The Dish’s Weekly News Wrap Up – May 23, 2014
This week’s headlines include, public-private collaboration important, Takeda drug approved, FDA offers incentive for neglected diseases, AstraZeneca rejects Pfizer’s bid, reprogrammed cells slow to grow tumors, MERS doesn’t present pandemic risk, and GAVI ask for 7.5B to protect 300 million.
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:
Scalable Enzyme-Free Protocols for the Isolation and Maintenance of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs) Without Mechanical Colony Scraping
Erik Hadley, PhD, Senior Scientist
Thursday, June 19, 12pm-12:30pm
This tutorial focuses on fibroblast reprogramming and hiPSC maintenance protocols which use ReLeSR™, an enzyme-free passaging reagent that eliminates manual removal of differentiated cells, colony scraping and complicated techniques to obtain uniform cell aggregates. When used with mTeSR™1 or TeSR™-E8™, ReLeSR™ enables the use of closed vessels, thus facilitating scale-up and automation. Applicability of ReLeSR™ in a complete workflow from fibroblast reprogramming to the establishment of a new hiPSC line will be discussed.
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
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:
“AstraZeneca Rejects $119 Billion Takeover Offer from Pfizer,” NBC News
“The board of AstraZeneca has rejected the improved $119 billion takeover offer from U.S. drugmaker Pfizer, a decision that has led to sharp slide in the U.K. company’s share price as investors think it effectively brings an end to the protracted and increasingly bitter takeover saga. In a statement Monday, AstraZeneca’s board said it “reiterates its confidence in AstraZeneca’s ability to deliver on its prospects as an independent, science led business.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Biologics Still on Top in Best Selling Drugs of 2013”
“U.S. FDA Approves Takeda Drug for Colitis and Crohn’s,” Reuters
“U.S. health regulators on Tuesday approved a drug from Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd to treat the chronic debilitating inflammatory diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The Food and Drug Administration said it had approved vedolizumab, which will be sold under the brand name Entyvio, for patients who failed to gain adequate relief from one or more current standard treatments.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “10 Things You Should Know About Dry Shippers Before Shipping High Value Biologics”
“FDA Dangles Golden Ticket to Spur Drugs for Neglected Diseases,” National Public Radio
“When the Food and Drug Administration gave the OK to a new treatment for a parasitic disease called leishmaniasis in late March, the Canadian company that owns the medicine got something that’s quite likely to prove even more valuable than U.S. sales of the drug will ever be. After all, only a handful of Americans get leishmaniasis each year, and that’s when they travel overseas. But the approval of the leishmaniasis drug, , came with a coupon that the company can redeem to have any drug it likes moved toward the front of FDA’s line for review.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “CHO Cell Culture – Ten Tips from the Experts on Expression, Media and Bioprocessing”
“GAVI Calls for 7.5B to Protect 300 Million Children by 2020,” Fierce Vaccines
“The GAVI Alliance has already saved about 6 million lives through its funding of low-cost immunization for developing countries. And now, it’s looking to save 6 million more through 2020. To do so, the organization Tuesday called on donors to back its plans to help immunize 300 million children between 2016 and 2020–plans that will require $7.5 billion in addition to the $2 billion it already has on hand for that period.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Highlights from the 14th World Vaccine Congress – A Cell Culture Perspective”
“Public-Private Collaboration Leads to Innovation,” The Hill
“The abilities to walk, talk and complete other simple tasks are capabilities most of us take for granted. The 1 million Americans living with Parkinson’s disease know the value of those faculties. Today, there are approximately 60,000 additional Parkinson’s diagnoses each year, making it the second-most common neurodegenerative disorder in the United States. It is important to pause and reflect on what we can do to combat this devastating disease so that its prevalence does not double by 2040, as is currently projected. Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease marked by protein misfolding, and cell dysfunction and loss. The known causes vary from genetic mutations to environmental exposures, with most cases not attributable to one cause. Symptoms, both motor and non-motor, increase in kind and severity over time. A cure has remained elusive; there is no treatment that can slow or stop the disease process. Current available therapies can’t treat all symptoms and can cause debilitating side effects.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Companion Diagnostics – The Power of Personalized Medicine”
“Reprogrammed Cells Slow to Grow Tumors in Monkeys,” Nature
“A major concern over using stem cells is the risk of tumours: but now a new study shows that It takes a lot of effort to get induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells to grow into tumours after they have been transplanted into a monkey. The findings will bolster the prospects of one day using such cells clinically in humans. Making iPS cells from an animal’s own skin cells and then transplanting them back into the creature also does not trigger an inflammatory response as long as the cells have first been coaxed to differentiate towards a more specialized cell type. Both observations, published in Cell Reports1 today, bode well for potential cell therapies.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Aastrom CEO Discusses How Recent Acquisition Strengthens Current Manufacturing Capability and Clinical Pipeline”
“CDC Scientist: MERS Doesn’t Present Pandemic Risk, but other Diseases Might,” Fierce Biotech Research
“Despite its high mortality rate and alarming spread since it was first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012, a U.S. health official says it’s unlikely that Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS, will turn into a pandemic. Lyle Petersen, director of the division of vector-borne diseases at CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, said May 19 at the American Society for Microbiology’s General Meeting in Boston that instead, Chikungunya virus poses a bigger threat to Americans.
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Flexible Facilities for Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing”