Biotech News Headlines

Biotech drugmaker Amgen Inc. introduced new CEO Bob Bradway to shareholders Wednesday at the company's annual meeting, with retiring CEO Kevin Sharer stepping down after a decade running the world's largest biotech company.

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists are turning to genetic testing to see if they can prove the existence of the elusive hairy humanoid known across the world as bigfoot, yeti and sasquatch. A joint project between Oxford University and Switzerland's Lausanne Museum of Zoology will examine organic remains that some say belong …

FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Personal genetic testing does not lead to an increased use of health services, a new study finds.

Shares of Osiris Therapeutics traded higher Friday, a day after Canadian regulators approved the company's first-of-a-kind stem cell therapy Prochymal, a treatment for a deadly side effect of bone marrow transplants.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Osiris Therapeutics Inc said on Thursday that Canadian health regulators have approved its treatment for acute graft-versus host disease in children, making it the first stem cell drug to be approved for a systemic disease anywhere in the world. Osiris shares rose 14 percent to $6.00 in extended trading …

BOSTON (Reuters) - Osiris Therapeutics Inc said on Thursday that Canadian health regulators have approved its treatment for acute graft-versus host disease in children, making it the first stem cell drug to be approved for a systemic disease anywhere in the world. Osiris shares rose 14 percent to $6.00 in extended trading …

Osiris Therapeutics Inc. said Thursday that Canadian regulators approved its stem cell therapy Prochymal, which is intended to treat a deadly side effect of bone marrow transplants.

LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have mapped the complete genetic codes of 21 breast cancers and created a catalogue of the mutations that accumulate in breast cells, raising hopes that the disease may be able to be spotted earlier and treated more effectively in future. The research, the first of its kind, untangles the genetic …

KELOWNA, B.C. - Orchardists in B.C.'s Okanagan region worry that the introduction of genetically modified trees could take a bite out of fruit sales.

WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that a new DNA test may be able to spot an increased risk of autism in children as young as 6 months old.

THURSDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- A new treatment that involves spinning bone marrow stem cells to enhance their healing potential may help people with advanced heart failure feel and function better, a small study suggests.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - David Blech, an investor who was known as the "King of Biotech" before he admitted to criminal charges of stock manipulation in 1998, has run into trouble with the law again over illegal trades in stocks of two biopharmaceutical companies. Blech told a federal judge in New York on Wednesday that in …

A genetic study of horses across Eastern Europe and Central Asia has traced the domestication of one of man's most powerful animal allies to wide-open grasslands shared by Ukraine, southwest Russia and Kazakhstan, researchers said Monday.

Almost halfway through a $600 million state program supporting stem cell research, eight medical schools around New York are reporting progress on projects such as replicating liver cells and eradicating leukemia cells.

THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers who found a way to rejuvenate aged blood-forming cells in mice say their achievement offers clues about how it may be possible to combat health problems associated with old age.

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - It's no secret that healthy habits do your heart good. But a new study helps confirm that lifestyle also matters for people who have a genetically increased risk of heart problems. The study, reported in the American Journal of Cardiology, focused on men who had at least one parent who'd had …

WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- New research shows that gene therapy can have long-lasting effects on the immune cells of HIV patients -- a promising sign -- even though the specific treatment being studied did not eradicate the virus.

LONDON (Reuters) - Biotech companies are fighting back in an unequal battle with Big Pharma, helped by a small but powerful cohort of investors who dominate the companies' share registers. A Reuters analysis of 10 likely biotech takeover targets shows the extent to which a few large investors, including Fidelity Investments, …

Scientists have identified a gene that slows the spread of pancreatic cancer tumours, paving the way for targeted treatment of one of the deadliest forms of the disease, said a paper published Sunday.

FRIDAY, April 27 (HealthDay News) -- Two genetic variations are linked to a common form of glaucoma, known as primary open-angle glaucoma, according to new research.

Researchers in Argentina have isolated a drought-resistant sunflower gene and spliced it into soy, bolstering hopes for improved yields as the South American agricultural powerhouse grapples with global warming.

THURSDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have identified genes linked to the small stature of Western African Pygmies in Cameroon.

LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca is to buy U.S. company Ardea Biosciences for $1.26 billion, giving it a new gout drug to bolster a weak pipeline in a deal that feeds a wave of M&A in the biotechnology sector. The $32 per share acquisition - a 54 percent premium to Ardea's closing price on Friday - is worth $1 billion after …