. This little-known language is being researched using all available texts before a comparison with other Balkan languages is carried out. The outcome of this work will include the compilation of a lexicon providing an overview of all Old Albanian verbs.
