  | Today's Top Story |  |  | | - Pfizer-Karo Bio alliance centers on autoimmune diseases
Sweden's Karo Bio stands to receive as much as $217 million from Pfizer in a deal to discover and develop small-molecule RORgamma modulators for autoimmune disorders. Pfizer will provide research funding and has exclusive commercialization rights to resulting products, Karo Bio said. Bloomberg (12/27)        | The Business Platinum Card® from American Express OPEN
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  - Celltex opens new stem cell facility
Celltex Therapeutics has opened its adult stem cell facility in Sugar Land, Texas. Celltex says the facility will be one of North America's largest adult stem cell bank and labs. It will use a culturing method licensed from Korean firm RNL Bio to reproduce cells for future use. CultureMap (Houston) (12/26) - Report: Regulatory demands push clinical trials out of house
Drugmakers outsourced more than one-third of their clinical trials in 2011 and reduced the portion of drug development dollars spent on in-house core activities from 74% in 2010 to 62% in 2011, according to a Kalorama Information report. The trend is due in part to regulations "requiring pharmaceutical companies to generate great quantities of more complex data to gain regulatory approval," publisher Bruce Carlson said. PharmaTimes (U.K.) (12/22) - Test mixes ink, antibodies to detect diseases
Researchers in the U.K. have combined ink with living antibodies in a way that lets them create plastic strips with ink-antibody microdots that can be used as tests for HIV and other illnesses and conditions. The microdots, which would change color when exposed to certain blood or urine constituents, have the potential to speed diagnoses and become an effective monitoring tool in patients' homes, an expert said. KGO-TV (San Francisco) (12/26) - Decades of research pay off for MS patients
After decades of research with few breakthroughs, eight multiple sclerosis drugs are slowing disease progression and helping patients manage their conditions. Though first-generation immune-suppressing drugs are still in use, newer drugs target specific molecules associated with MS, and others that prevent nerve damage are in late stages of development. "We have a disease that's gone from having no treatments 20 years ago to having multiple treatment options," said National Multiple Sclerosis Society Chief Research Officer Dr. Timothy Coetzee. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/26) - Stakeholders set a collective agenda for genomics research
More than 100 stakeholders in the public health arena issued a set of findings and recommendations for furthering the application of genomics in public health. The report, published by the University of Michigan Center for Public Health and Community Genomics, emphasizes the need for funding and public-private partnerships to translate genomics research into public health outcomes. GenomeWeb Daily News (12/22) - Patients' families take a DIY approach to drug development
Two families of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy bought the rights to an abandoned experimental drug and set up a company to develop it. "I think this model is very workable," said Cystic Fibrosis Foundation President and CEO Robert Beall. However, experimental drugs can have efficacy or safety problems that are not fully disclosed, and clinical trials mean raising millions of dollars. The Wall Street Journal (12/27)  | Let’s Go Design: Episode #7
Before moving into the last stage of production, the team calls a last minute “sanity check” on the final design of the hot rod baby buggy. They look at each of the main components to make sure it rides smoothly. Watch them at work at LetsGoDesign.tv |
 - TiGenix secures almost $3.8M to develop arthritis treatment
TiGenix, the coordinator of the international Regener-AR consortium, received a grant of nearly $3.8 million from the European Seventh Framework Programme. The money will be used for the research and development of Cx611, TiGenix's allogeneic adult stem cell treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. Including the TiGenix grant, the consortium will get about of $7.7 million from FP7. Pharmaceutical Business Review Online (12/26)  | Your job as an Exchange administrator isn't easy. You have to respond to lost messages, handle email discovery requirements, and keep everything up and running. Is there an easy way to manage your Exchange environment — and do it under budget? Learn about the challenges faced by three real organizations, and how using the right solution brought them peace of mind. |
 | Drug Development Basic Training | |  | | |  | - Finox Biotech's Anjan Selz discusses biosimilar development
Anjan Selz, co-founder and CEO of Finox Biotech, takes us on the journey from cell bank to Phase III, something achieved in just four years for his company's biosimilar product, Afolia. In this first of three podcasts, Selz notes that Finox Biotech decided early to move away from a "me too" approach to biosimilars and focus on product differentiation. Selz goes into detail about biosimilar candidate selection using Afolia, a follicle-stimulating hormone, as an example. Selz describes Finox's outsourcing strategies in terms of partner selection -- notably, all are based in Western Europe -- and offers insight into creating relationships in which success is a shared goal. Listen here. |  | Developments in the Use of PAT and Laboratory Automation
Technical breakthroughs for better understanding and characterization of chemical or biochemical processes are key to meet today’s industry challenges. Integration of process analyzers and process automation with multivariate tools for design, data acquisition and analysis is critical. Register for the webinar. |
| Food & Agriculture | | | | - Japan clears biotech papaya imports
The Japanese government has approved the commercial importation of biotech Rainbow papayas from Hawaii. "The approval of Rainbow papaya is significant because it is the first horticultural biotech product and the first direct-to-consumer food product to gain regulatory approval in Japan," according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. The Packer (Lenexa, Kan.) (12/27) | Industrial & Environmental | | | | - EPA raises renewable fuel targets for next year
The Environmental Protection Agency has increased the production target for cellulosic biofuels next year to 8.65 million gallons. The total goal for the use of ethanol and other renewable fuels by refineries and other blenders is 15.2 billion gallons. "EPA believes the industry is capable of exceeding the lower end of the range of projected volume from our proposed rule," the agency said. The standard will allow the financing of greater cellulosic-biofuel capacity, said Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council. Platts (12/27), The Wall Street Journal (12/28), United Press International (12/27) | News from BIO | | | | - BIOtechNOW
BIOtechNOW is the first in a number of new products from BIO intended to enhance our communications with the biotech community -- not only with our members, but with other stakeholders as well. This monthly e-newsletter, combined with its website, serves as our flagship in that effort. BIOtechNOW will offer original content that emphasizes the business needs of the industry; highlight BIO's advocacy efforts; and provide a portal to all BIO activities and events. Most importantly, it will spotlight for those outside the industry the value of biotechnology. Sign up for the monthly BIOtechNOW e-newsletter.
| SmartQuote | | | |  | Human beings have an inalienable right to invent themselves; when that right is pre-empted it is called brain-washing."
--Germaine Greer,
Australian writer and feminist  |
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