IVRI transfers technologies to Hester
12 April 2011 | News
The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Uttar Pradesh, has
transferred two potential technologies to Gujarat-based Hester
Biosciences, a leading poultry manufacturing company, for
commercialization. These technologies from IVRI include a PPR vaccine
and Goat Pox vaccine that have been directly commercialized through
Zonal Technology Management- Business Planning and Development Unit
(ZTM-BPD Unit). The institute is also offering various other veterinary
vaccine and diagnostic technologies for commercialization.
The demand for veterinary vaccine and diagnostics are increasing and many commercial houses are contacting IVRI for the technologies. Prof MC Sharma, director and vice chancellor, IVRI, said, “IVRI as distinguished institute in Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) has a glorious history of 120 years in veterinary immune-biologicals. Recently, the Veterinary
Business Incubator laboratory has been established at IVRI and this is the first business incubator in veterinary sciences in the world. Hester Biosciences has also shown interest to take the business incubator laboratory at IVRI.”
Considering the potential of technology commercialization and business incubation, ICAR has selected IVRI and established ZTM-BPD unit for technology commercialization, IP management and entrepreneurship development in ICAR North Zone II. The ZTM-BPD Unit extends its services to 20 ICAR institutes of animal sciences, crop and horticultural sciences, natural resource management and fisheries.
Stem cells shrink enlarged hearts
Researchers have shown for the first time that stem cells
injected into enlarged hearts reduced their size, reduced scar tissue
and improved function to injured heart areas, according to the research
report published in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart
Association.
Researchers said that while this research is in the early stages, the findings are promising for people suffering from enlarged hearts due to damage sustained from heart attacks. Options for treatment are limited to life-long medications and major medical interventions, such as heart transplantation.
Using catheters, researchers injected stem cells derived from the patient's own bone marrow into the hearts of eight men (average age 57) with chronically enlarged, low-functioning hearts. Heart size decreased an average of 15-20 percent, which is about three times what is possible with current medical therapies. There was dramatic improvement in the function, or contraction, of specific heart areas that were damaged.
The researchers had used two different types of bone marrow stem cells in their study — mononuclear or mesenchymal stem cells. All patients in the study benefited from the therapy and tolerated the injections with no serious adverse events.
New gene therapy reverses Parkinson’s
Neurologix has announced that the results of the company's phase II clinical trial for its novel, investigational gene therapy NLX-P101 for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) were published in an online edition of The Lancet Neurology. The randomized, double-blind, sham surgery-controlled trial of 45 subjects with advanced PD met its primary outcome measurement for efficacy and demonstrated that NLX-P101 gene therapy was safe and well-tolerated over the six month blinded study period.
Study results show that NLX-P101 treatment led to a mean 23.1 percent improvement (8.1 points) in off-medication Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score at the six-month study end-point, compared to a mean 12.7 percent (4.7 points) improvement with sham treatment.
Study results also show that 50 percent of subjects treated with NLX-P101 achieved previously defined moderate-to-large clinically-meaningful symptom improvements (> / = 9 points in UPDRS), as compared to just 14 percent of subjects who received a sham surgical treatment (p=0.03). No serious adverse events (SAEs) related to the gene therapy or surgical procedure were reported.
This is the first phase II study conducted under a rigorous randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled surgical design to conclusively demonstrate that gene therapy can be effective for neurological diseases.
The demand for veterinary vaccine and diagnostics are increasing and many commercial houses are contacting IVRI for the technologies. Prof MC Sharma, director and vice chancellor, IVRI, said, “IVRI as distinguished institute in Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) has a glorious history of 120 years in veterinary immune-biologicals. Recently, the Veterinary
Business Incubator laboratory has been established at IVRI and this is the first business incubator in veterinary sciences in the world. Hester Biosciences has also shown interest to take the business incubator laboratory at IVRI.”
Considering the potential of technology commercialization and business incubation, ICAR has selected IVRI and established ZTM-BPD unit for technology commercialization, IP management and entrepreneurship development in ICAR North Zone II. The ZTM-BPD Unit extends its services to 20 ICAR institutes of animal sciences, crop and horticultural sciences, natural resource management and fisheries.
Stem cells shrink enlarged hearts
Researchers have shown for the first time that stem cells
injected into enlarged hearts reduced their size, reduced scar tissue
and improved function to injured heart areas, according to the research
report published in Circulation Research: Journal of the American Heart
Association.Researchers said that while this research is in the early stages, the findings are promising for people suffering from enlarged hearts due to damage sustained from heart attacks. Options for treatment are limited to life-long medications and major medical interventions, such as heart transplantation.
Using catheters, researchers injected stem cells derived from the patient's own bone marrow into the hearts of eight men (average age 57) with chronically enlarged, low-functioning hearts. Heart size decreased an average of 15-20 percent, which is about three times what is possible with current medical therapies. There was dramatic improvement in the function, or contraction, of specific heart areas that were damaged.
The researchers had used two different types of bone marrow stem cells in their study — mononuclear or mesenchymal stem cells. All patients in the study benefited from the therapy and tolerated the injections with no serious adverse events.
New gene therapy reverses Parkinson’s
Neurologix has announced that the results of the company's phase II clinical trial for its novel, investigational gene therapy NLX-P101 for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) were published in an online edition of The Lancet Neurology. The randomized, double-blind, sham surgery-controlled trial of 45 subjects with advanced PD met its primary outcome measurement for efficacy and demonstrated that NLX-P101 gene therapy was safe and well-tolerated over the six month blinded study period.
Study results show that NLX-P101 treatment led to a mean 23.1 percent improvement (8.1 points) in off-medication Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor score at the six-month study end-point, compared to a mean 12.7 percent (4.7 points) improvement with sham treatment.
Study results also show that 50 percent of subjects treated with NLX-P101 achieved previously defined moderate-to-large clinically-meaningful symptom improvements (> / = 9 points in UPDRS), as compared to just 14 percent of subjects who received a sham surgical treatment (p=0.03). No serious adverse events (SAEs) related to the gene therapy or surgical procedure were reported.
This is the first phase II study conducted under a rigorous randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled surgical design to conclusively demonstrate that gene therapy can be effective for neurological diseases.
