Bio Screening Industry News

Archive for the 'New Products' Category

December 7, 2009

NightSHADE - The Dedicated In Vivo Plant Imager – a New Concept for Plant Research

Filed under: New Products, Press Releases — Editor @ 11:59 am

Bad Wildbad, Germany, November 30, 2009 / b3c newswire / - Based on the experiences with the NightOWL in vivo imager Berthold Technologies has developed the new NightSHADE imaging system with plant research in mind.

For applications such as gene research, circadian rhythms, regulation of plant growth, stress tolerance and drug screening the NightSHADE will offer unique features for plant research.

• Top-view emCCD camera with high resolution
• LED-based plant illumination with daylight simulation
• 2nd camera for side-view imaging
• x-y table and rotating table for 360° viewing
• temperature & humidity control

NightShade_small

Caption: NightSHADE in vivo plant imager

NightSHADE is equipped with a highly sensitive 1 Mpixel emCCD camera cooled to an absolute tem-perature of -20 °C. The electron multiplying (em) mode of the camera enhances the signals by amplifying the electrons during readout. This increases the sensitivity with short exposure times and enables single photon detection. The maximum quantum efficiency is reached between 550 and 750 nm making the camera an ideal choice for luciferases and fluorescent dyes:

tobacco_small

Caption: NightSHADE is equipped with a 1 Mpixel emCCD camera, an ideal choice for luciferases and fluorescent dyes.

Various accessories like filters, transilluminators or the mobile workstation are available. With the certified calibration you can check easily the performance.

Link to the news release and high resolution pictures


About Berthold Technologies -
www.berthold.com
Berthold Technologies, a family driven company with it’s headquarters in Bad Wildbad, Germany, has been providing bioanalytical instruments to the research and the diagnostic market for more than 60 years. The company is offering innovative products through a worldwide network of subsidiaries and distributors to customers in academic and pharmaceutical research as well as clinical diagnostics.

Contact

Bettina Felletschin

BERTHOLD TECHNOLOGIES GmbH & Co.KG
Calmbacher Str.22
75323 Bad Wildbad
Germany
Phone +49-7081-177-0
Fax   +49-7081-177-100
bio@Berthold.com

December 4, 2009

SampleScan Plus

Filed under: New Products, Press Releases — Editor @ 11:26 am

BioMicroLab Header

New SampleScan Plus Features

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  • Scans one tube in less than one second
  • One USB connection
  • No power supply neededSampleScan Plus.Micronic
  • Compatible with Matrix, Micronic, Nunc, Matrical, and ABgene 2D barcoded tubes
  • Also decodes 1D barcodes from vials and racks
  • Keyboard wedge functionality
  • Scans directly into any open application
  • PC or Mac compatible
  • Smallest Size:  4″ X 4″ X 5.5″

  • Introductory List Price:  $2,295.00

SampleScan Mini - High-Speed Single Rack Reader

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Single Tube Scan

  • Scans one rack in less than 5 seconds
  • Compatible with Matrix, Micronic, Nunc, and ABgene 2D barcoded tube racks
  • Single tube scan feature
  • Decodes all SBS formats
  • Available with 1D reader integration
  • LIMS integration ready
  • Smallest size:  6 1/4″ X 10 1/2″ X 1 1/2″

  • List Price:  $4,995.00
  • December 2, 2009

    PharmaGap Reports That GAP-107B8 Showed Strong and Consistent Anti-Cancer Activity in a Wide Range of Cancers in NCI Test

    OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Oct 27, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) —-PharmaGap Inc. (TSX VENTURE: GAP)(OTCBB: PHRGF) (”PharmaGap” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce highly positive results from the United States National Cancer Institute (”NCI”) 5-dose in vitro anti-cancer screen of PharmaGap drug GAP-107B8. These results confirm and extend results announced in August from the single-dose study and provide definitive independent validation of GAP-107B8 as an active pharmaceutical ingredient against a wide range of cancers.

    GAP-107B8 is a novel peptide protein kinase inhibitor that was designed to specifically target molecular signaling pathways in cancer cells. Targeted therapies are designed to target cancer cells while sparing surrounding normal, healthy, cells, thus causing less toxic effects than many standard chemotherapeutic agents currently in use.

    Within a dose concentration range of 10 to 100 micromolar (u M), GAP-107B8 caused 100% growth inhibition (measured against cancer cell growth in untreated groups) in 51 of 56 cancer cell lines and caused at least 50% cancer cell death (measured against the number of cancer cells at the beginning of the test period) in 29 of 56 cancer cell lines.

    The standard NCI test methodology generates three values that are used to measure the drug compound’s activity against the cancer cell-line panel. These are: the GI50, the dose that causes an average 50% growth inhibition in the cell lines; the TGI, the dose that causes an average 100% growth inhibition in the cell lines; and the LC50, the dose that causes an average 50% cell death in the cell lines. For GAP-107B8, the GI50 was determined to be 23 u M, the TGI was 51 u M, and the LC50 was 89 u M. These data provide a very clear range of focus for all future studies.

    These results provided a large amount of data, from the NCI testing which will be used by the Company to select specific cancer types and to determine an optimum dosing range for future animal studies and subsequent clinical trials. Based on these and prior results, the Company will be focusing its immediate development program on ovarian cancer and melanoma. The first of these animal studies is currently underway at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (”OHRI”) in ovarian cancer. Further testing of GAP-107B8 on melanoma is about to commence under the guidance of Dr. Gary Schwartz at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. GAP-107B8 showed a strong effect in both melanoma and ovarian cancers in both single-dose and 5-dose testing at the NCI. In addition, the Company and NCI staff will meet in late November to discuss these results and ways in which the NCI may participate in various aspects of the development program for GAP-107B8.

    The results across such a wide range of cancer cell lines, including a number which are known to be resistant to standard chemotherapy, indicate that GAP-107B8 has the potential to become a new cancer drug with less toxic side effects than common chemotherapeutic regimens.

    Robert McInnis, President of the Company, stated “We are very pleased with the extent of activity in the NCI panel, as this activity against all cell lines provides a wide range of development opportunities for us, and provides us with additional support for a focus on ovarian cancer and melanoma. Our objective of the testing at the NCI - independent and verifiable validation of activity - has been fully realized. Over the past 12 months we have made significant progress in moving our lead drug to clinical trials: generating quality- controlled gram-scale production of the compound; achieving verifiable independent validation of compound activity at both the NCI and here in Ottawa at the OHRI; and programs underway in the area of bioassay development, understanding of signalling pathways involved, and continued testing programs at Memorial Sloan Kettering. This progress is very encouraging to me and to our team. Most importantly, results so far indicate a potential for new hope for the future of patients suffering from several types of cancer”.

    About The National Cancer Institute

    The National Cancer Institute (NCI), located in Bethesda, MD is an institute of the National Institutes of Health, the primary U.S. Federal Agency for conducting and supporting medical research. The NCI has a mandate to select and screen novel drug compounds that could potentially make a material difference in the “war against cancer”. Selection to the NCI screening program is through a competitive application process. Details on the NCI’s compound screening program can be found at http://dtp.nci.nih.gov/. More general information on the NCI is found at www.cancer.gov.

    About PharmaGap Inc.

    PharmaGap Inc. (TSX VENTURE: GAP)(OTCBB: PHRGF), based in Ottawa, ON, is a biotechnology company with a core focus on developing novel peptide therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. PharmaGap’s GAP-107B8 is a novel peptide drug designed to inhibit the activity of protein kinase C (PKC), a cell signalling enzyme implicated in certain types and stages of cancer. Independent peer-reviewed research has demonstrated that over-expression of PKC plays a role in the development of many cancer types. For more information please visit www.pharmagap.com.

    Note: Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No Securities Commission or other regulatory authority having jurisdiction over PharmaGap has approved or disapproved of the information contained herein. This release contains forward looking statements that may not occur or may change materially.

    Contacts:
    PharmaGap Inc.
    Robert McInnis
    President & CEO
    613-990-9551
    bmcinnis@pharmagap.com
    www.pharmagap.com

    SOURCE: PharmaGap Inc.

    Aeolus Drug Protects the Gastrointestinal Tract in Acute Radiation Syndrome Studies Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health`s National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases

    * AEOL 10150 Effectively Increases Regeneration of GI Stem Cells and Reduces the
    Severity and Duration of Diarrhea
    * Drug Improves Survival When Administered 24 Hours after Total Body
    Irradiation
    
    MISSION VIEJO, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
    Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCBB: AOLS) announced today that recent
    experiments in preclinical models conducted by the National Institutes of
    Health`s (NIH), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
    Radiation/Nuclear Medical Countermeasure Development program have shown that
    AEOL 10150 can effectively increase regeneration of gastro-intestinal (GI) stem
    cells, reduce the severity and duration of diarrhea and improve survival when
    administered at 24 hours after doses of total-body irradiation that produce the
    lethal GI syndrome. There are no published studies of agents that accomplish
    this enhanced stem cell regenerative effect while maintaining GI function and
    improving survival when administered post irradiation.
    
    "The Aeolus drug AEOL 10150 passed our first phase of rigorous testing and
    showed definitive effects on crypt stem cells and other secondary parameters
    used to assess drug efficacy in ameliorating the acute GI syndrome," stated
    Catherine Booth, Ph.D., Managing Director, Contract Research Services at
    Epistem, Ltd. "This is one of few drugs shown to affect 'both' stem cell crypt
    regeneration and survival in a syndrome that heretofore has been resistant to
    mitigation with drugs administered at 24 hours post lethal exposure."
    
    NIAID has a contract with the University of Maryland to provide product
    development support services for the development of countermeasures against
    radiation exposure. These studies are being conducted by Epistem, a
    subcontractor of the University of Maryland, in compliance with criteria of the
    FDA that are a pre-requisite for movement of the Aeolus drug along the pathway
    for FDA licensure to treat lethally irradiated persons in the event of a
    terrorist nuclear act. Epistem operates a major contract research organization
    and provides services to identify novel drugs that can protect or improve the
    repair of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract following exposure to irradiation and
    performed these studies as part of its US NIH`s program for the screening of a
    novel agents for bio-defense applications.
    
    The NIH NIAID Radiation/Nuclear Medical Countermeasure Development program leads
    the U.S. effort to develop treatments for radiation sickness following a nuclear
    terrorist attack. GI-ARS is a massive, currently untreatable, problem following
    high-dose, potentially lethal radiation exposure. Agents that mitigate these
    effects would reduce sickness and hopefully prevent fatalities. The tests
    performed by NIH/NIAID are also likely to identify agents with oncology
    supportive care applications - agents that will reduce the severe ulceration and
    diarrhea (mucositis) experienced by patients during radio- and chemo-therapy.
    Risk of injury to the intestine is dose-limiting during abdominal and pelvic
    radiation therapy-interventions that limit post-irradiation intestinal
    dysfunction would have significant impact in large number of patients, estimated
    to be between 1.5 to 2 million cancer survivors with post-irradiation intestinal
    dysfunction. AEOL 10150 has previously demonstrated protective effects in
    protecting healthy normal cells from damage occurring due to cancer radiation
    therapy in preclinical models.
    
    Radiation Damage to the GI Tract
    
    The intestinal epithelium, a single layer of cells lining the surface of the GI
    lumen, is responsible for vital functions of nutrient absorption, maintaining
    fluid and electrolyte balance and protection of the body from bacteria,
    bacterial toxins and non absorbed materials. The functional integrity of the GI
    system is maintained via incessant production of epithelial cells from
    specialized stem cells located in crypts at the base of the epithelium.
    High-dose, total-body irradiation can result in a lethal GI syndrome that
    results in significant morbidity and mortality within days consequent to killing
    of the crypt stem cells and loss of the protective and absorptive epithelial
    barrier. There are no FDA-approved drugs or biologics to treat the acute GI
    syndrome.
    
    About AEOL 10150
    
    AEOL 10150 is a small molecule that catalytically consumes reactive oxygen and
    nitrogen species (free radicals). The compound is a manganoporphyrin that
    contains a positively-charged manganese metal ion that is able to accept and
    give electrons to and from reactive oxygen species ("ROS") and reactive nitrogen
    species ("RNS"). Research has shown that ROS and RNS have important cell
    signaling roles, and through its interaction with RNS and ROS, AEOL 10150
    appears to have multiple mechanisms of action including anti-oxidant,
    anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic activities. In preclinical studies AEOL
    10150 has demonstrated reductions in the markers for tissue hypoxia,
    angiogenesis, inflammation and oxidative stress. Specifically, AEOL 10150 is
    able to down-regulate oxidative stress and severe inflammation, which is
    responsible for much of the tissue destruction that occurs as a result of
    radiation exposure.
    
    AEOL 10150 offers several unique advantages as a countermeasure for the
    treatment of ARS, mustard gas and chlorine gas for civilian and military
    populations. These include:
    
    -- Flexible Treatment Paradigm - AEOL 10150 is intended for the treatment of
    patients post-exposure, even in those who are already exhibiting symptoms,
    eliminating the need for immediate administration in a predefined treatment
    window. This approach has the added benefit of not requiring biodosimetry (a
    means of laboratory analysis of the blood to determine the level of radiation
    exposure).
    
    -- Advanced Development Stage - AEOL 10150 has demonstrated safety in three
    human clinical trials, and has an extensive pre-clinical safety and toxicology
    package completed. The product also has an established stability profile that
    permits long-term storage.
    
    -- Large scale manufacturing - Aeolus has contract capacity with a large
    manufacturing site to mass produce large quantities of AEOL 10150 under GMP
    conditions.
    
    -- Multiple Applications - AEOL 10150 has demonstrated protective effects
    against radiation and mustard gas exposure, and within these indications has
    shown the ability to treat multiple organ systems.
    
    -- Commercial Application - Additionally, AEOL 10150 is being developed for use
    as an adjunct to cancer radiation therapy, and preclinical data suggest that the
    compound protects healthy normal cells from the effects of radiation without
    compromising the efficacy of the radiation in killing tumor cells.
    
    Potential for AEOL 10150 as a Countermeasure Against Multiple Terrorist Threats
    
    AEOL 10150 has shown significant protective effects against radiation and
    mustard gas in preclinical models. Additionally, based on its mechanism, it is
    believed that the compound may potentially protect against exposure to chlorine
    gas. Studies have been initiated to further explore AEOL 10150`s ability to
    protect the lungs from damage due to exposure to mustard gas and chlorine gas. A
    compound with the potential to protect against multiple threats would be of
    significant benefit in both the military and civilian efforts to protect
    citizens against potential threats. The FDA has a special rule under which
    compounds may be approved for use against chemical and nuclear threats on the
    strength of preclinical efficacy studies, which allows the potential for an
    accelerated approval path versus conventional pharmaceutical applications.
    
    About Aeolus Pharmaceuticals
    
    Aeolus is developing a variety of therapeutic agents based on its proprietary
    small molecule catalytic antioxidants, with AEOL 10150 being the first to enter
    human clinical evaluation. AEOL 10150 is a patented, small molecule catalytic
    antioxidant that mimics and thereby amplifies the body`s natural enzymatic
    systems for eliminating reactive oxygen species, or free radicals. Studies
    funded by the National Institutes for Health are currently underway evaluating
    AEOL 10150 as a treatment for exposure to radiation, mustard gas and chlorine
    gas. Additionally, the Company has funded mouse and non-human primate studies
    necessary to seek approval of the compound as a treatment to protect and/or
    mitigate radiation-induced damage to the lungs for which there are no
    FDA-approved drugs. Radiation-induced pneumonits and/or fibrosis are potentially
    lethal delayed effects of acute radiation exposure. The ability to control these
    delayed consequences will also translate into the clinic and further emphasize
    the dual utility of AEOL 10150.
    
    About Epistem, Ltd.
    
    Epistem is a biotechnology company commercializing its expertise in epithelial
    stem cells in the areas of oncology, gastrointestinal diseases and
    dermatological applications. Epistem develops innovative therapeutics and
    biomarkers and provides contract research services to drug development
    companies. The Group`s expertise is focused on the regulation of adult stem
    cells located in epithelial tissue, which includes the gastrointestinal tract,
    skin, hair follicles, breast and prostate. Epistem does not conduct research in
    the areas of embryonic stem cells or stem cell transplantation. Epistem operates
    three distinct business divisions, Contract Research Services, Novel Therapies
    and Biomarkers.
    
    Epistem`s Contract Research Services division provides scientific expertise and
    preclinical research models to the NIH`s research programme on Radiation/Nuclear
    Medical Countermeasure Development. This research programme, funded by the
    National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases through a contract with
    the University of Maryland School of Medicine, tests drugs from early screening
    through advanced development for the prevention and treatment of radiation
    sickness following exposure to high dose radiation following a nuclear terrorist
    attack. Epistem has developed its proprietary models to provide a unique insight
    into the mechanisms of intestinal damage and repair following radiation
    exposure. Epistem`s models evaluate the efficacy, mechanism of action, optimal
    drug dosing and scheduling of potential new treatments. Epistem has an
    eight-year track record of providing testing services to over 130 international
    company clients in the United States, Europe, and Japan.
    
    The statements in this press release that are not purely statements of
    historical fact are forward-looking statements. Such statements include, but are
    not limited to, those relating to Aeolus` product candidates, as well as its
    proprietary technologies and research programs. Such forward-looking statements
    involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
    Aeolus` actual results to be materially different from historical results or
    from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
    Important factors that could cause results to differ include risks associated
    with uncertainties of progress and timing of clinical trials, scientific
    research and product development activities, difficulties or delays in
    development, testing, obtaining regulatory approval, the need to obtain funding
    for pre-clinical and clinical trials and operations, the scope and validity of
    intellectual property protection for Aeolus` product candidates, proprietary
    technologies and their uses, and competition from other biopharmaceutical
    companies. Certain of these factors and others are more fully described in
    Aeolus` filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not
    limited to, Aeolus` Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30,
    2008. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
    statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.
    
    Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
    John L. McManus
    President and Chief Executive Officer
    1-949-481-9825
    Source: reuters.com
    
    Copyright Business Wire 2009

    November 11, 2009

    Biochrom’s new Anthos Instant Microplate Solution (AIMS)

    Filed under: Europe, New Products — admin @ 3:26 pm

    If you have a new project a new job or a new lab you can stretch your budget further with Biochrom’s new Anthos Instant Microplate Solution (AIMS). This package has all the microplate instrumentation you need at a great price.

    AIMS is ideal for laboratories that handle a large number of ELISA or other absorbance based assays and that need the flexibility for future applications.

    “Top of the range” Anthos microplate instrumentation and software:

    * Zenyth 200 monochromator Microplate Reader with built-in cuvette UV/Vis spectrophotometer.
    * Fluido 2 four channel microplate washer.
    * Free PC analysis software.
    * Free laser printer.

    Anthos instruments are CE marked and made under our rigorous quality system. Building on Anthos’s 25 years experience in microplate instrumentation, AIMS represents new thinking for the next generation providing total flexibility for microplate absorbance applications. Get more from your budget with Biochrom.
    Find out more see www.biochrom.co.uk/aims

    March 27, 2009

    Thermo Fisher Scientific Accelerates Drug Discovery Process With New Maybridge Quick2Lead™ Compound Kits

    Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science, announced recently that it has introduced a novel tool to accelerate hit-to-lead programmes in the drug discovery process. Its Maybridge Quick2Lead™ Compound Kits are designed to save time and money by enabling rapid compound library synthesis around bioactive “hits” emerging from screening assays. The kits are made up of pre-weighed, diverse building block selections, facilitating rapid capture of structure-activity (SAR) data from the closely related structural analogues within the library.

    Quick2Lead Compound Kits are available as five functionality-based kits, with each one containing 48 carefully selected compounds. This enables the exploration of a wide area of chemical space to maximise credible SAR data acquisition for the successful conversion of an initial hit into a genuine, optimisable lead. Since these compounds are all pre-weighed, the kits are ready to use by simply adding solvent and transferring straight to a synthesiser.

    The five functional groups available include: carboxylic acids, sulfonyl chlorides, amines, anilines and boronic acids. Each of these different functional groups is applicable to a wide range of tried and trusted parallel synthesis methodologies. Furthermore, although each kit taps into the hugely diverse Maybridge collection, they all include compounds from the top levels of the relevant Topliss Tree, thereby ensuring quality and rigour in interaction testing.

    Each of the pre-selected compounds is supplied as 0.1mMol in a 5mL vial. This saves time and money at several levels — minimising stock, avoiding disposal and reducing storage footprint. The pre-selection process also avoids the “dead time” that can be experienced whilst waiting for multiple building blocks from internal and external sources. Maybridge Quick2Lead Kits arrive as a complete library, delivered rapidly ex-stock.

    “Our aim with the Maybridge product range is to help shorten the discovery process, from screening to scale-up, and the introduction of our Quick2Lead Compound Kits is the latest addition to our broad product portfolio of pharmacophorically relevant compounds and services,” said Dr. Mick Durrant, Director of Business Development for Maybridge products at Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We recognise that identifying, sourcing and weighing building blocks to feed the library production process around an initial hit can be time consuming and expensive. Our new Quick2Lead Kits offer a novel approach to drive these costs down by providing pre-weighed, diverse building block selections which are simply ready-to-go.”

    About Maybridge
    Maybridge, part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, is well known for providing highly innovative drug-like molecules and screening compounds for drug discovery and development. With products available for both lab and development scale, they specialise in producing new heterocyclic and phenyl ring-based chemical building blocks, including a unique and expanding range of reactive intermediates.

    About Thermo Fisher Scientific
    Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, enabling our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. With annual revenues of $10.5B, we have more than 34,000 employees and serve over 350,000 customers within pharmaceutical and biotech companies, hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions and government agencies, as well as environmental and industrial process control settings. Serving customers through two premier brands, Thermo Scientific and Fisher Scientific, we help solve analytical challenges from routine testing to complex research and discovery. Thermo Scientific offers customers a complete range of high-end analytical instruments as well as laboratory equipment, software, services, consumables and reagents to enable integrated laboratory workflow solutions. Fisher Scientific provides a complete portfolio of laboratory equipment, chemicals, supplies and services used in healthcare, scientific research, safety and education. Together, we offer the most convenient purchasing options to customers and continuously advance our technologies to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery, enhance value for customers and fuel growth for shareholders and employees alike.

    SOURCE: Thermo Scientific Brand Products, Part of Thermo Fisher

    March 10, 2009

    Flavor/Fragrance Ingredients in the Works

    DORTMUND, Germany and MILAN—The joint research efforts of InterMed Discovery (IMD) and Axxam SpA have resulted in a technology platform that offers screening solutions and the discovery of natural bioactive compounds valuable to companies in the food, beverages, flavor and fragrance industries.

    Based on that success, the companies signed a second joint research agreement that will focus on discovery and validation of flavor/fragrance functional ingredients, which will then be offered to food, beverages, flavor and fragrance companies. The proprietary compounds will have clearly defined activity profiles and naturally derived chemical properties.

    “This cooperation is a direct response to what we see as growing market needs,” said Dr. Thomas Henkel, managing director of InterMed Discovery. “Our innovative approach to developing natural functional ingredients together with Axxam caters perfectly to the increasing market demand for turnkey solutions.”

    January 23, 2009

    Nanion nominated for The German Industry’s Innovation Award

    Munich, Germany, Jan 20th, 2009; Nanion is again nominated for a prestigious
    innovation award, due its impressive product portfolio of automated patch clamp
    systems. More than 350 companies competed in this year’s Innovation Award and
    Nanion is finalist in the category “Start-Up Companies”.

    The German Industry’s Innovation Award, also the world’s first innovation award, has since 1980 annually nominated and rewarded the nation’s most important scientific and technical innovations. Nanion is one of the five remaining candidates for the award and the winner will be announced on January 24th, 2009.

    “To remain a profitable and leading provider of advanced and high quality ion channel drug screening systems, we constantly seek new inventions and solutions that are attractive to industrial and academic institutions.” says Michael George, CTO of Nanion. Dr. Niels Fertig, CEO of Nanion, continues “Our three product families for sophisticated cell analysis are
    being used in the development of new medicines as well as in academic research. With the latest introduction of our high throughput patch clamp system, the SyncroPatch 96, the screening of ion channel drugs is revolutionized in terms of time and cost efficiency. We are happy and honoured that our products and technology are receiving such recognition by the nomination for this award.”

    The SyncroPatch 96 is Nanion’s next generation screening platform, capable of highly parallel
    recordings from up to 96 cells at a time. It will be launched at the Biophysical Society’s Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, USA, in the end of February, 2009. The SyncroPatch 96 is the first platform on the market to date that supports giga-seal recordings at a throughput of 5000 data points per day.
    About Nanion:
    Nanion Technologies GmbH is a German Private Limited Company and was founded in 2002 as a spinoff from the Center for Nanoscience (CeNS) of the University of Munich. Nanion’s team has developed and globally established two highly successful automated patch clamp instruments as enabling tools for sophisticated and high throughput applications for ion channel research and drug discovery. Nanion’s instruments use planar patch clamp chips which replace the traditional glass pipette used in the technique of patch clamping. Nanion was nominated in 2007 for Germany’s most prestigious innovation award the Deutscher Zukunftspreis (German Future Prize, Federal President’s Award for Technology and Innovation).

    January 12, 2009

    ZINC Database - emolecule repository

    What is ZINC? It is a free database of millions of commercially-available compounds for virtual screening in ready-to-dock format.

    Why is it needed? Compounds that are available today can become unavailable in six months because of unavailability of the underlying reagents. For most vendors, the list of available compounds is significantly smaller than the list of compounds they have made in the past. If you are doing virtual HTS you are probably interested in a quick verification of predicted hits. So, it makes sense to know which compounds can be ordered quickly i.e turn-around time of 30 days or less.

    Why is this a difficult task? Typically, this means maintaining databases of compounds and updating them on regular basis. In my experience, I have received updates from vendors as frequently as a dozen times an year to none at all. Staying up-to-date with chemical vendor catalogs can quickly become a daunting challenge for small labs and organizations who don’t have dedicated people for this purpose.

    How does ZINC help? They stay up-to-date with vendors. At any time, you can download the original 2D vendor catalog from ZINC. They have grown significantly in size and use in the last 5 years. More consumers typically means lesser bugs and better updated catalogs.

    Of course, ZINC allows you to download the 3D formats as well. I have not found any documentation on their 2D to 3D pipeline. It may be available upon request. Going from 2D to 3D is a whole bag of tricks. One could potentially glue together applications provided by software vendors such as Open Eye or Molecular Networks to create a 2D to 3D pipeline. While it is great to have your own pipeline as it enables greater control on bugs and issues, it is significant amount of algorithmic work. Therefore, for some organizations, having a ready to dock 3D format is a considerable time saving.

    Any Gotchas? I have not found any useful information or discussion at the ZINC forums. Ideally, it would be good to know the quality of vendors. Are these vendor lists as up-to-date as they claim to be? What is the typical ordering time? Quality of drug like compounds is also an issue.

    In ZINC’s 3D formatted database,  the compounds are renamed using ZINC ID and any information about the original vendor catalog ID is lost. This can be tricky when ordering compounds from vendors. The vendor catalog ID can be retrieved by going to the original vendor catalog and matching the compound but this translates to extra algorithmic work.

    Nutshell? Nevertheless this is the best free resource on the web that allows user to download latest vendor compounds for virtual screening. The closest competition, emolecules charges upwards of $20K for doing the same.

    Source: biotechnorati.wordpress.com
    Other online searchable by structure databases:

    Bioscreening Compounds

    Compounds and Compound Libraries from TimTec

    January 11, 2009

    Seegene Receives Approval from Health Canada for Its Respiratory Virus Multi-Pathogen Detection Tests

    Filed under: Asia, Collaborations, Europe, New Products, Press Releases — admin @ 5:52 pm

    Seegene Receives Approval from Health Canada for Its Respiratory Virus Multi-Pathogen Detection Tests

    Seeplex(R) RV5 and RV12 give Canadian caregivers an effective way to test for a broad range of respiratory viruses and pathogens in one single test.

    ROCKVILLE, Maryland and SEOUL, Korea, December 3, 2008 — Seegene, Inc., a leader in multi-pathogen diagnostic testing, today announced that it has received a Medical Device License from Health Canada for its Seeplex(R) RV5 ACE (Auto Capillary Electrophoresis) Screening and RV12 ACE Detection tests. Built on the novel and proprietary Seeplex(R) molecular diagnostic platform that delivers maximum specificity, reproducibility and sensitivity, the Canadian healthcare system can now use the RV5 and RV12 diagnostic tests to further improve patient care, reduce healthcare costs and prevent inappropriate antibiotic use.

    Quickly detecting the specific cause of respiratory infections, especially for children, the elderly, and patients whose conditions are compromised by asthma or immune system complications is critical due to the high incidence of these pathogens developing into serious diseases. Unfortunately, respiratory disease caused by viral infection cannot be simply determined from clinical symptoms as most viruses induce both upper and lower respiratory infections.

    Using the Seeplex RV5 test, doctors can now simultaneously detect the most prevalent flu viruses such as influenza A, influenza B, and respiratory syncytial virus A/B, and screen for 11 viruses, while the RV12 test identifies 12 viruses individually.

    Already permitted for use in more than 30 countries recognizing the CE Mark, the license from Health Canada will bring the RV5 ACE Screening and RV12 ACE Detection tests to North America for the first time. In the United States, more than 50 million unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions are written each year for patients outside of hospitals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    “The advantages of Seegene’s novel rapid diagnostic tests will be manifold. With these tests, the therapies targeting a specific pathogen causing the infection for a specific patient can be prescribed much earlier. Another benefit of the test is its ability to enable the continual monitoring of the infection status, which offers a strong potential for reducing hospital stays and freeing up scarce resources for other healthcare needs,” said Jong-Yoon Chun, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Seegene.

    The ease-of-use for caregivers administering the Seeplex RV5 and RV12 tests and the rapidity of receiving conclusive results belies the power of these multi-pathogen assays to simultaneously test for the most prevalent respiratory viruses.

    Jong-Yoon Chun added, “The issuing of a Medical Device License from Health Canada is another important milestone for Seegene. In this era of viral epidemics clinicians require the ability to routinely test for a wide spectrum of respiratory pathogens in a single test. The Seeplex RV tests are uniquely performed with one multiplex PCR in a single tube and capillary electrophoresis for automated detection of pathogens providing a new standard for test reproducibility, specificity and sensitivity.”

    About Seegene

    Seegene, Inc. is a biotechnology company specialized in molecular diagnostics and research applications. It holds a novel detection platform named “Seeplex(R),” which sets a standard in high-throughput and simultaneous multi-pathogen detection called “multiplexing.” Seeplex(R) technology accurately detects multi-pathogens with high-throughput speed, ultimately providing the most economical basis for saving time, labor and cost. Seegene develops, manufactures and markets innovative molecular diagnostic products and services to a worldwide community. The company has more than 47 distributors in 28 countries, including 2 subsidiary offices in the US and Japan. Its mission is to maintain leadership in molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases, genetics, pharmacogenetics, and oncology, and chromosomal analyses using innovative proprietary technologies. For more information please visit www.seegene.com or call +301-762-9066.

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