The Dish’s Weekly News Wrap Up – June 13, 2014
This week’s headlines include, Merck to buy Idenix, Biogen’s Elocate receives approval, drug discovery, Antitope to develop cell line, roadblocks can threaten innovation, and gene tests a new standard of care for cancer.
Cell Culture Events
Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research – June 18-21, 2014, -Vancouver, Canada
Cell Culture Dish will be blogging from this event with daily updates. If you are attending, don’t miss:
STEMCELL Technologies, Booth #817
Induction of a Native State in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells
Huck-Hui Ng, PhD, Executive Director, Genome Institute of Singapore
Thursday, June 19, 11:30am-12pm
In contrast to traditional hPSC cultures, native or naïve hPSCs are more primitive, resembling cells of the pre-implantation blastocyst. Beyond their importance for studying early development, naïve cells may accelerate pluripotent cell therapies, owing to their single-cell passaging compatibility, robust growth and amenability to genetic manipulation. Dr. Ng will discuss his ground-breaking research on induction and maintenance of a novel state in established human embryonic stem cell lines using mTeSR™1 medium and small molecules.
Click Here to See STEMCELL Technologies’ Activities at ISSCR
Life Technologies, Booth #829
From bland to grand: iPSC technology and its applications
Dhruv Sareen, Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Thursday, June 19th 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Click Here to See Life Technologies’ Activities at ISSCR
Thermo Scientific, Booth #628
Thermo Scientific™ Nunclon™ Sphera—a novel surface to support the three-dimensional culture of stem cells in suspension.
Laura Jensen, Ph.D., Thermo Fisher Scientific
Wednesday, June 18th, 9:30 am – 10:00 am
Click Here to See Thermo Scientific’s Activities at ISSCR
Antibody Drug Conjugates 2014 – June 17 – 19 2014, Hotel Fira Palace, Barcelona, Spain
At Informa’s Life Sciences Antibody Drug Conjugateswe’ll be providing scientific-led case studies from over 25 of the leading ADC companies including Genentech, Pfizer, Immunogen, Roche, Takeda, Genmab, Spirogen and more. Discover more about the latest clinical studies from the leading pharmaceutical companies and benefit from:
- Essential data on how to best assess and enhance ADC mode of action
- Establish reliable and reproducible ADC preclinical models
- Seamlessly translate ADCs into the clinic through critical data analysis
Simply quoteCQ3515CCD when booking your place.
Recombinant & Bispecific Antibodies 2014 – June 17 – 19 2014, Hotel Fira Palace, Barcelona, Spain
At Recombinant & Bispecific Antibodies event 2014 we’ll be exploring the latest developments and cutting edge technologies in engineered antibodies, including the latest advances in antibody fragments, antibody domains, ADCs and nanobodies with case studies from Affirmed Therapeutics, National Institute of Health and Cresendo Biologics.
The Recombinant & Bispecific Antibodies conference is part of the Empowered Antibodies Congress, collocated with Antibody Drug Conjugates. Join us to hear preclinical and clinical updates, advances in immunology and expert guidance on how to get your product into the clinic.
Simply quoteCQ3514CCD when booking your place.
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 Hospitals Make Gene Tests a New Standard for Care,” Bloomberg
“Pinpointing the genetic changes that cause cancer has been a focus of researchers for more than a decade. Now, top cancer hospitals are making genetic testing a new standard of care in the field.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “CHO Cell Culture – Ten Tips from the Experts on Expression, Media and Bioprocessing”
“U.S. FDA Approves Biogen’s Hemophilia A Drug Elocate,” Reuters
“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it approved Biogen Idec Inc’s long-lasting hemophilia A drug, Eloctate, adding another product to the company’s nascent portfolio of drugs for non-malignant blood disorders.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Biologics Still on Top in Best Selling Drugs of 2013”
“Up from “Monopoly”: A Drug Discovery Game Every Player Can Win,” Genetic Engineering News
“Until very recently, it was easy to think of drug discovery and development as a competition, a game something like Monopoly, the Hasbro classic. In Monopoly, the top hat, Scottie dog, and flat-iron raced to snap up Park Place and Boardwalk. In pharma, Roche, Novartis, and Lilly vied for market share in oncologics or antihypertensives. Monopoly had deeds for properties; pharma had patents for drugs. Monopoly players built houses and hotels; pharma companies discovered candidates, ran clinical trials, launched products, and built franchises on their intellectual property. Pharma played by rules made by FDA, EMEA, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, private health insurers, the FTC, SEC, and Sarbanes-Oxley; families played Monopoly by the rules that came in the box. Monopoly players tried to amass all of the cash in the bank and drive the other players into bankruptcy; pharma marketers competed for market dominance. The winner won at the loser’s expense.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Improving the Efficiency and Performance of your Transfection”
“Antitope to Develop Cell Line for Bayer’s Cancer Vaccine,” Genetic Engineering News
“British firm Antitope will be using its Composite CHO™ technology to develop a manufacturing cell line for theBaylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR). The cell line will be used toward production of BIIR’s dendritic-cell-targeting vaccine for treating head and neck and cervicalcancer.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Highlights from the 14th World Vaccine Congress – A Cell Culture Perspective”
“Seed Cells “Will Rewire Immunity”, The Australian
“Melbourne researchers have found a way of fashioning stem cells that can develop into the thymus, a pyramid-shaped organ near the heart. The breakthrough, reported in the journal Stem Cell Reports, is the first step in rewiring humans’ immune systems to keep pace with their longer life expectancy”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “10 Things You Should Know About Dry Shippers Before Shipping High Value Biologics”
“Merck & Co to Buy Idenix to Boost Hepatitis C Drugs Portfolio,” Reuters
“Merck & Co Inc MRK.N said Monday it would buy Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc IDIX.O for $3.85 billion and plans to combine the two companies’ most promising drugs to produce a faster, more effective cure for hepatitis C.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Aastrom CEO Discusses How Recent Acquisition Strengthens Current Manufacturing Capability and Clinical Pipeline”
“Bureaucratic Roadblocks Threaten Biopharma Growth,” PharmTech.com
“There is a clear link between a country’s rate of economic development and the strength of its intellectual property laws. This is particularly true in knowledge-intensive sectors such as biopharmaceuticals. The good news is that some mature and emerging economies are making growing use of patent systems to facilitate biotechnology research and commercialization. The bad news is that a number of countries have established bureaucratic and burdensome hurdles to patentability. This reality stands to harm innovation everywhere.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Key Tools and Technology Hurdles in Advancing Stem-Cell Therapies – Part I”