| Today's Top Story |  |  | | - NIDA shifts focus of grants to translational, genetic medicine
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has restructured its small business technology transfer and small business innovation research grant programs, which make up for roughly 2.8% of its annual budget, to focus on projects that aim to discover substance abuse treatments using translational and genetic medicine. "We're interested in areas of genetics, in terms of smoking cessation, pharmacogenomics, treatment of substance abuse, and particularly right now, issues related to prescription substance abuse," said NIDA official Jonathan D. Pollock. The NIH unit is also interested in supporting development and commercialization of biomarkers, stem cell reagents, genomic and proteomic data and related technologies. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (12/6)       | Health Care & Policy | | | | - Successful translational R&D needs equity ownership
Early-stage translational research and development projects in life sciences are likely to fall flat in the absence of equity ownership in startup companies, writes Atlas Venture partner Bruce Booth. Equity ownership "rewards the successful entrepreneur and binds them together with the academic founders, key advisors, and the broader shareholders," he writes. Equity rewards risk-takers and entrepreneurs, thus encouraging investment, he writes. Forbes (12/5) - Protalix, Pfizer extend Gaucher drug collaboration
Pfizer and Protalix BioTherapeutics extended their joint development deal on Gaucher disease treatment Elelyso, which was approved by the FDA this year. Protalix will continue to supervise and finance ongoing trials of the drug, while Pfizer will be in charge of new studies. Protalix said it could soon get an $8.3 million payment from Pfizer for achieving certain clinical development goals. Bloomberg Businessweek/The Associated Press (12/6) - Focus on niche markets, efficiency turn Biogen around
George Scangos has turned around Biogen Idec by getting out of highly competitive markets, such as oncology, and focusing on areas where Big Pharma sometimes fears to tread, such as neuroscience and hemophilia. Sales chief Tony Kingsley's strategy of focusing on top-selling drug Avonex instead of the troubled multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri kept revenue flowing and allowed the company to develop BG-12, an MS drug in pill form instead of an injection. Now Scangos is cutting the bureaucracy usually inherent in drug development to refill the company's pipeline. Forbes (12/4) - Team IDs genetic variations that influence red blood cells
Australian researchers identified 75 positions on the genome that play roles in the development and function of red blood cells. The researchers analyzed study results involving 2.6 million genetic variants. The findings, published in the journal Nature, are expected to aid in research on anemia and other blood conditions. ABC (Australia) (12/6) | Company & Financial News | | | | - Amarin pulls in $100M for Vascepa launch
Amarin announced that it has raised $100 million in non-equity funding, and it will use the money to hire 250 to 300 sales professionals to launch its heart drug Vascepa in the first quarter of 2013. Earlier this year, Vascepa received FDA approval in combination with diet to treat severe hypertriglyceridemia. Reuters (12/6) - Moderna exits stealth mode with $40M funding boost
Moderna Therapeutics, which seeks to develop drugs that stimulate the production of therapeutic proteins, has emerged from its stealth period with $40 million in initial funding from Flagship Ventures and private investors. The company will use the money to initiate clinical trials. The Boston Globe (tiered subscription model) (12/6) | Food & Agriculture | | | | | Industrial & Environmental | | | | - EIA: Biofuels to account for 5.8% of liquid-fuels market by 2040
Biofuel use is projected to increase from 1.3 quadrillion BTUs in 2011 to 2.1 quadrillion BTUs in 2040, according to the Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Outlook. Biofuels will account for 5.8% of overall liquid-fuel consumption by 2040, down from last year's outlook due to weaker-than-expected adoption of flex-fuel vehicles, a smaller gasoline pool and a reduced outlook for cellulosic-biofuel output, EIA said. "If smart, market-based policies like the RFS are maintained, advanced biofuels will continue to succeed and grow," said Novozymes North America President Adam Monroe in response to the report. EthanolProducer.com (12/5) | 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 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 e-newsletter.
| SmartQuote | | | |  | You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it."
--Charles Buxton,
British brewer, philanthropist, writer and legislator  |
| | This SmartBrief was created for jmabs1@gmail.com
| | | Read more at SmartBrief.com | | A powerful website for SmartBrief readers including: | | | | | | | | | | Recent BIO SmartBrief Issues: - Thursday, December 06, 2012
- Wednesday, December 05, 2012
- Tuesday, December 04, 2012
- Monday, December 03, 2012
- Friday, November 30, 2012
| | | Lead Editor: Tom Parks
Mailing Address:
SmartBrief, Inc.®, 555 11th ST NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20004 | | | | | | © 1999-2012 SmartBrief, Inc.® Legal Information |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment