This week’s biotechnology news headlines include, London Mayor proposes $16 billion biotech fund, BMS stops antiviral drug research, priority review for pancreatic cancer drug, Intercept files rare liver disease drug, Juno’s shares rise, ten therapies backed in Europe, and report says cancer vaccines will see sizable growth.

Cell Culture Events

Webinars:

Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Times:

7:00 a.m. PDT Pacific Daylight Time
10:00 a.m. EDT Eastern DaylightTime
3:00 p.m. BST British Summer Time
4:00 p.m. CEST Central European Summer Time

Resolute® AutoPak: Changing Chromatography Column Packing from an Art into a Science

Typically column packing is the responsibility of a few specialist operators and has been regarded almost as an art by some observers. When the artistry fails, the results can be unplanned plant downtime, loss of product or sorbent as well as inefficient use of resources. Couple this with difficulties in transferring methodologies to other geographies and coping with loss of skill through high staff turnover then it’s not difficult to see why column operations are regarded with apprehension. To mitigate these risks the biopharmaceutical industry is moving toward an increasingly science based approach. The role of automation in this move is pivotal. This webinar discusses the move to automation and how it delivers solutions to the challenges associated with chromatography column operations.

Participants will learn:

• The relevance of automation to improving the efficiency of column operations.
• How automation has been implemented in the AutoPak system.
• The findings of an early adopter of the AutoPak system.

Workshops:

High Performance Tour 2015

Discover how to improve efficiency and productivity for your bioprocessing workflows during our exclusive High Performance Tour.

Learn how the choice of chromatography media (resins), hardware, and services can dramatically affect your process performance.

Register now to reserve your seat at this special event where you can gain insights in improved process efficiency and productivity.

Coming to these Cities:

• San Diego, CA – September 15, 2015
• San Francisco, CA – September 17, 2015

To Register – https://promo.gelifesciences.com/na/K15104/landing.html

Conferences:

August

• The Bioprocessing Summit – August 3-7, 2015 – Westin Copley Place – Boston, MA http://www.bioprocessingsummit.com/

September

• Stem Cells Regenerative Medicine Conference – September 2-3, 2015 – Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C. – http://www.terrapinn.com/conference/stem-cells-and-regenerative-medicine-congress/#stem-cells-and-regenerative-medicine-congress Join 300+ attendees from stem cell, regenerative medicine, cell & Gene Therapy biotechs to discuss the hottest industry topics and make new connections. At this year’s event the regenerative medicine industry is taking it to the next level and discussing how genomics is changing the field – and highlighting the commercialization and manufacturing stories that have helped spur the recent success.Discover the future of the regenerative medicine industry with exclusive content.Co-located with:
• Cord Blood World – September 2-3, 2015 – Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C. http://www.terrapinn.com/conference/stem-cells-and-regenerative-medicine-congress/C52334.stm

• Cell Therapy Bioprocessing – September 30 – October 2, 2015 – The Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, VA http://www.ibclifesciences.com/CellTherapy/overview.xml

October

• Bioproduction – October 14-15, 2015 – Dublin, Ireland – http://www.informa-ls.com/event/bio-production14Benchmark technological developments and explore best practices in biomanufacturingThe biopharmaceutical industry is making a capital investment of approximately $8 billion in new facilities in Ireland, most of which has come in the last 10 years, representing close to the biggest wave of investment in new biotech facilities anywhere in the world.Join us at BioProduction 2015 in Dublin this October to see why so much is being invested in this area and to network with leading players within this growing industry!BioProduction 2015: Europe’s leading and largest event for a comprehensive update on all aspects of large scale biological manufacturing. Providing insights on the latest technologies, upstream/downstream processing, process analytics, the implementation of continuous manufacturing, facility design, flexibility facilities and single use systems to reduce inefficiencies during the biomanufacturing process.4 Conferences – 1 Exhibition – 1 Congress
  • Conference 1: Continuous Manufacturing
  • Conference 2: Upstream Processing – Production, Development & Analytics
  • Conference 3: Manufacturing Strategy & Technology
  • Conference 4: Downstream Processing

  For more information on the 2015 event please visit the event website at http://www.informa-ls.com/CQ3531BioproductionCellEL

• Bioprocessing International – October 26-29, 2015 Hynes Convention Center Boston, MAhttp://www.ibclifesciences.com/BPI/overview.xml

Headlines

“London Mayor Boris Johnson Proposes $16 Billion Biotech Fund,” Bloomberg Business

“London Mayor Boris Johnson is proposing a 10 billion-pound ($16 billion) fund to encourage growth of emerging health-care companies in the U.K. in an effort to catch up to biotechnology clusters in the U.S.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “3D Printing and 3D Bioprinting – Changing the Healthcare Landscape”

“Bristol-Myers to stop new antiviral drug research,” Reuters

“Bristol-Myers Squibb said on Thursday that it would stop efforts to find new antiviral drugs and cut 100 related jobs. The company said it will also discontinue its Hepatitis B and HIV early programs.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Materials and Assay Systems Used for 3D Cell Culture”

“MM-398 Receives Priority Review for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer,” OncLive

“The FDA has assigned a priority review designation to MM-398 (nal-IRI) in combination with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer following treatment with a gemcitabine-based therapy, according to a statement from the drug’s developers, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Baxter International.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “2014 FDA New Drug Approvals – 11 Biologics Receive Approval”

“Intercept files rare liver disease drug in US, EU,” PharmaTimes

“Intercept Pharmaceuticals has filed obeticholic acid on both sides of the Atlantic as a treatment for primary biliary cirrhosis, a rare liver disease that primarily results from autoimmune destruction of the bile ducts.

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Troubleshooting Live Cell Fluorescence Imaging”

“Juno Rises as Celgene Pays $1 Billion to Buy Cancer Stake,” Bloomberg Business

“Celgene Corp. will pay Juno Therapeutics Inc. about $1 billion as part of a 10-year partnership to study cures for cancer and autoimmune diseases, the largest upfront payment in a biotechnology licensing agreement ever.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cell Culture Media Optimization: Making the perfect magical potion”

“Ten new therapies are backed for approval in Europe,” PharmaTimes

“Regulatory advisors in Europe have backed the approval of 10 new treatments, including two enzyme replacement therapies for rare diseases, cancer drugs, generics and ‘hybrid’ medicines.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Continuous Bioprocessing – The Biomanufacturing Model of the Future?”

“Cancer vaccines field to see sizable growth, report says,” Fierce Vaccines

“Though cancer vaccines have seen limited success and late-stage clinical failures in recent years, a new report by Infiniti Research suggests they’re here to stay and will begin taking off in a big way.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “A High Throughput, Scalable Solution to Upstream Process Development”