January 2010- Volume 6, Issue 1
January 2010
In this Issue
Research & Development
The art of the cell
The art of the cell
ImmunoCellular Therapeutics enters into option agreement with the M.D. Anderson for a novel cancer stem cell therapy
Giving stem cell research a boost
Giving stem cell research a boost
Millipore sponsors three academic memberships for GeneGo’s MetaMiner Stem Cell project
Tranzyme MATCHes up with Bristol-Myers Squibb
Tranzyme MATCHes up with Bristol-Myers Squibb
Companies pair up to develop novel macrocyclic compounds for multiple disease targets
The power of positive partnering
The power of positive partnering
AstraZeneca, Targacept to design nicotine channel blocker TC-5214 for treatment of major depressive disorder
Celgene goes for Gloucester
Celgene goes for Gloucester
Companies to merge in $340 million cancer drug deal
Global News
No more nosocomial infection
No more nosocomial infection
Novel approach to fighting hospital-acquired infections teams sanofi-aventis and U.S biotech Alopexx
Meeting a dual need
Meeting a dual need
Caliper partners with Prestwick to offer custom chemistry and biology programs for drug discovery
Almac Clinical Technologies goes with a PRO
Almac Clinical Technologies goes with a PRO
Ireland-based company names FACIT.org as partner for electronic distribution of patient-reported outcomes
Fluxion expands into Asia with first China sale, distributors in Korea and Japan
Fluxion expands into Asia with first China sale, distributors in Korea and Japan
Fluxion Biosciences, a provider of cellular analysis tools for use in life science research and drug discovery applications, announced in December the expansion of its sales and service network into Asia.
Opening the door to the Orient
Opening the door to the Orient
Pfizer, Crown Bioscience in collaboration to treat cancers in Asia
News Briefs
PREVIEW: ALA brings even more new offerings to LabAutomation2010
PREVIEW: ALA brings even more new offerings to LabAutomation2010
ALA brings even more new offerings to LabAutomation2010 in Palm Springs, to advance knowledge among all types of laboratory professionals at all levels
New Products
Enhanced collection and storage of preclinical and clinical study samples
Enhanced collection and storage of preclinical and clinical study samples
GE Healthcare has launched FTA DMPK cards for the collection and storage of blood samples for use in pharmacokinetic and toxicokinetic (PK/TK) studies.
Comfortable, easy-to-use pipette reduces the risk of repetitive strain injury
Comfortable, easy-to-use pipette reduces the risk of repetitive strain injury
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has launched the Thermo Scientific Finnpipette F2 with an upgraded soft-touch tip ejector for increased ergonomics.
Hybrid microplate reader
Hybrid microplate reader
BioTek Instruments Inc. has expanded its Synergy Multi-Mode Microplate Reader family with the introduction of the patent-pending Synergy H4 with Hybrid Technology.
Omics & Systems Biology
Crossing their Ts
Crossing their Ts
Bioo Therapeutics, Texas Tech researchers team up on targeted delivery of siRNA into T cells
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Expression Pathology to improve identification of cancer-related proteins
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Expression Pathology to improve identification of cancer-related proteins
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. also announced in December a collaboration between its Biomarker Research Initiatives in Mass Spectrometry (BRIMS) Center and Expression Pathology Inc.
Cancer's Grand Central Station
Cancer's Grand Central Station
Merrimack Pharmaceuticals acquires Hermes Biosciences in deal to develop systems biology-driven therapeutics for cancer
Tiny RNA; big results
Tiny RNA; big results
Yale and Mirna researchers show that microRNAs can shrink lung tumors
Capturing it all
Capturing it all
Kimmel Cancer Center to study genomics using febit’s sequence capture and microRNA solutions
Diagnostics
Minding their assays
Minding their assays
Rules-Based Medicine strikes diagnostic immunoassay deal with Roche through Psynova Neurotech subsidiary
Some California dreamin’
Some California dreamin’
Matrix Sensors, C3-Jian to develop microchip diagnostics based on engineered peptides
Bruker provides a green solution for Synlab association
Bruker provides a green solution for Synlab association
Spectrometry-based molecular microbial identification reduces biochemical wastes
You ought to be in pictures
You ought to be in pictures
IBM grant allows University of Pittsburgh researchers to use high-powered in silico modeling techniques
Government Watch
The ripple effect
The ripple effect
Whatever shape healthcare reform takes, its impact will be felt industry-wide
Time has nothing to show
Time has nothing to show
GAO follow-up report casts shadow on FDA's post-market safety efforts
Stem cell research funding debate hits the states
Stem cell research funding debate hits the states
Missouri legislator proposes constitutional change aimed at banning public dollars for stem cell research
No such thing as a free lunch in Jersey
No such thing as a free lunch in Jersey
New Jersey attorney general proposes regulations on doctors, pharma companies
Pfizer, Lilly and Bayer fined for price-fixing in Switzerland
Pfizer, Lilly and Bayer fined for price-fixing in Switzerland
he Swiss branches of Pfizer Inc., Eli Lilly & Co. and Bayer AG were fined a total of $5.7 million by competition regulators on Dec. 1 for alleged price-fixing of drugs for erectile dysfunction.
White House directive calls for open access to research publications
White House directive calls for open access to research publications
President Barack Obama on Dec. 8 issued a directive specifying actions that should be taken to make government agencies better able to engage with the public, including plans to make data and information from federally funded research available for public access.
Commentary
Guest commentary: Bioinformatics research enables better biological information
Guest commentary: Bioinformatics research enables better biological information
With life sciences evolving so quickly, bioinformatics research is critical to building information infrastructures that can match that evolution, allow researchers to access data quickly and easily and develop new informatics tools as needed. It is no longer enough to generate the best measurement data; researchers also require the best meaning and insight from that data.
A disappointing end to a disappointing decade
A disappointing end to a disappointing decade
We just left behind both a year and a decade, and pundits can’t resist opining on what happened. We had few good days early in this millennium, but we’ve got 990 years to make up for it.
Editor's Focus
Government’s watchful eye has pharma on guard
Government’s watchful eye has pharma on guard
Beginning this issue, our Government Watch section will profile some of the latest legal, legislative, and regulatory developments in the pharma/biotech arenas. In our first month of coverage, we had a veritable grab-bag of stories to sink our teeth into, and settled on a wide range of topics to show our readers the various forms government scrutiny can take: federal oversight, state legislation, state regulation and international regulation, to name a few. Our writers—who are no strangers to reporting on such matters—were eager to hit the ground running and delve into these topics, but were met with an all-too-familiar roadblock: Fear.
Instruments & Informatics
Forest preserve
Forest preserve
Acquisition of Protein Forest gives Cell Biosciences extra proteomic muscle
NEXUS Biosystems acquires sister company Aurora Biotechnologies
NEXUS Biosystems acquires sister company Aurora Biotechnologies
With private equity firm Telegraph Hill Partners (THP) acting as the honest broker, NEXUS Biosystems Inc. announced in December its acquisition of Aurora Biotechnologies.
Going out on a LIMS
Going out on a LIMS
Millipore’s CRO unit implements Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Watson LIMS for information management
Sequencing an alliance
Sequencing an alliance
Ambry Genetics, SoftGenetics form partnership for extended bioinformatics support for next-generation sequencing projects
