This week’s biotechnology news headlines include, Pfizer and Allergan $150B merger, biodefense measures, Sanofi and AstraZeneca exchange compounds, Amgen files for approval of biosimilar, FDA approves Eli Lilly’s cancer drug, FDA approves BMS treatment for multiple myeloma, and Samsung gets European backing.

Cell Culture Events

Conferences:

December

• Cell Therapy Manufacturing & Gene Therapy Congress – December 1-4, 2015 – Sheraton Brussels Airport Hotel Discover the latest technical, manufacturing and commercial strategies driving the cell and gene revolution. ISCT together with Informa’s has developed the  Cell Therapy Manufacturing and Gene Therapy Congress agenda  bringing together key players from the industry to discuss the critical issues facing the development, scale-up and manufacture of cell-based and gene therapies, all in line with international regulations, from scale-up to scale-out, characterisation to process release, freeze/ thaw to needle-to-needle logistics. http://www.informa-ls.com/event/celltherapy15
• Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics – December 7-10, 2015 –San Diego Convention Center –  IBC’s Antibody Engineering & Therapeutics is the largest and most trusted antibody engineering and therapeutics event in the industry! Join us in San Diego to hear and learn from an impressive collection of world-renowned and highly-published academic and industry scientists, as they share the latest science, strategies and preclinical/clinical development efforts. http://www.ibclifesciences.com/AntibodyEng/overview.xml

If you are attending, don’t miss Biovest at booth #512 as they discuss mAbVault, a novel fixed-price protein contract manufacturing service. mAbVault offers a fixed price for the life of the product, through all regulatory stages, guaranteed. This approach eliminates up-front protein development and technology transfer expenses. Protein owners pay only for delivered product, thus reducing overall production expenses by up to 60% versus ascites, rocking bioreactors and tanks. You can learn more about mAbVault in our recent blog, “Cool Tool – mAbVault for Antibody Manufacturing: Protect Quality, Minimize Expenses, and Simplify Scale-up”.

• Vaccine Development and Production Summit – December 8-9, 2015 – Hilton Boston Back Bay, Boston, MA IBC’s Vaccine Development & Production Summit continues to bring you new data on ways to achieve your development and production goals. This year, hear the challenges and triumphs of product developers who continue to advance their innovations to combat emerging and infectious diseases. – http://www.ibclifesciences.com/Vaccines/overview.xml
• World Stem Cell Summit & RegMed Capital Conference– December 10-12, 2015 – Hyatt Regency, Atlanta, Georgia-The World Stem Cell Summit, produced by the Genetics Policy Institute (GPI), is the largest interdisciplinary, networking meeting of stem cell science and regenerative medicine stakeholders, uniting the diverse community. With the overarching purpose of fostering biomedical research, funding and investments targeting cures, the Summit is the single conference charting the future of this burgeoning field. – http://worldstemcellsummit.com/about-summit/
• ASCB – December 12-16, 2015 – San Diego Convention Center, CA – The 2015 ASCB meeting overarching theme is about making connections at different scales, from the intracellular level to the tissue level, to the organism level all the way up to the macrocosmic level, all in the light of big data and information integration. This integration will help us ask the right questions and find answers to the challenging problems in medicine, living systems, and ecosystems.- http://www.ascb.org/2015meeting/

Visit Essential Pharmaceuticals Booth #748 at ASCB

Attend the Tech Talk:

“Variables in FBS Impact Cell Performance, Reproducibility and Relevant Experimental Results”

Tuesday Dec. 15, 2015 2:00 – 2:45 PM

Exhibit Hall, Theatre #2

Headlines

“Pfizer and Allergan Reach $150 Billion Merger Deal,” The New York Times

“Pfizer has clinched a blockbuster merger with a fellow drug maker, one worth more than $150 billion, that can best be described in superlatives.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Biomanufacturing CHO Media – A look at different approaches and optimization opportunities”

“Innovation in medical countermeasures as a critical enabler for biodefense,” The Hill

“Biodefense is one of the most pressing national security issues of our time. The director of National Intelligence has cited proliferation of materials that can contribute to biological weapons programs as a major concern of his agency. Lawmakers regularly pass bipartisan legislation to authorize biodefense programs. A World Bank-funded study found that only 22 percent of American respondents believe the global health community is prepared to respond to another epidemic like Ebola”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cool Tool – Gibco Essential 8 Flex Stem Cell Media Eliminates Need for Daily Feeding”

“Sanofi, AstraZeneca swap compounds in new twist on open drug R&D,” Reuters

“French drugmaker Sanofi and Britain’s AstraZeneca said on Friday they had agreed a direct exchange of 210,000 chemical compounds from their respective libraries in a new twist on the drive to boost open innovation.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “BioProcess International Conference (BPI) 2015 – An Overview For Anyone Who Missed It!”

“Amgen files for U.S. approval of biosimilar to Humira,” Reuters

“Amgen Inc on Wednesday said it filed with U.S. health regulators seeking approval to sell its first biosimilar drug, which would be a less expensive alternative to AbbVie’s Humira, the world’s top-selling prescription medicine.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cool Tool- Hybridoma cell growth and performance in reduced serum + Zap-SR”

“FDA Approves Eli Lilly’s Lung Cancer Drug,” The Wall Street Journal

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday said it approved Eli Lilly’s drug to treat a form of the most common type of lung cancer.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Exosomes: A Major Phenomenon Flying Under the Radar”

“FDA approves new Bristol-Myers treatment for multiple myeloma,” Reuters

“The U.S.Food and Drug Administration said on Monday it had approved a drug to be sold by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co as a treatment for a form of blood cancer.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Hollow Fiber Provides a Sweet Spot for Several Biomanufacturing Applications”

“Samsung’s Challenger to Pfizer Drug Wins European Backing,” Bloomberg Business

“A drug developed by a joint venture between Samsung Biologics and Biogen Inc. was recommended for approval by the European Union’s drug regulator, threatening sales of a similar Pfizer Inc. product.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “You can teach an old dog new tricks: Vero cells for virus-based cancer vaccine therapies”