logo
Biotech Start-Ups Feel the Pain of Federal Funding Cuts

Biotech Start-Ups Feel the Pain of Federal Funding Cuts

Bloomberg2 days ago

The Trump administration's attack on the National Institutes of Health is strangling the biotech industry's innovation engine — and it could get much worse.
The ongoing, brutal termination of grant funding for academic research has rightfully dominated the headlines. These cuts will eventually become a real problem, as fewer dollars mean fewer discoveries to be pulled from academia and into biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Pediatric HS Linked to Obesity, Acne, Other Comorbidities
Pediatric HS Linked to Obesity, Acne, Other Comorbidities

Medscape

timean hour ago

  • Medscape

Pediatric HS Linked to Obesity, Acne, Other Comorbidities

A meta-analysis of 19 studies found that pediatric patients with hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) show an increased rate of medical and psychiatric comorbidities, including obesity. METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 observational studies (14 US studies), which included 17,267 pediatric patients with HS (76.7% girls; mean age, 12-17 years) and 8,259,944 pediatric patients without HS. The primary outcome was the prevalence of comorbidities in pediatric patients with HS. The main categories included metabolic, endocrinologic, inflammatory, psychiatric, dermatologic, and genetic comorbidities. TAKEAWAY: In the meta-analysis, the most prevalent condition in patients with HS was acne vulgaris (43%), followed by obesity (37%), anxiety (18%), and hirsutism (14%). Obesity showed moderate certainty association with HS in children, with prevalence ratios ranging up to 2.48, odds ratios ranging from 1.27 to 2.68, and hazard ratios up to 1.52 ( P < .001). < .001). Researchers also found a probable association between depression and HS (moderate certainty), with all studies reporting a higher incidence among patients with HS. An association with diabetes was reported in three studies (low certainty). IN PRACTICE: 'Given the significant risk of chronic comorbidities and negative sequelae in pediatric HS, our findings highlight a need for comprehensive comorbidity screening clinical guidelines in this population and emphasize the involvement of multidisciplinary teams to achieve this,' the study authors wrote. SOURCE: The study was led by Samiha T. Mohsen, MSc, University of Toronto, Toronto, and was published online on June 11 in JAMA Dermatology . LIMITATIONS: Several of the included studies were graded as low quality, and most studies did not compare the risks of comorbidities between the two groups. Most of the studies were from the US, which could limit generalizability. Significant heterogeneity was reported across the studies. DISCLOSURES: The funding source was not disclosed. Three authors reported receiving grants, personal fees, and honoraria from multiple pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, Novartis, UCB, Incyte, Novartis, Celltrion, Leo Pharma, Pfizer, Sanofi, and the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance. Other authors reported no conflicts of interest.

UC Davis breakthrough lets ALS patient speak using only his thoughts
UC Davis breakthrough lets ALS patient speak using only his thoughts

CBS News

timean hour ago

  • CBS News

UC Davis breakthrough lets ALS patient speak using only his thoughts

Allowing people with disabilities to talk by just thinking about a word, that's what UC Davis researchers hope to accomplish with new cutting-edge technology. It can be a breakthrough for people with ALS and other nonverbal conditions. One UC Davis Health patient has been diagnosed with ALS, a neurological disease that makes it impossible to speak out loud. Scientists have now directly wired his brain into a computer, allowing him to speak through it using only his thoughts. "It has been very exciting to see the system work," said Maitreyee Wairagkar, a UC Davis neuroprosthetics lab project scientist. The technology involves surgically implanting small electrodes. Artificial intelligence can then translate the neural activity into words. UC Davis researchers say it took the patient, who's not being publicly named, very little time to learn the technology. "Within 30 minutes, he was able to use this system to speak with a restricted vocabulary," Wairagkar said. It takes just milliseconds for brain waves to be interpreted by the computer, making it possible to hold a real-time conversation. "[The patient] has said that the voice that is synthesized with the system sounds like his own voice and that makes him happy," Wairagkar said. And it's not just words. The technology can even be used to sing. "These are just very simple melodies that we designed to see whether the system can capture his intention to change the pitch," Wairagkar said. Previously, ALS patients would use muscle or eye movements to type on a computer and generate a synthesized voice. That's how physicist Stephen Hawking, who also had ALS, was able to slowly speak. This new technology is faster but has only been used on one patient so far. Now, there's hope that these microchip implants could one day help other people with spinal cord and brain stem injuries. "There are millions of people around the world who live with speech disabilities," Wairagkar said. The UC Davis scientific study was just published in the journal "Nature," and researchers are looking for other volunteers to participate in the program.

We can cure baldness, claim scientists
We can cure baldness, claim scientists

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

We can cure baldness, claim scientists

Anxiously checking in the mirror for signs of male pattern baldness may be a thing of the past, as scientists in Madrid believe they have found a way to reverse hair loss. Researchers at the San Carlos clinic in the Spanish capital claim they were able to regrow hair on mice in almost all cases during an experimental stem cell treatment study. The project involved giving male and female mice dihydrotestosterone, a by-product of testosterone that causes receding hair lines in men and thinning hair in women. Once the rodents had lost all their fur, half of them were injected with stem cells taken from body fat as well as a chemical called adenosine triphosphate, which stimulates cellular growth. The other half were given a placebo. All the male mice given the stem cell-chemical cocktail experienced hair regrowth, with around half getting back all their fur. The majority of the female mice also regrew their coats. 'Hair grew back in all of the treated male mice. In the case of the females, a lower dose was used, and the results were also somewhat worse, although still good, because 90 per cent managed to repopulate their hair,' Dr Eduardo López Bran, head of dermatology at the San Carlos, explained. The scientists, whose work was published in Stem Cell Research & Therapy, say that it will still be four or five years before a drug could be available, and that the next phase of testing will involve using human patients. Hair loss or alopecia is a common complaint in Spain, which has the highest percentage of bald men in the world at 44.5 per cent, according to a survey by Medihair, an online platform for hair loss treatments. Dr López Bran said he had 'noticed a huge increase in inquiries seeking a solution, a truly significant growth in demand, especially among young people who, at the first signs of baldness, want to slow its progression, or even reverse those initial symptoms'. By the age of 50, roughly 50 per cent of men will experience some form of male pattern baldness. Around 25 per cent of will spot signs of thinning or receding as early as 21. Hair transplant surgery has become increasingly popular over the last two decades, with the number of procedures performed globally rising by 76 per cent since 2006. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store