The Dish’s Weekly News Wrap Up – April 18, 2014
This week’s headlines include, cancer patients studied for disease clues, genetic information needs clear rules, biotech dealmaking, focus on chronic illness needed, diversity gap in clinical trials, silly putty ingredient helps cells grow, and viable vaginas grown from girls’ cells.
Cell Culture Dish – Ask the Expert with Dr. Nirupama Shevde:
Our Next Session – Pluripotent Stem Cell Culture
Pluripotent stem cell (PSC) culture has evolved over the past decade, just as Stem Cell Researcher needs have been changing and the market has been growing. Initial culture conditions for stem cells used FBS and mouse embryonic feeders (MEFs). The need for a more defined system brought about the introduction of KnockOut™ Serum Replacement (KSR) in 1997 for the culture of mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Even today, KSR has remained an integral part of the feeder based workflow for both mouse and human PSC culture. The desire to move away from the variability and work required to maintain MEFs led to the development of feeder-free media systems. There are a number of options for feeder-free based media and matrices; StemPro® hESC SFM and Essential 8™ media are two robust options available and both work with Geltrex® and Vitronectin matrices. As choice of media systems for PSCs grows, understanding which media to use for a specific application becomes an important consideration.
Join Dr. Nirupama (Rupa) Shevde, customer training manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, to ask your questions regarding the culture of pluripotent stem cells. Questions can range from best culture options and technologies for deriving pluripotent stem cells to how to adapt cells to a new media and everything in between.
Don’t miss this chance to have your pluripotent stem cell culture questions answered Monday!
Cell Culture Events
Webinar – “Modeling Human Neurological Disease with Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells”
Thursday May 8th, 10:00 AM PDT, 1:00 PM EDT
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-based models hold tremendous potential for the study of human neurological disease. Advances in technologies, including improvements in the ease and efficiency of generating neural progenitor cells from iPS cells, have resulted in increased adoption of these models by the neuroscience community. Learn how iPS cell-based models can enable you to increase the physiological relevance of your research, by watching this free webinar.
ISCT – April 23-26, 2014 – Paris, France
PEGS Boston – May 5-9, 2014 – Seaport World Trade Center – Boston, MA
TIDES – May 12-15, 2014 – Rhode Island Convention Center – Providence, Rhode Island
http://www.ibclifesciences.com/TIDES/overview.xml
World Stem Cells Regenerative Medicine Conference – May 20-22, 2014 – London, UK
– http://www.terrapinn.com/conference/stem-cells/index.stm
Bioconjugates: From Targets to Therapeutics – June 04-06, 2014 · Grand Hyatt Hotel · San Francisco, CA
IBC Life Sciences’ Bioconjugates: From Targets to Therapeutics is taking place June 4-8, 2014 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco, CA. Increase your market share with the latest conjugation design and manufacturing science. This event brings together protein engineers with medicinal chemists in an interdisciplinary forum to foster innovation. Download a copy of the brochure today to see what this year’s event has to offer.
Next Generation Protein Therapeutics Summit – June 04-06, 2014 · Grand Hyatt Hotel · San Francisco, CA
IBC Life Sciences’ Next Generation Protein Therapeutics Summit is taking place June 4-8, 2014 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco, CA. Cross-fertilize ideas from multiple disciplines and turn promising new molecules into differentiated products. This event attracts world-renowned academics and industry visionaries to share ideas, clinical updates, and best practices. Download a copy of the brochure today to see what this year’s event has to offer.
Protein Aggregation, Oligomerization, Stability & Solubility – June 04-06, 2014 · Grand Hyatt Hotel · San Francisco, CA
IBC Life Sciences’ Protein Aggregation, Stability & Solubility is taking place June 4-8, 2014 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco, CA. Reduce protein degradation and safeguard your product’s efficacy with this new scientific meeting dedicated to minimizing protein aggregation from discovery through bioprocessing. Download a copy of the brochure today to see what this year’s event has to offer.
Single-Use Applications for Biophamaceutical Manufacturing – June 09-10, 2014 · Boston Park Plaza Hotel · Boston, MA
http://www.ibclifesciences.com/SingleUse/overview.xml
Empowered Antibodies Congress 2014 – June 17 – 19 2014, Hotel Fira Palace, Barcelona, Spain
http://www.informa-ls.com/event/EmpoweredAntibodies2014
Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research – June 18-21, 2014, -Vancouver, Canada
http://www.isscr.org/home/2014annualmeeting/media
BIO International Convention – June 23-26, 2014 – San Diego, CA
Informa Life Sciences’ 7th Annual Viral Safety for Biologicals 2014– June 24-25, 2014 – Pullman Hotel, Cologne, Germany
Informa Life Sciences’ 7th Annual Viral Safety for Biologicals 2014 conference will provide you with the latest technological developments and practical strategies to screen and detect new adventitious agents, optimise viral clearance and implement upstream and downstream viral risk mitigation measures to manage and prevent potential contaminations as quickly as possible.
Informa Life Sciences’ 3rd Annual Biopharmaceutical Raw Materials 2014 – June 24-25, 2014 – Hotel Pullman Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Effective raw materials and supply chain quality management is crucial to ensure appropriate material quality and to enhance the safety and consistency of a pharmaceutical product. Informa Life Sciences’ 3rd Annual Biopharmaceutical Raw Materials is Europe’s only dedicated conference focused on optimising raw material and supply chain quality, with 10+ industry experts and first-hand regulatory advice from Paul-Ehrlich-Institut.
Headlines:
“Cancer “Miracle” Patients Studied Anew for Disease Clues,” Bloomberg
“The history of oncology is rife with reports of patients with advanced cancer who staged miraculous recoveries. Now scientists are starting to use sophisticated DNA sequencing technology to determine if these “exceptional responders” carry gene variations that can lead to new treatment approaches, better targeted therapies or even the re-emergence of experimental drugs once deemed failures. The mystery surrounding Jan Crisitello, a 70-year-old grandmother of four, is a case in point. Five years ago, 29 patients with advanced melanoma enrolled in a trial of a drug under development by Pfizer Inc. (PFE). Only one, Crisitello, came away with her cancer in remission. Now, she is being studied to see how her unique genome may have interacted with the drug to spur her recovery.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Troubleshooting Media Development for Bioprocessing”
“Questions Remain; Some Rules Should be Clear,” New York Times
“Today, obtaining genetic information is increasingly affordable and clinically meaningful. Genetic and genomic tests can be used to detect and monitor disease, assess risk or inform the selection of drugs. There are more than 14,000 genetic tests for over 4,000 diseases and conditions in the National Institute of Health’s Genetic Testing Registry. Pharmacogenetic information is included in the labels of more than 120 drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration. DNA-based newborn-screening programs are expanding, and testing is being recommended by professional societies and the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force for an ever larger number of patients.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Biologics Still on Top in Best Selling Drugs of 2013”
“Scientists Grow Viable Vaginas from Girls’ Own Cells,” Reuters
“Four young women born with abnormal or missing vaginas were implanted with lab-grown versions made from their own cells, the latest success in creating replacement organs that have so far included tracheas, bladders and urethras. Follow-up tests show the new vaginas are indistinguishable from the women’s own tissue and have grown in size as the young women, who got the implants as teens, matured. All four of the women are now sexually active and report normal vaginal function. Two of the four, who were born with a working uterus but no vagina, now menstruate normally.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Paper or Plastic: A Study on Single-Use and Sustainability”
“Closing the Diversity Gap in Clinical Trials,” Forbes
“Clinical trials are at the heart of the process for bringing new medicines to patients. While modern researchers can do more with molecules in the laboratory than ever before, and preclinical analysis of a compound can provide important evidence about its potential value in treating disease, it’s impossible to determine the safety and effectiveness of a new medicine until it’s tested in human beings.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Flexible Facilities for Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing”
“Biotechs Raising Profiles in Dealmaking, but Big Pharma Firms are Still Top Dog,” BioWorld
“As the tag line for the upcoming Allicense meeting in San Francisco suggests, this year’s focus is on the “next generation” of dealmaking. But that isn’t just an industry buzzword. There’s been a cataclysmic shakeup of the sector in the last several years, from big pharma mega mergers to a recession to increased regulatory and pricing pressures. While the biopharma industry that has emerged from those macro events is a stronger one – perhaps, as some analysts have suggested, even bubble-proof – today’s dealmaking is a different ballgame, one that features more players than ever.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Choosing a Cell Culture Media Development Strategy for Biopharmaceutical Production”
“Plush “Carpets” of Silly Putty Ingredient Help Stem Cells Grow,” Fierce Biotech Research
“A softer, plusher environment made of a key ingredient in Silly Putty may allow embryonic stem cells to grow faster and produce more specialized cells than traditional methods of making stem cells. The findings could help scientists develop a more efficient way to produce stem cells for use in experimental therapies for diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Stem Cell Therapy Indications for Cardiovascular Disease in Phase II/III Clinical Trials”
“Hamburg: Focus on Chronic Illness Drugs Needed,” Med Page Today
“The FDA needs to re-examine the way it reviews novel drugs that treat chronic conditions to get them to market faster, the head of the agency said Thursday — repeating a line that those in the drug development world have heard before. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD, told drug executives this week her agency can use lessons learned from reviewing rare disease drugs to help foster innovation in products that treat chronic conditions.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Captivating Cell Images”