Entries by Thomas Gabrielczyk

The great green rush

It’s the most commonly cultivated, trafficked and abused illicit drug worldwide, and there’s still a lot of social stigma attached to the recreational use of pot. But it’s slowly dawning on regulators in countries from Canada to the US to South Africa that by ignoring the clear medical benefits of marijuana, they may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Countries across Europe are now also opening their minds, laws and wallets to cannabis.

IMI launches €80m call

The Innovative Medicines Initiative II has earmarked €80m for pre-competetive research improving the pharmaceutical industry’s productivity.

CJEU ruling triggers exodus of EU plant research

According to a brand-new EU-wide survey, European plant researchers are concerned about the European Court of Justice‘s (CJEU) interpretation that targeted mutation methods aimed at improving crop yield and resistance to climate change yield GMOs. In an open letter, they call for political action and a modernisation of the EU Directive 2001/18/EC because a lack in tech-transfer would put Europe at the bottom of the pile in the upcoming bioeconomy.

Boehringer expands neurology activities

Boehringer Ingelheim has expanded its 2014 R&D collaboration with the BioMed X Innovation Center (Heidelberg, Germany) to find new treatment approaches for early intervention of psychiatric diseases.