This week’s biotechnology news headlines include, new research from Harvard indicates Alzheimer’s could stem from infections, more consider bids for Medivation, US panel backs Sanofi combination diabetes drug, BIO report finds less than 1 in 10 drugs in clinical trials approved, specter of superbugs, FDA to review Samsung’s Remicade biosimilar, and new Parkinson’s Disease therapy launched in UK.

Cell Culture Events

Webinars:

Bioprocess Insights Webinar Series:

Single-Use Technology and Sustainability: Quantifying the Environmental Impact

Wed, June 1, 2016 – Time:11:00 AM EDT – Duration:30 minutes

Bill Flanagan will talk about sustainability and how this relates to single-use technologies in biomanufacturing operations. He will present new data on the implications of a single-use strategy from a sustainability perspective.
Register Now.

Conferences:

May

ISCT – May 25-28, 2016 – Singapore

http://www.celltherapysociety.org/?page=ISCT2016

Cell Culture World Congress USA – May 19-20, 2016 – Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa – San Diego, CA

http://www.terrapinn.com/conference/cell-culture-world-congress-usa/index.stm

June

BIO International Convention – June 6-9, 2016 – San Francisco, CA

http://convention.bio.org/

Cell Line Development & Engineering – June 13-15, 2016 – Parc 55 Wyndham San Francisco, CA

http://www.ibclifesciences.com/CellLine/overview.xml

Co-located with

Bioconjugates: From Targets to Therapeutics – http://www.ibclifesciences.com/Bioconjugates/overview.xml

Next Generation Protein Therapeutics Summit – http://www.ibclifesciences.com/ProteinSummit/overview.xml

Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research – June 22-25, 2016, San Francisco, CA

http://www.isscr.org/home/annual-meeting/san-francisco-2016

Progress in Continuous Biomanufacturing – June 27-28, 2016 – Robinson College, Cambridge, UK

The conference is enhanced by the participation of several leading industrial technologists, scientific, vendors and also leading academics from Europe and USA. They have come forward to share their experience and knowledge to provide a better understanding of the current technologies and their application in continuous biomanufacturing. There is also a plenary lecture by a distinguished professor in the field of bioprocessing, and you will also benefit from access to unpublished data. This meeting will address several advancements and their successful application with data in the Technology both Upstream and downstream and also on Initiatives to process developments and project to the future direction of the industry. By joining with us you can benefit from the current state of-the-art advancements in continuous manufacturing and also learn about the successful organisations that are developing and applying these methods in-house.

http://www.subramanian.org.uk/

Viral Safety and Raw Materials – June 2016, Vienna, Austria

http://www.informa-ls.com/event/empoweredantibodies15

Headlines

“Could Alzheimer’s Stem From Infections? It Makes Sense, Experts Say,” The New York Times

“Could it be that Alzheimer’s disease stems from the toxic remnants of the brain’s attempt to fight off infection? Provocative new research by a team of investigators at Harvard leads to this startling hypothesis, which could explain the origins of plaque, the mysterious hard little balls that pockmark the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “The CRISPR/Cas9 System and its Applications”

“Celgene, Gilead Said to Join Suitors Mulling Medivation Bids,” Bloomberg

“Biotechnology companies Celgene Corp. and Gilead Sciences Inc. are considering bids for Medivation Inc., which would pitch them against suitors led by French drugmaker Sanofi, according to people familiar with the matter.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Albumin in Cell Culture Media – An examination of quality and function

“U.S. panel backs approval of Sanofi combination diabetes drug,” Reuters

“One day after recommending approval of a new diabetes drug made by Novo Nordisk A/S, a U.S. advisory panel on Wednesday recommended approval of a similar product made by Sanofi SA.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Poster: Purpose-designed Protein A resins for Improved Downstream Process and Cost Efficiency in MAb purification”

“Report suggests drug-approval rate now just 1-in-10,” Boston Business Journal

“A report released today by the biotech industry’s national trade group finds less than one of every 10 drugs that enter clinical trials is ultimately approved by the Food and Drug Administration.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Proving Clonality is a Hot Topic at Informa “Cell Line Development and Engineering” Conference”

“Infection Raises Specter of Superbugs Resistant to All Antibiotics,” The New York Times

“American military researchers have identified the first patient in the United States to be infected with bacteria that are resistant to an antibiotic that was the last resort against drug-resistant germs.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “2015 FDA New Drug Approvals – 13 Biologics Receive Approval”

“FDA to review Samsung Bioepis’ Remicade biosimilar,” BioCentury

“Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. said FDA accepted its BLA for SB2, a biosimilar of autoimmune drug Remicade infliximab from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). The BLA is the first submitted in the U.S. by Samsung Bioepis, a JV between Samsung Group (Seoul, South Korea) and Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB). Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has U.S. commercialization rights to SB2.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cell Culture and Single Cell Passaging of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Without the Need for ROCK Inhibitor”

“UK launch for novel Parkinson’s disease drug,” PharmaTimes

“A new therapy for Parkinson’s disease has been launched throughout the UK, offering patients the potential to access the first new treatment option for the condition in over a decade.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cool Tools – BrainPhys™: A New Way to Culture Neurons”