Haematology analyser fast drug therapy decision making at POC

A study has confirmed that the granulocyte count of the recently launched ABX Micros ES60 3-part differential haematology analyser from HORIBA Medical correlates well when compared to the neutrophil count of a 5-part differential analyser, in the absence of specific flagging.

The neutrophil count is a key parameter in determining the treatment outcomes, with regards to chemotherapy, for both oncology and haematology patients, as well as for some other drug therapies, such as Clozapine.

B.I.G Talents in biotech, IT and greentech

B.I.G. Talents, the first national event combining biotechnology, information technology and green technology, will be held in Rouen, France, on 17-18 November 2010 and will feature both an exhibition centre and business conference. This trade event in the field of applications and innovative technologies takes place in the Haute-Normandie region, an area that is well known for its expertise in the sector.

Frédéric Sanchez, President of the Agence de Développement Economique de l’Agglomération Rouennaise (ADEAR), the Economic Development Agency for the Rouen Region, says: "More than 6,200 people are now working in R&D in Haute-Normandie across fields as varied as aerospace, the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, the automotive industry and the chemicals sector. The Rouen region offers an excellent wealth of resources. When it comes to innovation, it is the perfect place to host and organise a national event like B.I.G. Talents."

Domainex appointments Joanne McCudden as Head of Business Development

Domainex Ltd announces the appointment of Dr Joanne McCudden as Head of Business Development. Joanne joins the company with a wealth of experience in the biotech sector having held business development positions at Cobra Biomanufacturing PLC and, more recently, with SynCo Bio Partners where she was the Director of Sales and Marketing.

Dr Eddy Littler CEO of Domainex said: “Domainex is entering a new phase in its development. Our service division is undergoing a significant expansion with a number of new contracts, and our drug discovery division has advanced its first project - on the kinase targets IKKe and TBK1 - to a point where we will seek to outlicense the project during 2011. We are delighted that Joanne is joining Domainex in order to spearhead our future Business Development activities”.

Domainex Ltd

Epistem to present data from its model of Crohn's Disease colitis study

Epistem plc , the UK biotechnology and contract research company, will present preclinical results from its recently completed colitis study at the Inflammation Research Association (IRA) conference in Chantilly, Virginia, USA between 26-29th September 2010.

In a contracted study, Epistem successfully completed the testing of a number of neutralizing antibodies.

Data will be presented by Epistem Dr James Wilson, demonstrating that the therapeutic antibodies significantly reduced the symptoms of disease using a preclinical chronic "adoptive T cell transfer" model of human colitis. Many features of Epistem's colitis model are characteristic of human Crohn's disease, which is a serious and chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

bioMérieux awarded NHSBT contract for bacterial screening of platelets

bioMérieux, has been chosen by National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) for bacterial screening of platelets in England and North Wales. During an extensive tender process, a number of technologies for screening platelet products were evaluated and bioMérieux’ s BacT/ALERT 3D for bacterial screening has been chosen.