The Dish’s Weekly News Wrap Up – April 12, 2013
This week’s headlines include, the President’s Budget, stem cell news, best selling drugs and the duds, and H7N9 flu news.
Cell Culture Events:
Attend World Vaccine Congress and Expo, 16-18 April 2013 Maryland, US
The World Vaccine Congress & Expo is now in its 13th year and is the biggest and most comprehensive event for the industry. Covering everything from the latest R&D to manufacturing to the corporate development strategies you’ll be sure to find answers to all your questions
For more information download the brochure at World Vaccine Congress and Expo Brochure
Remember the earlier you book, the more save. Just enter promo code CCD! Book now
Interphex 2013, April 23-25, New York, New York
If you are attending Interphex, please visit our sponsors:
- ATMI LifeSciences – Booth number 3319
- For more information see – http://www.atmi.com/Events/forms/ATMIActivitiesInterphex2013.pdf
- GE Healthcare – Booth number 3141 and booth number 3341
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
Webinar “Clinical Trials: Moving Stem Cell based Therapies to the Clinic,” Presentations from FDA and Leading Experts
Monday, April 15, 2013, 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Headlines:
“President’s Budget Offers Mixed Bag for Biopharma,” BioWorld
“The $3.77 trillion budget proposal for fiscal 2014 that the White House unveiled Wednesday offers drugmakers a mixed bag of good news and bad news in terms of tax reforms and health care spending. When it comes to the tax reforms, whether the news is good or bad depends on the size of the company. Small biotechs could qualify for tax write-offs for up to $500,000 in new investments and a 10 percent tax credit for hiring new employees or increasing wages. The budget also would reform an R&D tax incentive and make it permanent. On the bad news side, at least for big pharma, the proposal includes reforms that would prevent multinational drugmakers from shifting profits overseas in an effort to avoid U.S. taxes.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Biologics Have a Robust Pipeline According to Latest PhRMA Report”
“Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to Support BrainStorm’s Phase 2 ALS Trial,” Pharmaceutical Business Review Online
“BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have entered into collaboration, under which Dana-Farber will provide cGMP-compliant clean room facilities for the production of BrainStorm’s NurOwn stem cell candidate during its upcoming Phase II ALS trial in the US. The trial will be conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Hospital and the Mayo Clinic.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Part III – Fifteen Cell and Stem Cell Therapies in Phase III Clinical Trials”
“Top 20 Best Selling Drugs Approved and Launched During 2012,” Genetic Engineering News
“You’ve seen GEN’s list of the top 20 best-selling drugs of 2012, but what brand new drugs have come out over the past year that are worth watching? Here are top 20 best-selling drugs that were approved and launched during 2012, ranked by their 2012 sales. Data on 2012 comes in most cases from the companies themselves, except where otherwise noted.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Biologics Take Top Spots in Best Selling Drugs of 2012”
“C.D.C. Begins Work on Vaccine for China Flu,” The New York Times
“Federal health officials have begun to make a seed vaccine against the mysterious new H7N9 flu circulating in China, they said Thursday. While it is being made “only as a precaution,” a spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized, an agency virologist said the agency was “fairly worried” about the new virus. China reported that it had confirmed 14 cases of the new flu, and on Friday it reported that six cases were fatal. No cases of human-to-human transmission have been confirmed, even though China’s disease control agency has traced hundreds of people who had contact with the 14 known cases, the news agency Xinhua reported.
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Severe Flu Season Puts Spotlight on New Vaccine Technologies and Existing Challenges”
“Stem Cells Boom in Vet Clinics,” Nature
“Patients seeking unproven stem-cell therapies in the United States often run up against government restrictions. But Vintage ‘Vinty’ Mark of Lovettsville, Virginia, had no difficulty getting such injections to treat an injured tendon in his leg. The leg improved dramatically, and Vinty went back to training — to be a racehorse. New guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could, however, soon rein in veterinary uses of stem cells, a practice that has exploded in the United States over the past decade, even though most therapies are unproven. Many researchers and veterinarians say that the guidance, a draft of which the agency plans to issue by the end of the year, is overdue. But others worry that FDA interference could hamper research that could benefit animals — and their human companions.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Biologics Take Top Spots in Best Selling Drugs of 2012”
“Analysts Rank the Top 10 Blockbuster Duds in Biopharma,” Fierce Biotech
“EP Vantage took a look at the numbers and came up with the top 10 blockbuster busts–new drugs which in the last 5 years were expected to rake in a fortune only to fall far, far too short. Here’s the list, based on original projections versus current forecasts or actual revenue.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Continuous Processing: From Cookie Preparation to Cell-Based Production”
“Aastrom Begins Patient Enrollment in ixCell-DCM Trial,” Pharmaceutical Business Review Online
“Aastrom Biosciences has begun patient enrollment in the ixCELL-DCM Phase 2b trial of Ixmyelocel-T in the US. Randomized, double-blind study will assess ixmyelocel-T’s efficacy and safety in treating patients with advanced heart failure due to ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. Aastrom Biosciences acting chief medical officer David Recker said, “Enrolling the first patients in the ixCELL-DCM trial is an important milestone in our effort to bring this potential new treatment for advanced heart failure to thousands of people who might benefit from it.”
If you like this story, please see our blog titled “Identifying Options for Stem Cell Based Therapy Scale-Up”