When the liver stops regenerating on its own, it might be possible in future for doctors to intervene with a chemical agent. Tübingen-based HepaRegeniX GmbH is developing a promising candidate with the aim of improving the treatment of both acute and chronic liver failure.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/heparegenix-develops-active-substance-liver-regenerationSensory organs are sophisticated masterpieces of nature. That is why humans have often tried to copy them. Be it cameras or microphones - there are technical objects that have always been based on natural models such as the eye or the ear. For a long time, however, no artificial sense of smell has featured in the technical repertoire. Now researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed an electronic nose. It can…
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/electronic-nose-many-applicationsImmunology is constantly changing with the emergence of new technologies and areas of application, and has branched out in many directions. Immunological approaches are central to everything – be it the development of innovative active substances and vaccinations against cancer, the search for new therapies against neurodegenerative diseases or autoimmune diseases, or combatting well-known infectious diseases or new virus epidemics.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/immunology-forefront-medical-progressIn the fight against tumour cells, d Affimed GmbH from Heidelberg relies entirely on the weapons of the innate immune system. Affimed has developed special innate cell engagers, which are bispecific antibodies that recognise tumour cells and bring them together with natural killer cells and macrophages of the innate immune system, which then kill the tumour cells. Clinical trials using the AFM13 molecule are ongoing.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/innate-cell-engager-fighting-against-cancerAll eyes are on vaccines against the coronavirus. The Tübingen-based company CureVac is doing pioneering work in this field, and intends to initiate clinical testing of its lead vaccine candidate in June. At the same time, Curevac is manufacturing the material for this vaccine candidate. But that’s not all: the novel mRNA technology also has the potential to revolutionise the treatment of cancer and metabolic diseases. What makes the method so…
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/curevac-als-pionier-der-mrna-technologie-was-steckt-hinter-dem-neuartigen-covid-19-impfstoffThe fight against cancer is a pressing issue. Although technological advances in the treatment, prevention and early detection of cancer have improved over the past few decades, the number of people affected is increasing. Cancer medicine now wants to counteract this by joining forces with other players involved in the field.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/translation-driver-cancer-medicinePrime Vector Technologies GmbH (PVT), a start-up company based in Tübingen in southern Germany, uses a modular brick system to develop vaccines against cancer and infectious diseases. The PVT team is currently working flat out to develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/mit-einem-impfstoffbaukasten-gegen-covid-19A “living pharmacy” crawls on the ocean floor off the coastline that stretches from Southern California to Mexico: biosyn Arzneimittel GmbH, a pharmaceutical company based in the city of Fellbach in southern Germany, produces a drug to treat bladder cancer, using the haemolymph, a vertebrate fluid equivalent to blood, of Megathura crenulata, commonly known as a giant keyhole limpet.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/medicine-from-blue-blood-marine-snailsGlioblastoma is a malignant brain tumour. It does not respond anywhere near as well to conventional forms of therapy than other tumours because it contains particularly resistant cancer cells. Scientists at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) at Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center have shown that heavy ion therapy is effective against these cells.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Brain-tumour-patients-could-benefit-from-heavy-ion-therapyAfter successes in the treatment of advanced blood cancers, CAR T-cell immunotherapy has become a major beacon of hope in oncology. The first therapies have received regulatory approval. Despite their success, these immunotherapies can have serious side effects. The company AVA Lifescience develops antibodies with high tumour specificity to use as the basis for effective precision-guided CAR T-cell therapies that are better tolerated by patients.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/using-car-t-cells-for-treating-cancerCyber Valley Stuttgart-Tübingen is a European hotspot for artificial intelligence and home to many renowned experts and scientists. They are now joined by Gabriele Schweikert, who heads up the Computational Epigenomics research group in the Cyber Valley’s Division of Computational Biology. Schweikert is interested in exploring epigenetic mechanisms using machine learning methods.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/epigenomik-aus-dem-cyber-valleyWhile a cancer-free world may seem unrealistic given the increasing numbers of cancer cases, we need to reach a social consensus that cancer deaths are unacceptable and that everything possible must be done to prevent them. Leading cancer researchers around the world are calling for more investment in prevention research and cancer screening to move towards the vision of a near cancer-free world.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/call-for-comprehensive-master-plan-preventing-treating-cancerA team of researchers led by Nobel laureate Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. mult. Harald zur Hausen has discovered a new type of infectious agent in dairy and meat products produced from European cattle that increases the risk for colon and breast cancer. These so-called Bovine Meat and Milk Factors (BMMFs) are small DNA molecules that are similar in sequence to both bacterial plasmids and certain viruses.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/new-pathogens-in-beef-and-cows-milk-contributing-to-the-risk-of-cancerCancer is usually not curable when metastases have formed in the body. Metastases are often resistant to drugs that have successfully eliminated the primary tumour. The basic features of the complex process of metastasis are now known, but many details still remain elusive. Intensive research activities are focusing on new therapeutic concepts aimed at developing effective anti-metastatic therapies.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/tumour-metastasisPersonalized medicine, medical technology, digital health and artificial intelligence are revolutionizing diagnostics and product development. Analyses are becoming faster and more precise, and data volumes can now be networked and used effectively. The goal of improving people's quality of life is within reach, and this will also strengthen Germany’s future viability. However, not every good idea can be turned into a marketable commodity.…
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/innovation-management-in-the-life-sciences-inova-de-provides-insightsLiquid biopsy, the analysis of cancer biomarkers and circulating tumour cells in body fluids such as blood, is revolutionising the diagnosis and monitoring of cancer. It has also been possible to expand circulating tumour cells from the blood under laboratory conditions. It is expected that in the future, liquid biopsy will be able to precisely characterise tumour cells at every stage of a cancer.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/tumour-monitoring-using-liquid-biopsyBreast cancer is characterised by broad genetic diversity. Successful treatment is made even more difficult by the fact that, in advanced breast cancer, the properties of metastases often differ significantly from the primary tumour. The Heidelberg CATCH study is now collecting genetic profiles from patients' metastasis tissue samples, which can be used to tailor therapy to individual requirements.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/personalisierte-therapieansaetze-bei-metastasiertem-brustkrebsAlmost all humans are infected with Epstein-Barr viruses (EBV), which are linked to the development of benign diseases such as infectious mononucleosis as well as several cancers. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center have developed a new strategy for creating a vaccine that targets different EBV virus life phases and has the potential to provide effective protection against EBV infection.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/vaccination-against-oncogenic-epstein-barr-virusesDiagnosing suitable biomarkers is a prerequisite for tailoring personalised therapies to patient heterogeneity. Genetic tests and genome sequencing play a key role in these diagnoses. Up until now, personalised therapy has achieved the greatest success in the field of oncology. However, personalised treatments are also gaining in importance for treating other diseases.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/with-molecular-diagnostics-to-biomarker-based-personalised-therapyEpigenetics, i.e. the inheritance of traits that does not involve a change in the DNA sequence, was once a controversial subject that has since become a central focus of biological research. Epigenetic inheritance is now studied by numerous national and international research programmes. Many cellular regulatory and differentiation processes are controlled by epigenetic mechanisms that take place on different levels.
https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/dossier/epigenetics-heritable-traits-without-changing-the-dna-sequence
