This week’s headlines include, life science cluster rankings, Roche expands global biologic manufacturing, more immunotherapies, Osiris sells stem-cell drug, Gov. Brown vetoes biosimilars bill, 452 drugs for rare diseases in R&D and Vivaldi buys flu vaccine assets from Baxter.

Cell Culture Events:

Don’t Miss Vaccines: Formulation Development, Manufacturing and Novel Production Technologies December 4-5th 2013, Sheraton Brussels Hotel, Belgium

Informa’s annual Vaccines: Formulation Development, Manufacturing and Novel Production Technologies introduces an industry-led and scientific-driven agenda providing the latest in vaccine R&D innovation, optimising pre-clinical models, adjuvant and formulation development, novel production platforms, streamlining process development and manufacturing approaches. The 2013 conference provides the ideal mix of big pharma and small biotech to provide a varied and well represented networking opportunity.

Tell Us Your WAVE Story Contest

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Share a brief write-up on how you used the WAVE Bioreactor to solve a problem, increase productivity, improve efficiency or improve your cell culture results.

Four Winners will have their stories featured on The Cell Culture Dish Blog.

One Grand Prize Winner will be selected to receive a special winner’s plaque and an exclusive opportunity to get the results published in a well-known forum.

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Check Out the New Posters from BPI on the Dish

Introduction to Cell Culture – October 1-4, 2013 and December 10-13, 2013

This 4-day cell culture workshop is designed for those with no or extensive cell culture experience. Topics include an introduction to cell and tissue culture, serum containing and serum-free media, adaptation to serum-free media, cell counting and viability staining, growth curve development, growth of suspension and adherent cells, transfection technologies, cryopreservation methods, cell cloning and primary culture.

Scheduled workshops take place in Baltimore, Maryland. All of our workshops can be conducted at your location if needed. If you have questions or want more specific course content please contact our website, www.biosciconcepts.com or call us at 410-752-4224.

Headlines:

“US Biopharma: 452 Drugs for Rare Diseases now in R&D,” Pharma Times Online

“US biopharmaceutical research companies are currently developing 452 new medicines for the treatment of rare diseases, according to new industry figures. The 452 new medicines and vaccines, all of which are now in human clinical trials or under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), include treatments for genetic disorders, neurological conditions, infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders, says the report, from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Bioprocess International Conference – Thursday’s Talks”

“Osiris Strikes Deal to Sell Marquee Stem-cell Drug for $100M,” The Baltimore Sun

“Columbia biotechnology company Osiris Therapeutics has reached a deal to sell its marquee stem-cell drug, the first to win government approval, for up to $100 million. A subsidiary of Australian company Mesoblast Ltd. has agreed to pay $50 million for the technology behind Prochymal and the drug itself, and Osiris could receive up to $50 million more if the drug passes clinical trials and regulatory reviews, the companies said. Prochymal is being evaluated in a final round of clinical trials for use in treating Crohn’s disease as well as a disorder known as graft-versus-host disease, which can occur after stem cell or bone marrow transplants. Osiris was founded in 1992 to develop stem-cell therapies that can be used to stop inflammation and regenerate tissue.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Moving Your Cell Therapy from Concept to Product – A discussion about navigating funding and grant writing, partnering with organizations and the regulatory process”

“The $100M Club: Where the Major League Life Sciences Companies Are,” Xconomy

“People love to rank U.S. biotech clusters. Most of these reports are full of data on venture financing, patents, jobs, and NIH funding. But many are riddled with flawed and biased methodology, and are usually designed to push a political agenda. These rankings, which many people take at face value, have been irritating me for a long time. So last week, I decided to ask a few different questions in order to compare the relative strength of biotech hubs we cover at Xconomy.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Navigating the Single-use space – How to find the right cell culture bioreactor ”

“Roche to Expend Global Biologic Medicine Manufacturing Network with $880M,” Pharmaceutical Business Review

“Swiss drug maker Roche is planning to invest CHF800m ($879m) to increase production capabilities at its global manufacturing facilities over the next five years in order to meet the growing demand for its biologic medicines. The investment would help in increase production at the company’s facilities at Penzberg in Germany, Basel in Switzerland, and Vacaville and Oceanside in the US as well as add about 500 new jobs in conjunction with the facility expansions.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Developability: Smart Ways of Avoiding the “Death of the Brave” During Biotherapeutic Development”

“Breaking Through Cancer’s Shield,” The New York Times

“For more than a century, researchers were puzzled by the uncanny ability of cancer cells to evade the immune system. They knew cancer cells were grotesquely abnormal and should be killed by white blood cells. In the laboratory, in Petri dishes, white blood cells could go on the attack against cancer cells. Why, then, could cancers survive in the body? The answer, when it finally came in recent years, arrived with a bonus: a way to thwart a cancer’s strategy. Researchers discovered that cancers wrap themselves in an invisible protective shield. And they learned that they could break into that shield with the right drugs.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Single-Use Stirred Bioreactors – Enabling Flexible Biomanufacturing”

“Gov. Brown of California Vetoes Biotech Drug Bill,” The New York Times

“The first year of skirmishes in state legislatures over bills that would govern the use of cheaper versions of expensive biotechnology drugs is nearly over. Health insurers and generic drug companies have prevailed in most states over brand-name pharmaceutical companies. Their latest victory came in dramatic fashion on Saturday, when Gov. Jerry Brown of California vetoed a bill that had passed both houses of the legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support, but that critics said would limit the use of less expensive drugs.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Innovative Products Featured at the Bioprocess International Conference – Part I”

“Vivaldi Buys Flu Vaccine R&D Assets From Bayer,” Genetic Engineering News

“Vivaldi Bioscience said today it acquired from Baxter R&D assets—including intellectual property, clinical data, knowhow, and materials—for live attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIVs) in which the gene for influenza nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) has been fully deleted. The price was not disclosed for the LAIV assets, which were previously were owned by Vienna-based AVIR Green Hills Biotechnology. Vivaldi did say, however, that the acquisition complements and “substantially” broadens its LAIV platform, as well as product development opportunities in pandemic preparedness and seasonal influenza. Vivaldi’s platform uses its own reverse genetics and plasmid rescue technologies to engineer a specific truncation in the NS1 gene, generating LAIVs with partially deleted NS1. According to the company, the LAIVs are attenuated for safety and provide a potent, protective immune response including cross-protection against unmatched strains, without viral replication or the need for adjuvants, as demonstrated in preclinical studies.”

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”