University of Delaware Provost Robin Morgan (far left) and Delaware Biotechnology Institute Director John Koh (far right) and other the speakers at the recent biopharmaceutical symposium at UD’s STAR Campus.

Thought leaders explore emerging area of biotherapeutics

The tremendous potential of the emerging class of medicines known as biotherapeutics — medicines produced from living cells — is exciting new terrain for researchers, industry and health care professionals.

Getting new drugs from the lab to the market remains a significant challenge, however. The discovery is difficult because, despite new biological insights and technological advances, the mechanisms of disease are still poorly understood. The delivery is formidable because complex diseases often require complex therapies. They must be effective, affordable to patients and a worthwhile investment for manufacturers.

Ensuring safe, reliable manufacturing is a big problem that drives the high cost of these therapies.

Read UDaily article

April Kloxin, Centennial Career Development Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and associate professor of materials science and engineering, is one of 60 researchers from across the country who received the 2019 NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.

Engineering professor April Kloxin receives grant to accelerate the study of lung fibrosis

University of Delaware Professor April Kloxin has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s New Innovator Award from the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, which supports highly innovative research proposals.

With this five-year grant award, Kloxin aims to develop next-generation materials and tools to accelerate research in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis — an incurable, fatal disease that leaves people with difficulty breathing and progressive lung scarring.

Read UDaily article

Heidi Martelock (left) from Chemours and Chris Roberts, associate director for NIIMBL, spoke to visitors from BIO 2019 at UD’s STAR Campus.

Global experts visit UD to learn about biotech ecosystem

Global leaders and experts in biotechnology and life sciences toured the University of Delaware’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus on Monday, June 3, to learn about the vibrant innovation community taking shape in Newark, Delaware. The visit was part of a broader Delaware biotech ecosystem tour offered at the BIO International Conference, held June 3-6 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. BIO 2019, an international gathering of more than 16,000 people from 74 countries, provided a forum to network and learn about biotechnology and biopharma trends and policy issues, while celebrating the latest research and innovations in health care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. The University of Delaware is a 21st century research university with a proud legacy of education and innovation, where academic research, discovery and entrepreneurship come together to make a positive impact on the world. UD’s 272-acre STAR Campus is home to a growing community of trailblazers in health, energy, the environment, and financial technology and services. “UD is an emerging leader in the exciting field of biopharmaceutical research. Building on our University’s rich legacy, today’s innovators — our students and faculty — are shaping the front lines of discovery,” said UD President Dennis Assanis.

Read UDaily article