Novozymes launches the first commercially viable enzymes for production of biofuel from agricultural waste. Breakthroughs in enzyme technology enable cellulosic biofuel as a competitive alternative to gasoline. Novozymes’ new Cellic® CTec2 enzymes enable the biofuel industry to produce cellulosic ethanol at a price below USD 2.00 per gallon for the initial commercial-scale plants that are scheduled to be in operation in 2011. This cost is on par with gasoline and conventional ethanol at the current US market prices.

Food packaging and other disposable plastic items could soon be composted at home along with organic waste thanks to a new sugar-based polymer. The degradable polymer is made from sugars produced from the breakdown of lignocellulosic biomass, which comes from non-food crops such as fast-growing trees and grasses, or renewable biomass from agricultural or food waste.

ReNeuron Group plc have announced that the UK Gene Therapy Advisory Committee (GTAC) has given a full and final Favourable Opinion to ReNeuron’s proposed first-in-man clinical trial with its ReN001 stem cell therapy for stroke.  GTAC acts as the national research ethics committee for gene therapy and stem cell therapy clinical trials in the UK.

CANCER RESEARCH UK and Cancer Research Technology - the charity's development and commercialisation arm - have reached a collaboration agreement with immatics Biotechnologies to trial their new treatment vaccine, IMA950, for glioblastoma multiforme (GMB), one of the most common forms of brain cancer.

Merus, a biopharmaceutical company located in Utrecht, The Netherlands, announced today that it has closed a €21.7 million ($30.7 million) Series B financing round led by new investors the Novartis Option Fund, Pfizer Inc. (New York),  Bay City Capital (San Francisco), and LSP (Life Sciences Partners; Amsterdam). Merus’ seed investor Aglaia Oncology Fund (Bilthoven) also participated in this financing. 

A £5M development at the Norwich Research Park (NRP), funded by a partnership including the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) will provide facilities for start-up and growing businesses that will turn world-class science into products and technologies. This new development, announced today (26 January 2010), will bring new innovation and a boost to local and national economies.

Scientists from King’s College and the University of Leicester have for the first time identified definitive variants associated with biological ageing in humans. The discovery has important implications for the understanding of cancer and age associated diseases.