This week’s biotechnology news headlines include, Sanofi and Regeneron work on cancer therapies, avian flu, Sanofi buys rare cancer drug, Progenics’ orphan cancer drug gets FDA Breakthrough, FDA approves Amgen’s Kyprolis, AstraZeneca works on Avastin biosimilar, and MedImmune researches cell factory technology.

Cell Culture Events

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

“Sanofi Joins Regeneron in $2.2 Billion Pact for Cancer Therapies,” Bloomberg Business

“Sanofi agreed to contribute $2.2 billion to work with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. on therapies that harness the immune system to fight cancer.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cancer Drug Market Continues to Grow and is Fueled by Significant R&D Focus and Clinical Pipeline”

“How prepared are we for avian flu?” The Hill

“The U.S. is currently suffering from an unprecedented outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), and poultry farmers across the nation, not to mention egg consumers, are paying the price. But higher egg prices could soon be the least of our worries if the virus were to spread to humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned last month that it “considers these newly-identified HPAI H5 viruses as having the potential to cause severe disease in humans.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “The Evolution of Vaccine Manufacturing – Past, Current, and Future Trends”

“AstraZeneca sells rare cancer drug to Sanofi for up to $300 million,” Reuters

“AstraZeneca (AZN.L), under pressure from falling sales of older drugs, is selling a medicine for a rare type of cancer to Sanofi (SASY.PA) as it continues a drive to raise cash by divesting certain assets.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Is Now the Time to Move Your Research to 3D Cell Culture? Key Considerations and New Tools to Ensure Success”

“Progenics’ orphan cancer drug picks up the FDA’s ‘breakthrough’ tag,” Fierce Biotech

“Progenics Pharmaceuticals’ ($PGNX) in-development drug for an ultrarare form of cancer secured the FDA’s breakthrough-therapy designation, promising a smoother path through the regulatory process.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “3D Bioprinting – Research Successes, Challenges, and Future Possibilities”

“FDA Approves Amgen’s Kyprolis as a Second-Line Multiple Myeloma Treatment,” The Wall Street Journal

“Amgen Inc. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval for its Kyprolis combination therapy as a second-line treatment for patients with relapsed cases of multiple myeloma.”

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

“AstraZeneca chases biosimilar Avastin drug with Japanese group,” Reuters

“AstraZeneca is dipping its toe in the biosimilars market, as a way to make future cancer drug cocktails more affordable, by linking with a Japanese group to develop a copy of Roche’s blockbuster medicine Avastin.”

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

“Medimmune, Sheffield University to research in cell factory technology,” Pharmaceutical Business Review

“AstraZeneca’s global biologics R&D arm MedImmune has entered into a five-year multi-project research collaboration with the University of Sheffield to carry out breakthrough research in cell factory technology process.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cord Blood-derived HSCs – The Quest to Overcome Limited Cell Numbers”