This week’s headlines include, data revolution to shake up drug research, multiple sclerosis stem cell trial, new finding – flu vaccine may lower heart attack risk, Mannkind’s inhaled insulin, gene study finds many common cancers’ origins, broad anti-flu immunity, and Stemcell Technologies taps BioLife’s CryoStor.

Cell Culture Dish Feature – Ask the Expert:

Our Next Session – We are excited to have Dr. Paul A. Offit answer your questions.

Author of one of my favorite books, Vaccinated: One Man’s Quest to Defeat the World’s Deadliest Diseases, Paul A. Offit, MD is the Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In addition, Dr. Offit is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is a recipient of many awards including the J. Edmund Bradley Prize for Excellence in Pediatrics from the University of Maryland Medical School, the Young Investigator Award in Vaccine Development from the Infectious Disease Society of America, and a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Offit has published more than 150 papers in medical and scientific journals in the areas of rotavirus-specific immune responses and vaccine safety. He is also the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq, recommended for universal use in infants by the CDC; for this achievement Dr. Offit received the Luigi Mastroianni and William Osler Awards from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Charles Mérieux Award from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases; and was honored by Bill and Melinda Gates during the launch of their Foundation’s Living Proof Project for global health.

He is also the author of five medical narratives: The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to Today’s Growing Vaccine Crisis (Yale University Press, 2005), Vaccinated: One Man’s Quest to Defeat the World’s Deadliest Diseases (HarperCollins, 2007), for which he won an award from the American Medical Writers Association, Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure (Columbia University Press, 2008), Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All (Basic Books, 2011), and Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine (HarperCollins, 2013).

Don’t miss the chance to ask Dr. Offit your questions, session starts Monday!

Cell Culture Events:

BioProcess International Conference and Exhibition – September 16-19, 2013

Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary, BPI attracts experts from all bioprocessing and biomanufacturing disciplines and all levels, from research scientist to group leader to senior level executive who share and discuss their challenges in an interactive, learning environment.

Don’t miss the talk “Harmonization of Single-Use Systems: Extractables, Leachables and Other Initiatives,” by Robert Steininger, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing, Acceleron Pharmaceutical

Get a sneak peek by listening to the podcast now!

Three Great Conferences – All in Cambridge, September 30 – October 1

• Cell Culture World Congress USA
• Stem Cells Regenerative Medicine Conference
• World Cord Blood Congress

Cell Culture World Congress USA is North America’s premier cell culture optimization and development conference, with a focus on upstream processes. This is where biopharma and biotech biomanufacturing and process experts come to debate advances in cell culture optimization and development. Save 15% with promo code ECYB! For more information please go to www.terrapinn.com/CC13CCDish

Headlines:

“Flu Vaccine May Lower Heart Attack Risk, Researchers Find,” Bloomberg

“Flu vaccination may not only stave off the seasonal virus, it may prevent heart attacks too, researchers in Australia found. Immunization against the respiratory illness lowered the probability of heart attack by 45 percent, according to a study of more than 500 hospital patients by researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cell Culture, More Science than Art – A Call for Care in Cell Culture Practices“

“Big Data Revolution to Shake Up Drug Research,” Fox Business

“The advent of Big Data is ushering in a tectonic shift in the field of medical research, one scientists hope could pave the way to snuffing out deadly diseases – including cancer. Over the past decade, the cost of obtaining biological information has plummeted as technology has rapidly improved. Whereas it used to take years to map genomes, researchers can now perform the task on the fly. The changes mean scientists are confronted with near-endless information. The new task is figuring out exactly what to do with it. Specifically, how these vast pools of data can be efficiently mined to help researchers discover new treatments.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “A New WAVE for the Future”

“Groundbreaking Multiple Sclerosis Stem Cell Trial Approved,” Medical News Today

“The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new clinical trial of a groundbreaking strategy using stem cells for the treatment of MS (multiple sclerosis). Researchers from the Tisch MS Research Center of New York say the FDA has granted approval to begin early clinical investigation (phase 1 trial) of autologous neural stem cells in the treatment of MS.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Advances in Adherent Cell Culture Approaches Abound – Promoting Progress in Production Performance for Attachment Dependant Processes”

“Gene Study Uncovers Origins of Many Common Cancers,” Reuters

“Researchers in Britain have set out the first comprehensive map of mutational processes behind the development of tumors – work that should in future lead to better ways to treat and prevent a wide range of cancers. In a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, researchers who analyzed more than 7,000 genomes, or genetic codes, of common forms of cancer uncovered 21 so-called “signatures” of processes that mutate DNA.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Companion Diagnostics – The Future of Personalized Medicine”

“Neutralizing Antibodies Key to Broad Anti-flu Immunity,” Genetic Engineering News

“Writing in the August 14th issue of Science Translational Medicine, scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai described how exposure to seasonal flu viruses over the course of a lifetime influences a person’s antibody repertoire and adaptive immune responses to subsequent infections. The findings, they said, have significant implications for scientists interested in creating a universal flu vaccine, and that boosting broadly neutralizing antibodies will be essential to its development. Although it is known that immunological memory developed against previously encountered influenza A viruses (IAVs) affects the outcome of subsequent infections, how such sequential exposures to antigenically variant viruses shape the humoral immune response in humans remains poorly understood, the investigators noted.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Interesting Late Stage Viral Vaccine Candidates”

“Mannkind’s Inhaled Insulin Offers Diabetics Freedom From Shots,” Reuters

“An inhaled insulin device made by MannKind Corp proved more effective than injected and oral treatments in trials, potentially improving the quality of life for millions of diabetics and creating a multi-billion dollar opportunity for the company. MannKind shares rose as much as 27 percent in morning trade. The product, Afrezza, is a whistle-sized inhaler that delivers powdered insulin to adults with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Given the ease of use compared with regular insulin shots, it has the potential to capture a big share of the global insulin market.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Perfusion Bioreactors – With so much to offer they deserve a closer look”

“Stemcell Technologies Taps BioLife’s CryoStar cGMP Freeze,” Pharmaceutical Business Review

“Stemcell Technologies has chosen BioLife’s CryoStor cGMP freeze media to launch more than 50 new primary cell products from bone marrow, peripheral blood, umbilical cord blood, and umbilical cord tissue. Products of the British Columbia-based company will be marketed to the research community, according to the company.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “From Product Candidate to Product: The Road to Commercialization in Regenerative Medicine”