Scientists at Harvard and MIT have discovered a link between autism symptoms and neurotransmitters. The connection between the GABA neurotransmitter and autistic behavioral symptoms could lead to better treatment options.
The neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is responsible for controlling and managing the influx of information to the brain so that it can be processed more easily. While reduced GABA activity has been found in animals with autism-like symptoms, this is the first time a connection has been made between humans with autism and neurotransmitters in the brain.
Los diversos agentes del mercado inmobiliario ya están empezando a conocer una de las grandes operaciones que marcarán el inicio de 2016. La firma de capital riesgo CVC Capital Partners está cerrando la estructura de una operación para sacar beneficio de los inmuebles del grupo Quirón Salud.
El grupo hospitalario se dividirá en dos sociedades: una que lleve la gestión médica y que se seguirá llamando Quirón Salud, y otra que tenga la propiedad de los inmuebles, según confirmaron fuentes de Quirón Salud.
Un total de 47 médicos de la sanidad pública y privada han sido imputados por el cobro de comisiones ilegales desde la empresa Traiber para utilizar prótesis de rodilla, cadera y columna de esta compañía, que también está siendo investigada por comercializar productos caducados y sin los certificados legales en regla. Esto ha obligado a poner bajo vigilancia a más de 6.000 pacientes españoles en los últimos meses. En algunos casos, Traiber vendió prótesis que llevaban más de 10 años caducadas.
Protein drugs have become a critical part of healthcare. They attack diseases differently than old fashioned small molecule drugs, and have helped the biotech industry rise to prominence over the past few decades.
But proteins have their limitations. Many have to be taken frequently, or infused in hospitals, to work the way they should. Lessening that burden could provide a big convenience to patients, something a startup called Arsia Therapeutics is trying help out with.
Genetically engineering red blood cells to turn them into drug-delivery vehicles could open the door to a vast number of new therapies. And since mature red cells don’t carry any genetic material, they would also carry fewer safety risks than other gene and cell therapies. That’s the idea behind the technology unveiled today by Rubius, an 18-month-old company founded by Flagship Ventures in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
This year has so far shaped up to be a breakout year for healthcare investing, with over $6B invested and deep-pocketed hedge funds and mutual funds increasingly involved in deals.
Pharmaceutical corporations are also playing a huge role in this space, with many pharma companies effectively outsourcing the R&D of some newer and experimental drugs to smaller, more nimble companies by investing in them.
In the United States, the Affordable Care Act created economic incentives that encourage preventive care, in order to move the healthcare system away from the “fee-for-service” mindset that pushes doctors and hospitals to provide as many procedures as possible.
The move toward service where the goal is keeping patients healthy and out of hospitals has created an opportunity for preventive care-focused startups.
Treating sick people with healthy blood is nothing new. But a new biotech company wants to treat disease by transforming red blood cells into tiny medicine delivery pods, using genetic engineering techniques that have helped turn other human cells into cutting-edge cancer therapies.
The startup is called Rubius Therapeutics, and it’s announcing today a $25 million investment from Flagship Ventures, a Cambridge, MA-based venture group.
Bacterial infection is a fairly common and potentially dangerous complication of wound healing, but a new “intelligent” dressing that turns fluorescent green to signal the onset of an infection could provide physicians a valuable early-detection system.
Researchers in the United Kingdom recently unveiled a prototype of the color-changing bandage, which contains a gel-like material infused with tiny capsules that release nontoxic fluorescent dye in response to contact with populations of bacteria that commonly cause wound infections.
Roche is the world’s biggest maker of cancer drugs, but it hasn’t moved into cellular immunotherapy, one of oncology’s most promising new treatments that turns our own immune cells into cancer killers. Today the Swiss company is taking the plunge by turning to tiny Boston startup SQZ Biotech and working on a form of immunotherapy they say may overcome some of the field’s most significant limitations.
The companies aren’t saying how much Roche is paying SQZ (pronounced “squeeze”) at first, but the biotech could ultimately earn more than $500 million as they develop cell therapies together for a broad range of cancers.
