Research Areas

Unlocking fundamental secrets about how cell division is regulated is the goal of a European Union-funded consortium called MitoCheck. One of the means to that goal is a genome-wide short interfering RNA (siRNA) library that life science research and molecular diagnostic provider Ambion and its subsidiary Ambion (Europe) Ltd. recently agreed to provide to the consortium—specifically to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany.

Structural GenomiX (SGX) recently announced the signing of a three-year, $15-million deal with Bethesda, Md.-based Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics (CFFT) to discover novel therapeutics for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, a genetic pulmonary disease that affects nearly 30,000 people in the United States.

GeneLogic Inc. announced last month that it had chosen GE Healthcare for the global distribution of its new Sciantis System, an online gene expression analysis system targeted for use by academic, government and other non-profit research organizations. The release of Sciantis marks the company’s first attempt to provide products to this particular market segment.

Nanotechnology life sciences company Nanosphere Inc. recently announced the hiring of Gregory Shipp, M.D., as vice president of medical affairs to spearhead the company’s commercialization efforts of its Verigene genomic and proteomic diagnostic tool.

In a deal between Adherex and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) penned in July, Adherex received an exclusive license to the oncology product eniluracil for all indications, while GSK gained an option to license Adherex’s lead biotechnology compound, ADH-1.

ViroLogic Inc, announced in early July it signed a three-year $4.8 million service agreement with the Schering-Plough Research Institute. Schering-Plough will use ViroLogic assays during Phase III clinical trails for its drug candidate vicriviroc, a potential new entry inhibitor drug for HIV.

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) recently selected Perlegen Sciences, Inc. to conduct a comparative study of genetic variation among postmenopausal women with coronary heart disease, stroke, or breast cancer. The women are subjects in a 15-year observational study and clinical trial program that includes a component looking at estrogen plus progestin (E+P) therapy. The genetic analysis will investigate whether E+P contributed to incidences of the three diseases.

Albany Molecular Research Inc. (AMRI) announced in mid-July a two-year research collaboration with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) which has a goal of identifying potential drug targets for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a degenerative neuromuscular disease. SMA causes muscle wasting and can result in death in its most severe form.

The global bioinformatics market totaled roughly $3 billion in 2004 and could be as high as $6 billion by the end of the decade. This, according to the recently-released research report “The U.S. Bioinformatics Market” from TriMark Publications, LLC, based here.

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