InnaVirVax : results showing the prognosis value of anti-3S antibodies

March 2011 - InnaVirVax and scientists from Inserm, University Pierre & Marie Curie (Paris) and University Paris-Sud (Paris), presented results showing the prognosis value of anti-3S antibodies at the International Workshop on HIV Observational Databases in Prague. (InnaVirVax's News)

About InnaVirVax

Mission Statment

InnaVirVax is a privately-owned biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of a cutting edge discovery in the field of therapy/prevention and prognostic of AIDS and HIV infection and new cancer therapies.

Company Mission

InnaVirVax is developing product candidates resulting from a breakthrough discovery. Based on a new paradigm (i.e. the understanding of the mechanism responsible for the decline of the CD4+ T lymphocytes in HIV-infected patients), the products currently developed by InnaVirVax will allow the prevention and the treatment of AIDS in HIV-infected patients. Moreover InnaVirVax has an AIDS prognostic test in its R&D portfolio.
Lastly, InnaVirVax is developing an innovative cancer biotherapy relying on a totally new tumor surface antigen.
InnaVirVax product portfolio originates from Inserm, the French Medical research council, the AP-HP, the largest hospital in Europe, and University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris... InnaVirVax's mission -

Biocortech and the FondaMental foundation : strategic alliance

April 5th 2011 - Paris, France and Créteil, France - Biocortech, the biotech company dedicated to the development of biological diagnostics for personalized psychiatry, and FondaMental, the foundation of scientific cooperation for mental health research and care, announce the signing of a strategic alliance to validate biomarkers for personalized psychiatry.

This strategic alliance aims at speeding up the availability of qualified blood tests for diagnosis, prognosis, drug selection and monitoring for a personalized medical management of patients suffering from mental health disorders. Concretely, Biocortech and FondaMental will collaborate in clinically validating blood tests measuring biomarkers identified by Biocortech or in FondaMental's network of scientific excellence. Biocortech and FondaMental will define relevant clinical settings and clinical issues to be addressed, build up adequate resources to access blood samples of patients with proper medical records, set up and monitor clinical trials. Biocortech will have responsibility for industrializing and commercializing qualified tests... Biocortech 's Press Release -

MEDIAN Technologies : new contract in the field of lung cancer with a top-five pharma company

05/11/11 - Sophia-Antipolis, France - MEDIAN Technologies, the leading provider of clinical applications for quantitative management of treatment responses in oncology imaging, announced that it had signed a new contract with a top-five pharma company, following on from an initial contract in 2010.
The new contract covers a pilot study performed as part of a lung cancer trial. This study will investigate the use of an advanced imaging biomarker to evaluate the treatment response (tumor volume, in this case).
"This new collaboration will enable us to study the value of tumor volume as a treatment response criterion. There are several possible advantages. Firstly, the use of tumor volume could decrease variability during image interpretation. Secondly, the change over time in tumor volume may be better correlated with the patients' survival rate. Thirdly and lastly, tumor volume may show up an earlier treatment response", emphasized MEDIAN's Chairman and CEO Fredrik Brag. "Innovations in image interpretation are playing an ever more significant role in the cancer drug development process. The signature of this new contract confirms the validity of our approach", he added.
A number of cancer centers of excellence in the USA, EMEA and Australasia are involved in the study... MEDIAN Technologies' Press Release - communiqué de presse MEDIAN Technologies -

ERYtech Pharma : positive results in Immunomodulation thanks to red cell targeting

March 21th, 2011 - ERYtech Pharma reports that their positive results obtained with the project on Immunomodulation will be presented at the 6th International Symposium on the Clinical Use of Cellular Products, Erlangen (March 24-25, 2011).
Immunomodulation is a promising therapeutic strategy dedicated to all conditions resulting from a dysfunction of the adaptive immune system. In such pathological conditions, the immune system either fails to react, or conversely, overreacts in the presence of antigens, leading to the development of an infection or a tumor. At the basis of immune reaction, dendritic cells and macrophages are the key antigen-presenting cells involved in the process initiation. One of the great challenges of Immunomodulation specifically lies in the selective targeting of these dendritic cells and macrophages to modulate the immune response. Making the cell targeting more selective indeed amounts to significantly optimize the therapeutic efficacy of a product...

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...About ERYtech Pharma

ERYtech Pharma (Lyon, Philadelphia) is a specialty pharma company developing innovative therapeutic solutions based on its proprietary technology and expertise in the physiological properties of erythrocytes. The company addresses serious pathologies, orphan indications or unaddressed sub-populations of patients, particularly in the fields of hematology, cancer and metabolic diseases... ERYtech Pharma's Press Release -

QUANTUM GENOMICS : POSITIVE SCIENTIFIC RESULTS WITH ITS PRODUCT QGC001

01-04-2011 - Quantum Genomics (NYSE Euronext Paris: MLQGC) announced excellent results from regulatory preclinical studies conducted with the product QGC001, the first drug-candidate of a new class of central anti-hypertensive agents, brain aminopeptidase A inhibitors (BAPAI)

• Anti-hypertensive activity of QGC001 after oral administration has been demonstrated in spontaneously hypertensive rats and conscious hypertensive DOCA-salt rats

• Toxicology, safety pharmacology and pharmacokinetics studies have demonstrated that QGC001 is well tolerated both in rats and dogs at doses superior to 50 times the dose showing anti-hypertensive activity in rats and has a good bioavailability in dog.

Quantum Genomics plans to submit to AFSSAPS in the following weeks, a clinical trial application in order to initiate a single ascending dose (SAD) study in healthy male volunteer subjects and assess the tolerability of a single dose of QGC001 and its pharmacokinetics parameters in humans... Quantum Genomics' Press Release -

About Quantum Genomics

Quantum Genomics Corp.(QGC) is a global Biotechnology company maximizing the developments and discoveries of academic research into breakthrough treatments for human disease.

QGC has unique expertise in the detection and selection of highly promising life science technology projects.

QGC co-develops products with academic teams, premier Biotech research entities, and some of the world's leading pharmaceutical and bio-science companies.

QGC's strategic alliances and business partnerships range from disease-oriented therapeutic collaborations, technology transfer-agreements, and marketing/licensing agreements, in the fields of recombinant proteins, monoclonal antibodies, and advanced chemical compounds.

QGC develops public/private partnerships to expedite the process of translational research and development, evolving life-science research into market products and therapies. About Quantum Genomics.

CIT : LeadScreen(TM), a new range of fast, cost-effective services for drug candidate selection

March 29, 2011 - CIT, a leading European non-clinical CRO specialized in health and safety research, announces a new range of fast and economical services to meet the growing needs of companies developing the drugs of tomorrow. The services, grouped under the name LeadScreen™, offer an extensive array of tests designed to give an early evaluation of safety of drugs thought to have development potential.
Currently, around 20 per cent of candidate drugs fail during standard regulatory nonclinical studies, too often due to late identification of toxicological effects. Using CIT’s LeadScreen™, the early detection of potential toxicity can significantly increase the chances of success when the candidate drug goes through the later stages of non-clinical development. The speed, competitive price and efficacy of LeadScreen™ offers the ability to reduce considerably the financial cost and time associated with standard drug development practices.
The new LeadScreen™ services are fast. From the start of the study to delivery of the results takes only 14 days - a real competitive advantage over tests currently on the market. As well as saving time, LeadScreen™ presents other advantages such as its requirement for only a small quantity of the compound - and attractive pricing...

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...About CIT

CIT is a science-driven, independent, non-clinical contract research organization (CRO) specialized in safety and health research. Founded in 1969, CIT has carried out a vast number of projects for international companies on human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, chemicals, agrochemicals and consumer products. It has contributed to many product registrations around the world. With a staff of 360, CIT offers a full range of research in general toxicology, reproductive toxicology, carcinogenicity, pharmacokinetics and safety pharmacology... [PDF] CIT's Press Release - PDF du communiqué de presse CIT -

IN CELL ART teams up with WAKO for the Japanese commercialization of IN CELL ART’s breakthrough ICAFectin441 and ICAFectin442 transfection reagents

Nantes – France, January 18, 2011 – IN CELL ART, a leading company in nucleic acids (DNA, siRNA) delivery systems announces that the company has entered into a distribution agreement with WAKO, a leading supplier of products and reagents.
Under the terms of this agreement, IN CELL ART and WAKO partner for the marketing, distribution and sales of IN CELL ART’s novel synthetic derivatives of natural compounds, ICAFectin®441 and ICAFectin®442, designed for high DNA and siRNA transfection efficiency.
WAKO’s customers have now access to reagents among the most performing of the market for high efficiency DNA and siRNA delivery in primary and stem cells.
“This alliance is of crucial importance as WAKO brings a vast knowledge of the Japanese transfection reagents market together with a highly organized distribution network that gives to IN CELL ART the opportunity to strengthen and enlarge its products distribution channels”, explain Chloé Bellocq, CEO and Bruno Pitard, scientific adviser and co-founder of IN CELL ART...

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...About IN-CELL-ART

IN CELL ART, which is headquartered in Nantes (France) is a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the preclinical and pharmaceutical development of nanocarriers for macromolecular drugs. Its founder and research team, which includes a Nobel Laureate, have designed new classes of vectors that are organized on a nanometric scale, which enables them to cross the cell barrier efficiently and safely... [PDF] IN-CELL-ART's Press Release - PDF du communiqué de presse IN-CELL-ART -