Archive for April 2006
April 30, 2006
New Spin-off Company, Vegenics Ltd
(Melbourne, New York, Helsinki) - The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (”LICR”) together with Circadian Technologies Limited (ASX: CIR) and Licentia Ltd, the commercial arm of the University of Helsinki, has announced the formation of a new company, Vegenics Ltd. Vegenics will develop and commercialise LICR and Licentia intellectual property and technology around the inhibition of two vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and the VEGF receptor-3, molecules required for angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis, which allow tumors to grow and cancer to spread. The cancer therapy, Avastin®, inhibits one member of the VEGF family and in 2005 earned Genentech ~US$1.1 billion.
April 12, 2006
Diabetes and Cancer: Alpha Connection
(London) - A study published by Nature today has defined the function of p110 alpha, the flag-ship molecule of the eight member PI3K family, which is one of the most frequently activated pathways in cancer. The function of p110 alpha in the body has eluded researchers for over a decade but a new approach to generating mouse models, has allowed investigators from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research’s (LICR) UCL Branch and the UCL Centre for Diabetes & Endocrinology to solve the mystery and yield important information for planned clinical trials with PI3K inhibitors.