This week’s biotechnology news headlines include, 3 cancer drugs that could win approval in 2017, FDA approves Flublok quadrivalent flu vaccine, fewer children are dying from cancer, Merck and NewLink get 24.8M contract to support their ebola vaccine, Exelixis and Pfizer drugs compete in kidney cancer trial, donor stem cells improve cardiac function, and Roche’s lung cancer drug extends patients’ lives in study.

Cell Culture Events

Workshops:

GE Healthcare Single-use Symposium – Boston, MA – November 1-2, 2016

When:

Tuesday, November 1, 2016-Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM EST

Marriott Long Wharf, 96 State St., Boston Massachusetts 02109

Register Here

Bioprocess Insights Webinars

The biopharmaceutical industry has developed into a multi-billion dollar market in just 30 years. Making decisions and setting up strategies in a rapidly changing environment can be challenging. The difference between a good and a great decision can have extensive implications for the future of a company. In this environment, knowledge and experience are what make the difference. Good insights about, for example, technical advancements, process economy implications, and sustainability aspects can help improve the individual decisions and strengthen the overall business strategy.

In this webinar series, four renowned subject matter experts will share their insights into four areas of bioprocessing: upstream, vaccines, downstream, and single-use technology. We will present tangible, recently developed data that can help you in developing modern, cost-efficient, and sustainable bioprocesses.

Don’t miss these on demand webinars – http://www.bioprocessintl.com/sponsored-content/bioprocess-insights-webinars/

Conferences:

November

• 2^nd Annual Cell & Gene Therapy Congress – November 3-4, 2016 – London, UK – http://www.celltherapy-congress.com/Over 250 delegates representing leading biotech companies, global pharma organisations and internationally renowned academic institutions.Over 20 presentations and case studies focused on the key issues in cell & Gene Therapy development, updates in regulatory pathways, commercialisation, bioprocessing and manufacturing2 interactive streams:Cell & Gene Therapy: Development, Clinical Trials & CommercialisationCell Therapy Bioprocessing and ManufacturingCo-located with the established 5th Annual Cell Culture & Bioprocessing Congress and 3rd Annual Stem Cell CongressFree Pre-Congress WebinarAdvances In Gene Editing Technologies
  Presented by Richard Morgan, Vice President, Immunotherapy at Bluebird Bio. – Register for free today >>
• 5th Annual Cell Culture & Bioprocessing Congress – November 3-4, 2016 – London, UK – http://www.cellculture-congress.com/Over 170 delegates representing leading biotech companies, global pharma organisations and internationally renowned academic institutions50 presentations, case studies and panel discussions focused on the key issues in cell line optimisation, process development and biological production4 interactive streams:Early Cell Line DevelopmentProcess DevelopmentLate Stage Cell Line DevelopmentBiological Production14 pre-scheduled one to one meetings, exhibition and informal networking opportunitiesCo-located with the 3rd Annual Stem Cell Congress and the 2nd Annual Cell & Gene Therapy Congress

If you are attending, don’t miss the  Reception on Thursday evening.

• TIDES Europe – November 14-17, 2016 – Berlin, Germany – http://get.knect365.com/tides-europe/TIDES Europe is the place where oligo and peptide experts go to meet and build successful partnerships to accelerate products from early discovery through late stage development and commercialisation. In 2015 Tides Europe attracted a 40% increase in attendance across the oligo and peptide audience.
• World Immunotherapy Congress 2016 – November 14-16, 2016 – Basel Switzerland http://bit.ly/1rbnrYy

• World Precision Medicine – November 14-15, 2016 – Washington DC

The World Precision Medicine Congress USA is bringing together big pharma, big data, and healthcare providers to discuss the scientific, economic, and policy goals towards producing precise and genomic-based medicines. Partnered with forward-looking industry leaders such as precisionFDA and NantWorks, this event will fast-track our momentum into the future paradigm of healthcare by spurring the important discussions to get us there.

Can you afford to miss this gathering of precision medicine leaders? Pharma, big data, and healthcare providers will be there attending sessions on Gene Therapy, Cell Therapy, personalized medicine, and genomics.

Download the brochure: http://bit.ly/1N3Y0vI

Register to attend: http://bit.ly/1ObpkNV

December

• ASCB – December 3-7, 2016 – San Francisco, CA http://ascb.org/meetings/

• World Stem Cell Summit & RegMed Capital Conference– December 6-9, 2016 – West Palm Beach, Florida http://worldstemcellsummit.com/

• Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics – December 11-15, 2016 – San Diego, CA http://www.ibclifesciences.com/AntibodyEng/overview.xml

• Global Biomanufacturing Summit – December 12-14, 2016 – San Diego, CA http://biomansummit.com/

Headlines:

“3 Biotechs With Cancer Drugs That Could Win Approval in 2017,” BioSpace

“Three companies developing cancer therapies are hoping to cross the finish line within the next year with regulatory approval of treatments. Clovis Oncology (CLVS), Array BioPharma (ARRY) and Ariad Pharmaceuticals (ARIA) are preparing to make a bid for approval and investors should take note as it could mean big things for company stocks.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Controlling Cell Culture pH in Bioreactors”

“FDA Approves Flublok Quadrivalent Flu Vaccine,” Medscape

“The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new version of a recombinant, egg-free influenza vaccine called Flublok (Protein Sciences) that will protect against four strains of the virus, the manufacturer announced today.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Real Time IgG Titer Measurement Enables PAT (Process Analytical Technology) Implementation”

“Cancer in Retreat on One Front: Fewer Children Are Dying,” The New York Times

“Children are dying less often from cancer, with substantial declines in all races and age groups, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics. From 1999 to 2014, the overall deaths from childhood cancer fell by 20 percent. The rate among 1- to 19-year-olds went down to 2.28 per 100,000 population, from 2.85. Adolescents 15 to 19 were the most likely to die, but their rate fell by 22 percent.

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Cool Tool – Cadence Single Pass TFF Provides in-line Concentration, Enables Continuous process”

“Merck, NewLink nab up to $76M BARDA contract to back Ebola vaccine,” Fierce Biotech

“Partners Merck ($MRK) and NewLink Genetics ($NLNK) have nabbed a $24.8 million contract to support the development of their Ebola vaccine. The candidate just won a breakthrough designation from the FDA and priority medicine status from the EMA in July, with an FDA submission expected next year.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Particulates in Cell Therapy Products – An important issue for commercialization”

“Exelixis and Pfizer drugs compete in kidney cancer trial,” Reuters

“Exelixis’s drug Cabometyx outperformed Pfizer’s Sutent in a clinical study for the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer, suggesting it has the potential to become a first-line treatment, researchers said on Monday.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Predicting Differentiation and Characterizing Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Non-invasive Multi-analyte Luminex® Assays”

“Donor Stem Cells Improve Cardiac Function,” The Scientist

“Cardiac muscle cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and injected into monkeys helped the animals’ hearts recover from a heart attack, according to a study published yesterday (October 10) in Nature. The iPSCs came from donor monkeys who were immune-matched.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Reduce Cell Line Development Time by 30% and Simplify Proof of Clonality – A Case Study”

“Roche’s Tecentriq Extends Lung-Cancer Patients’ Lives in Study,” Bloomberg

“Lung-cancer patients who took Roche Holding AG’s new medicine Tecentriq lived about four months longer than those on chemotherapy in a study that will help position the drug to compete in the increasingly crowded field of immunotherapy.”

If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Gene Therapy Strengthened by Recent Successes”