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Newswise La Jolla, Calif., December 16, 2014 Two professors at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) have been named Charter Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI): Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., distinguished professor and former president of Sanford-Burnham, and Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., current president of the Institute. Ruoslahti and Vuori are now part of a group of 414 NAI Fellows from more than 150 prestigious research universities, government, and nonprofit research institutions.

Election to the NAI Fellows is a significant professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.

Im honored to be named a Charter Fellow of the NAI, said Vuori. I owe a large part of this distinction to the talented scientists, staff, and students I have worked with at Sanford-Burnham over the years.

Academic inventors are elected by their peers for innovative contributions in areas such as patenting and licensing, innovative discovery and technology, significant impact on society, and support and enhancement of innovation.

An internationally recognized leader in nanomedicine, Ruoslahti focuses his research on directing drugs to sites of disease. His main discovery and invention is the integrin-binding tripeptide motif RGD, a sequence within fibronectin that mediates cell attachment, and is found in numerous other cell-attachment proteins. His recent work has contributed to better tumor imaging and improving drug delivery to specific disease sites.

It is a great honor to be named a Fellow of the NAI, said Ruoslahti. There are so many giants of innovation that have received this distinction, and Im grateful to be part of that group.

Ruoslahti holds 314 issued patents, and is the founder of the Center for Nanomedicine at UC Santa Barbara, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the Institute for Medicine, and a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is the recipient of the Japan Prize, Gairdner Award, Clowes Award, Pasarow Award, and Jacobaeus Prize, and is a 2012 Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate. He is Knight and Commander of the Orders of the White Rose of Finland and the Lion of Finland.

Vuori joined the faculty of Sanford-Burnham in 1996 and has been president of Sanford-Burnham since 2010. She is also professor and holder of the Pauline and Stanley Presidential Chair, and served as director of Sanford-Burnhams NCI-designated Cancer Center from 2005 until 2013. Her main research focus is aimed at unraveling the molecular mechanisms of cancer metastasis, particularly the process that makes normal cells adhesion dependent. Normal cells adhere to their microenvironment for survival; if they become detached they will die. Cancer cells are somehow able to detach from their surroundings and move to other tissues in the body and survive and grow. Understanding the mechanisms of cell adhesion opens new approaches to preventing cancer metastasis.

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National Academy of Inventors Names Two Sanford-Burnham Researchers as Charter Fellows

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

11-Dec-2014

Contact: Keith Coles keith.coles@brunel.ac.uk Brunel University @bruneluni

Scientists at Brunel University London have found a way of targeting hard-to-reach cancers and degenerative diseases using nanoparticles, but without causing the damaging side effects the treatment normally brings.

In a huge step forward in the use of nanomedicine, the research helped discover proteins in the blood that disguise nanoparticles so they are absorbed into cells without causing inflammation and destroying healthy cells.

Two studies, Complement activation by carbon nanotubes and its influence on the phagocytosis and cytokine response by macrophages and Complement deposition on nanoparticles can modulate immune responses by macrophage, B and T cells, found that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) triggered a chain reaction in the complement system, which is part of the innate immune system and is responsible for clearing pathogens and toxins.

The team, led by Dr Uday Kishore of the Centre for Infection, Immunity and Disease Mechanisms, found the entire complement system was activated, from C1 at the start to C5 at the end. This in turn activated the cell-killing membrane attack complex.

In principle, this should have caused an acute allergic, inflammatory reaction. However the opposite was true.

The interaction between CNTs and C1q (a starter-protein for complement) was anti-inflammatory. This suggests that either coating nanoparticles or healthy tissue with complement proteins could reduce tissue damage and help treat inflammatory diseases like Parkinson's, Huntington's, ALS and Alzheimer's.

It was not clear if the binding between complement proteins and CNTs was direct or indirect. However, changing the surfaces of CNTs affected how likely the complement system was to be activated and in what way.

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'Trojan horse' proteins used to target hard-to-reach cancers

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Nanomedicine Ethics
Ethics Regarding Nanomedicine Leicester University.

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Homeopathy Nanomedicine in Chronic Disease and Immune Disorders - Dana Ullman
Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH presents Homeopathy Nanomedicine in Chronic Disease and Immune Disorders on October 16, 2014 at Palo Alto, CA. DANA ULLMAN, MPH, CCH, is one of America #39;s ...

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The Department of NanoMedicine and Biomedical Engineering is focused on inter-disciplinary research combining NanoMedicine, Biomedical Engineering and computational sciences to develop novel therapeutic and diagnostic platforms for combating diseases including cancer, cardiovascular diseases and infectious diseases. In partnership with UT M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, a number of major initiatives are being brought together in the South Campus CABIR research building, including a new multi-institutional NCI Center on NanoMedicine and a GE, UTHealth and UTMDACC partnership to create a new, state-of-the-art imaging center.

A NanoMedicine and Biomedical Engineering Scholarly Concentration is designed to offer the student the opportunity to learn emerging new technologies in biomedical nanotechnology and engineering.

A series of cross-appointments with faculty in other departments, divisions, and units and adjunct appointments with faculty in other collaborating institutions through The Alliance for NanoHealth and other Texas Medical Center institutions are utilized to enhance multidisciplinary research and expand the available opportunities for the training and teaching of students.

Several ongoing research projects include:

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The Department of NanoMedicine and BioMedical Engineering

By Estel Grace Masangkay

Clinical stage nanomedicine platform company BIND Therapeutics announced that it has signed a joint R&D agreement with Merck to develop novel nanomedicines for oncology.

According to the terms of the agreement, BIND will use its Medicinal Nanoengineering proprietary platform to build targeted Accurins that will be based on investigational KSP and PLK1 inhibitors selected from Mercks preclinical oncology portfolio. The partnership could potentially include additional Merck compounds in the future. BIND will take the lead in funding and conducting R&D activities to move Accurin candidates through first-in-human trials. Merck and BIND will then have alternate options to choose whether or not to develop and market the Accurin products. If BIND chooses to pursue further development, Merck will be eligible to receive royalty payments once the products reach the market. However, if Merck assumes responsibility for further development, it will pay BIND a fee based on R&D expenses with additional royalty payments on future sales. No further financial terms of the agreement were disclosed by either company.

Accurins are nanoparticles that are used to encapsulate anticancer drugs in a biodegradable polymer shell, which carries the drug to the targeted cancer cells and can keep healthy cells safe. The first two compounds from Merck will include a kinesin spindle protein (KSP) inhibitor and a polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) inhibitor, which are both regulators of cell mitosis and which play a part in enabling cancer cells to multiply. KSP and PLK1 pathways are considered difficult to target using traditional agents due to therapeutic index limitations.

Scott Minick, CEO of BIND Therapeutics, said, This is an exciting and unique collaboration for BIND as it provides us with novel proprietary payloads to develop as Accurin product candidates for our internal pipeline. BIND recently saw a previous partnership with Amgen fizzle out in July, which caused its shares to drop in value in September. The new deal with Merck validates its technology and position in the nanomedicine field, the company said.

Dr. Eric Rubin, VP of clinical oncology at Merck Research Laboratories, said, We are pleased to collaborate with BIND Therapeutics to expand Merck's active oncology discovery programs. We look forward to combining compounds from our oncology portfolio with BIND's nanomedicine technology platform.

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Merck And BIND To Develop Nanomeds For Cancer

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

12-Nov-2014

Contact: Michael Bernstein m_bernstein@acs.org 202-872-6042 American Chemical Society @ACSpressroom

Nanomedicine is offering patients a growing arsenal of therapeutic drugs for a variety of diseases but often at a cost of thousands of dollars a month. Generics could substantially reduce the price tag for patients -- if only there were a well-defined way to make and regulate them. An article in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, details the challenges on the road to generic nanodrugs.

Matt Davenport, a C&EN contributing editor, points out that in small-molecule therapeutics -- aspirin, for example -- the active ingredient is the primary concern of regulators. For these drugs, making generic versions is a relatively straightforward process. Nanomedicine, on the other hand, is far more complicated. It often involves packaging an active ingredient inside engineered delivery systems made out of materials such as lipids, polymers or carbohydrates. Even slight changes to a nanodrug's structure can result in a different toxicity level.

To date, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved dozens of nanodrugs although it has no formal regulatory definition for what a nanodrug is. Such a definition would be a first step toward clearer regulations.

The agency currently examines each nano therapeutic on a case-by-case basis and offers guidance to drug makers that is nonbinding for now. Still, in 2013, the FDA signed off on what many consider to be the first generic therapeutic in this category, but no one is sure when the next approval might come.

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To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

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Regulatory and scientific complexity of generic nanodrugs could delay savings for patients

Assiut International Center of Nanomedicine (AICN)

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

22-Oct-2014

Contact: Nicole Davis nmdavisphd@gmail.com 617-823-3468 Brigham and Women's Hospital @BrighamWomens

Boston, MA A research team led by Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has developed and tested a novel nanoparticle platform that efficiently delivers clinically important proteins in vivo in initial proof-of-concept tests. Nanoparticles, which are particles measuring nanometers in size, hold promise for a range of applications, including human therapeutics. The key advantage of the new platform, known as a thermosponge nanoparticle, is that it eliminates the need for harsh solvents, which can damage the very molecules the particles are designed to carry.

The study is published online October 21 in Nano Letters.

"A central challenge in applying nanoparticle technology to protein therapeutics is preserving proteins' biological activity, which can be inactivated by the organic solvents used in nanoparticle engineering," said Omid Farokhzad, MD, Director of the BWH Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials. "Our research demonstrates that the thermosponge platform, which enables the solvent-free loading of proteins, is a promising approach for the delivery of a variety of proteins, including highly labile proteins such as IL-10."

Protein-based therapeutics form an important class of drugs to treat a range of human diseases. However, significant challenges in their development have generally resulted in very slow development paths. To overcome these challenges, Farokhzad and his colleagues sought to create improved nanoparticle methods for delivering protein therapies.

The new thermosponge nanoparticles (TNPs) they developed are composed of biocompatible and biodegradable polymers. These polymers include a central, spherical core, made of the polymer poly(D,L-lactide), and an outer "thermosponge," made of a polaxomer polymer. The core can be either positively or negatively charged, to allow for the delivery of negatively or positively charged proteins, respectively. Importantly, the thermosponge shell can expand or contract as temperatures change, which permits the solvent-free loading of proteins onto the TNP.

The researchers selected a range of different proteins for loading onto the TNPs, including positively-charged interleukin-10 (IL-10) and erythropoietin, and negatively-charged insulin and human growth hormone. The proteins showed similar patterns of sustained release for four days after loading, indicating that the TNPs are able to effectively deliver a variety of proteins.

Further tests showed that the proteins loaded onto the TNPs retained their bioactivity throughout both loading and release from the TNPs.

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Sopping up proteins with thermosponges

If you skin your knee, your body makes new skin. If you donate a portion of your liver, whats left will grow back to near-normal size. But if you lose a billion heart cells during a heart attack, only a small fraction of those will be replaced. In the words of Ke Cheng, an associate professor of regenerative medicine at N.C. State, The hearts self-repair potency is very limited.

Cheng has designed a nanomedicine he hopes will give the heart some help. It consists of an engineered nanoparticle that gathers the bodys own self-repair cells and brings them to the injured heart tissue.

In this case, the self-repair cells are adult stem cells. A stem cell is a very rich biological factory, Cheng said. Stem cells can become heart muscle, or they can produce growth factors that are beneficial to the regrowth of heart muscle.

After a heart attack, dying and dead heart cells release chemical signals that alert stem cells circulating in the blood to move to the injured site. But there just arent very many stem cells in the bloodstream, and sometimes they are not sufficiently attracted to the injured tissue.

Matchmakers with hooks

The nanomedicine Cheng designed consists of an iron-based nanoparticle festooned with two different kinds of hooks one kind of hook grabs adult stem cells, and the other kind of hook grabs injured heart tissue. Cheng calls the nanomedicine a matchmaker, because it brings together cells that can make repairs with cells that need repairs.

The hooks are antibodies that seek and grab certain types of cells. Because the antibodies are situated on an iron nanoparticle, they and the stem cells theyve grabbed can be physically directed to the heart using an external magnet. Cheng calls the nanomedicine MagBICE, for magnetic bifunctional cell engager.

The magnet is a first pass to get the iron-based particles and antibodies near the heart. Once there, the antibodies are able to identify and stick to the injured heart tissue, bringing the stem cells right where they need to go. Using two methods of targeting the magnet and the antibodies improves the chances of being able to bring a large number of stem cells at the site of injury.

In addition to providing a way to physically move the stem cells to the heart, the iron nanoparticles are visible on MRI machines, which allows MagBICE to be visualized after its infused into the bloodstream.

Cheng doesnt foresee much toxicity from the nanomedicine unless someone is allergic or particularly sensitive to iron. In fact, the iron-based nanoparticle that forms the platform for the antibodies is an FDA-approved IV treatment for anemia.

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Can a bodys own stem cells help heal a heart?

Nanomedicine Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share,Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 20
http://my.brainshark.com/Nanomedicine-Market-Global-Industry-Analysis-Size-Share-Growth-Trends-and-Forecast-2013-2019-32554938 - Transparency Market Research...

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Nanomedicine Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share,Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 20 - Video

Yuri Svidinenko Nanomedicine Medical Animation including Oncology
Yuri is a noted medical illustrator who specializes in NanoMedicine, and Oncology, and speaks about the way he visualizes, and creates his excellent animated illustrations of Nanomedince and ...

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The Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy and Nanomedicine w/ Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH -- Part I (of V)
A presentation at San Francisco #39;s prestigious Commonwealth Club (September 17, 2014). The body of evidence for homeopathy and nanopharmacology is so much larger than most people realize, ...

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The Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy and Nanomedicine w/ Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH -- Part I (of V) - Video

#4: Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy, Nanomedicine
Part 4: A presentation by DANA ULLMAN, MPH, CCH, at San Francisco #39;s prestigious Commonwealth Club (September 17, 2014). The body of evidence for homeopathy and nanopharmacology is so ...

By: Dana Ullman

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#4: Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy, & Nanomedicine - Video

#3-Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy, Nanomedicine
Part 3: A presentation at San Francisco #39;s prestigious Commonwealth Club (September 17, 2014). The body of evidence for homeopathy and nanopharmacology is so much larger than most people ...

By: Dana Ullman

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#3-Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy, & Nanomedicine - Video

#5: Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy, Nanomedicine
Part 2: A presentation at San Francisco #39;s prestigious Commonwealth Club (September 17, 2014). The body of evidence for homeopathy and nanopharmacology is so much larger than most people ...

By: Dana Ullman

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#5: Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy, & Nanomedicine - Video

#2 Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy Nanomedicine
Part 2: A presentation at San Francisco #39;s prestigious Commonwealth Club (September 17, 2014). The body of evidence for homeopathy and nanopharmacology is so much larger than most people ...

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#2 Cutting Edge of Science, Homeopathy & Nanomedicine - Video

Annual Report: CIBBIM Nanomedicine
The area studies the use of nanotechnology in biomedical applications mainly with two purposes: first, to improve therapeutic strategies and second, to improve the diagnostics. The work is...

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Innovative batch and flow reactors from leading manufacturer Syrris are proving advantageous for a variety of nanoparticle applications, offering scientists working in the field numerous benefits. Simple to assemble with no tools required, the easy-to-use reactors enable conditions such as temperature, time, mixing, reagent ratios and concentrations to be quickly varied for rapid process optimization. Excellent mixing and temperature control ensure a narrow particle size distribution and, to further enhance reproducibility, the systems can be fully automated.

Batch reactors such as the modular Atlas system offer multiple sensors including temperature, pH and turbidity, and have no particle size restrictions. With a large choice of reactor sizes, process scale-up is straightforward. One company successfully performing batch synthesis of nanoparticles is Spanish nanomedicine company Midatech Biogune. "Our Atlas Potassium reactors have allowed us to scale-up production, enabling variables such as pH and temperature to be tightly controlled," said CEO Justin Barry. Flow chemists have enjoyed similar success, with Paulina Lloret, a researcher at the Argentinian National Institute of Industrial Technologies, saying, "We trialed our nanoparticle experiments on the Asia flow chemistry system, and immediately placed an order for our own system to optimize the speed and results of our synthesis workflow". The flexible Asia system's fast and reproducible mixing, excellent heat transfer and accurate temperature control, plus a wide range of flow rates, allow process optimization and production on the same reactor. This high level of control has enabled synthesis of nanoparticles not previously seen using batch techniques.

Syrris Limited Syrris is world renowned for excellence in chemical reactor systems and is a world leader in flow chemistry systems. Established in 2001, Syrris employs over 30 scientists and engineers at its facility in Royston (near Cambridge, UK) and has offices in the US, Japan, India and Brazil plus over 30 distributors worldwide.

Syrris develops laboratory automation products for research and development chemists in industries such as pharma, petrochem, agrochem, fine chemical synthesis etc. as well as academia. Syrris products are used in a wide variety of applications and laboratories including process, discovery, crystallization, process safety, scale-up and many more.

Syrris products include the innovative range of fully automated batch reactor products (Atlas), a manually operated jacketed reactor platform (Globe) and flow chemistry systems (Asia and Africa). In recognition of its technological achievements, Syrris has been awarded the "Eastern Region's UKTI Best Established Exporter" and the "Most Outstanding Export Achievement" at the Global Opportunity Conference on International Trade. Syrris' Asia Flow Chemistry system was the recipient of a prestigious 2012 RD award.

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Nanoparticle Synthesis Benefits From Award-winning Syrris Batch and Flow Reactors