The Biden administration is seeking $30 billion in additional funds from Congress to fight the COVID-19 pandemic to bolster vaccines, treatments, testing supply, and research, according to sources familiar with the matter…
The Dish’s Weekly Biotechnology News Wrap Up – February 18, 2022
This week’s headlines include: Three pillars of pandemic preparedness to end this one while preparing for the next, Liquidyne Continues its Biotech Distribution Expansion in Texas with PSGDover, Merck Japan says to accelerate imports of COVID-19 treatment, New Report Examines the State of Antibacterial Innovation, Biden admin seeks $30 bln more from Congress to fight COVID -sources, Senate confirms Biden’s nominee for FDA commissioner, and Lilly reunites with ImmunoGen to expand into ADCs, paying $13M upfront and $1.7B on the back end.
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In Case You Missed It, Recent Articles on Cell Culture Dish and Downstream Column:
New TransfectionSelect™ Product Selection Tool Takes the Guesswork Out of Improving Transfection Efficiency
Cell transfection is a powerful investigative tool used by many scientists to study gene expression and function across a wide range of applications from cell biology, cancer research, bioproduction of proteins and viruses to developing novel gene therapies to treat diseases. Transfection involves introducing foreign nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) or even proteins into eukaryotic cells. Whether you are new to transfection or it is part of your everyday lab routine, ensuring you have the highest transfection efficiency is critical to experimental success. Defined as the percentage of cells transfected over the total cells, optimizing transfection efficiency can be a tricky endeavor as it is prone to many variable factors, such as cell type, health status, size and type of genetic payload, delivery method–it can be difficult to know where to start to improve your transfection…
Top Cell Culture Dish Cool Tools for 2021
Don’t miss our top Cool Tools of 2021! I have compiled a list of our 10 most popular Cool Tools for 2021 in alphabetical order.
Top Cell Culture Dish Podcasts 2021
Don’t miss our top Podcasts of 2021! I have compiled a list of our most popular podcasts for 2021 in alphabetical order…
Revolutionizing the Standard of 3D Bioprinting with the Corning® Matribot® Bioprinter
3D bioprinting is a powerful tool with the potential to fast-forward translational research for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The concept is simple – depositing cells layer by layer following a prescribed 3D pattern to create tissue-like structures that emulate in vivo environments – but complicated to execute. The long-term goal is to use 3D bioprinting to fabricate viable human tissues and organs for transplantation to alleviate the need for living or deceased human donation. Using a patient’s own cells to bioprint an organ could circumvent immune rejection and translate to better clinical outcomes. While the technology is not there yet, 3D bioprinting could be used to create complex biomimetic tissue models to test novel drug therapies, develop patient-specific treatment regimens, and study complex physiological processes. Moreover, 3D bioprinting can be used to generate large-scale constructs using cellular aggregates like spheroids or organoids as building blocks. The specific 3D arrangement of cells within these models reproduces structural features seen in vivo. The spatial distribution of cells, the cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions provide greater predictive power than 2D monolayer cultures and animal models. Although current 3D models, like tissue-specific organoids, have provided insight into developmental and disease mechanisms, the inability to control the organization of the cells within the structures presents a number of limitations that may be solved by 3D bioprinting. Over the past decade, remarkable advancements in bioprinting technologies (i.e., 3D bioprinters and bioink composition) have enabled the biofabrication of realistic 3D biological structures with improved architectural quality and functionality. However, there are still technological challenges to overcome as the field continues to mature and diversify to address more complex questions…
Biopharma Solutions – What we can Learn from the Pandemic
The speed with which the COVID-19 vaccines were brought to fruition is possibly one of the greatest achievements in biopharmaceutical history. United by a common goal, unprecedented global collaboration driven by innovative technologies has proved what the industry is capable of and has catalyzed progress across the biopharmaceutical industry. In a recent e-book by The Medicine Maker and Pall – Seeking Solutions in Biopharma– experts come together to reflect on the pandemic response and how it has spurred changes in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing paradigm with the goal of helping drug developers move more easily and quickly through different stages from discovery to manufacturing…
Top Downstream Process Articles of 2021
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DAC ERGO takes column changeover from unwieldy to manageable
Chromatography columns are an integral part of many biologic purification processes. As such there has been an increase in the use of large-scale columns, including popular stainless-steel Dynamic Axial Compression (DAC) columns. These columns are flexible as they allow packing of any required bed height to enable a variety of different media types and sizes. In addition, their design allows for a quick, easy and homogenous packed bed as well as an even distribution for plug flow of liquid to achieve better peak resolution…
Cool Tool – OCELOT™ System Control Provides Flexible Automation for Process Precision
The biopharma industry has continued to embrace automation as a key part of creating more efficient, cost-effective manufacturing. There are many options for how to automate systems, but a universal requirement is the need for a responsive, built for purpose automation software. In most cases automation software provides a single interface for all applications, while this may seem convenient, it often can’t be configured to meet an end users’ exact process or mode of operation…
Addressing the increasing demand for single-use technologies and supply chain shortages with future proof systems
In this podcast, we talked with Phil Sanders, Biotech Chief Innovation Officer, Agilitech, about the increase in demand for single-use equipment and consumables and how this has led to supply chain shortages. We also talk about how to address these issues by incorporating strategies like being brand agnostic and designing systems that are future proof…
Driving Efficiency and Ingenuity with an OPC Platform
The regulatory approval of several oligonucleotides over the past five years – combined with the recent headlines around rapid COVID-19 vaccine development – has created significant interest in the oligonucleotide (DNA/RNA) segment of the scientific industry. This includes everything from antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to lengthy gene transcript mRNA, as well as shRNA (small hairpin RNA), siRNA (small interfering RNA), CRISPR/Cas9 and anti-miR (anti-micro RNA)…
Headlines:
“Three pillars of pandemic preparedness to end this one while preparing for the next,” The Hill
With more than 50 new mutations that increase infectivity and help the virus evade immunity, Omicron is the first COVID-19 variant uniquely capable of prolonging the pandemic. In order to achieve high infectivity, Omicron adapted to the upper airway, forfeiting the ability to cause deep lung infection, thereby reducing mortality. This tradeoff reduces symptoms, keeping people active but increasing transmission in a community…
“Liquidyne Continues its Biotech Distribution Expansion in Texas with PSGDover,” Liquidyne News
Liquidyne Process Technologies, Inc announces the addition of Texas to its distribution agreement with PSG for their Quattroflow quaternary diaphragm pumps and em-tec bioprocessing sensor systems. On the back of an award-winning partnership with PSG that started in 2018, Liquidyne Process Technologies, Inc. has today announced its distribution expansion into Texas, USA. Liquidyne is a leading distributor of single-use and sanitary/high purity process equipment for fluid transfer, measurement, and control for OEM, End-users, Resellers, & Contractors…
“Merck Japan says to accelerate imports of COVID-19 treatment,” Reuters
The Japanese unit of Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) said on Monday it would accelerate imports of its oral COVID-19 treatment to help with a surge in cases caused by the Omicron variant. The company will deliver 800,000 courses of the antiviral molnupiravir to Japan by March, up from an earlier scheduled 600,000, it said in a statement…
“New Report Examines the State of Antibacterial Innovation,” Pharmacy Times Online
A new report released by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) has analyzed antibacterial innovation and the pipeline for new antibacterial medicines and finds that there are serious challenges. The report, titled “The State of Innovation in Antibacterial Therapeutics,” analyzes the pipeline for new antibacterial medicines, the market’s unique investment challenges, and potential policy solutions to support the development of new treatments…
“Biden admin seeks $30 bln more from Congress to fight COVID -sources,” Reuters
“Senate confirms Biden’s nominee for FDA commissioner,” CNN
The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Dr. Robert Califf as the next commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, despite opposition from some Democrats regarding his ties to the pharmaceutical industry. The tally was 50-46. Six Republicans voted for Califf and five Democrats voted against his nomination…