The Dish’s Weekly Biotechnology News Wrap Up – June 5, 2015

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:

• Philadelphia, PA – June 5, 2015
• Raleigh-Durham, NC – June 22, 2015
• San Diego, CA – September 15, 2015
• San Francisco, CA – September 17, 2015

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

Conferences:

June

• Empowered Antibodies Congress 2015 – June 17 – 18 2015, Barcelona, Spain http://www.informa-ls.com/event/empoweredantibodies15
• Annual Meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research – June 24-27, 2015, -Stockholm, Sweden http://www.isscr.org/home/annual-meeting/isscr2015
• BIO International Convention – June 15-18, 2014 – Philadelphia, PA http://convention.bio.org/
• Viral Safety and Raw Materials Congress – June 24-25, 2015 – Austria Trend Hotel Savoyen – Vienna, Austria http://www.informa-ls.com/CQ3546VSRMCONGRESScellcultureJoin us at this year’s Viral Safety and Raw Materials Congress taking place in Vienna on the 24^th-25^th June to network and exchange with leading industry representatives, regulatory bodies and top level technology providers from across the globe to discuss and debate the latest trends in this changing sector.Packed with case studies, interactive tutorials, discussion panels and workshops, the conference agenda will provide you with key take home messages to benchmark your businesses’ strategies with regards to safeguarding against viral contamination enhancing the quality of your products.Covering all the key topics within the field of viral safety for biologics and raw materials, hear the latest on next generation detection technologies, supplier auditing, risk assessment techniques and raw material analytics from leading players including Roche, Genzyme, Sanofi Pasteur, Crucell and Abbott.For more information, please visit the event website: www.vsrm-congress.com (please hyperlink to: http://www.informa-ls.com/CQ3546VSRMCONGRESScellculture)

August

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

 Headlines

“Large U.S. cancer trial to match genetic glitches to targeted drugs,” Reuters

“The National Cancer Institute in July will start enrolling patients in a clinical trial seeking to match the underlying genetic defect driving a person’s tumor with one or more of 20 approved or experimental drugs targeting that gene.”

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

“Novartis, Juno Killer T-Cells Show Promise In Another Blood Cancer,” Forbes

“The genetically altered, cancer-killing T-cells known as CARTs showed dramatic results in non-Hodgkin lymphoma as the two leading players, the Swiss drug giant Novartis and the Seattle upstart Juno Therapeutics, pushed forward with new clinical trials.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Closed Systems in Biomanufacturing Offer A Variety of Benefits”

“Cancer breakthroughs trigger big pharma interest in drugs and deals,” The Guardian

“The new generation of drugs hailed as a once-in-a-generation advance in treatment for cancer patients is also viewed as good news for the pharmaceutical industry – just when analysts had started to voice concerns that the pipeline of blockbuster treatments in development was starting to run dry.”

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

“Here’s Why Orphan Drugs Will Remain Attractive M&A Targets,” The Wall Street Journal

“Amid the mergers-and-acquisitions boom in the pharmaceutical industry, one trend is increasingly discernable – orphan drugs are a desirable target. In fact, half of the recent acquisitions among drug makers and biotechs involved an orphan drug, according to Moody’s Investor Service. Of 18 deals announced since August, nine involved an orphan drug, which is used to treat a rare disease.”

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

“Astellas, Anokion Launch Up-to-$760M Collaboration,” Genetic Engineering News

“Astellas Pharma and Anokion said today they will collaborate on research aimed at developing new treatments for type 1 diabetes and celiac disease, and possibly a third indication, in a deal that could generate $760 million for Anokion.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Tools and Strategies for Transient Protein Production in Mammalian Cells – A Discussion”

“Northeastern team solves mystery of recurring Lyme disease, offers a solution,” Fierce Biotech Research

“Lyme disease is a poorly diagnosed and often little understood threat that affects hundreds of thousands of people each year. Now the high-profile Northeastern University Professor Kim Lewis and his team of graduate students and colleagues say they’ve made some keen breakthroughs in understanding why Lyme disease can be so hard to eradicate and how it might best be treated.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cool Tool – Cedex Bioprocess Analyzers for Vaccine Manufacturing”

“Novartis turns down right to buy Israeli stem cell group,” PharmaTimes

“Swiss drug giant Novartis has decided not buy Israel-headquartered stem cell specialist Gamida Cell.”

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