June 2011- Volume 7, Issue 6
June 2011
In this Issue
Research & Development
BBB and beyond
BBB and beyond
Lilly, Medtronic collaborate on crossing blood brain barrier to combat Parkinson’s disease
Striking a ‘cord’ with spinal injuries
Striking a ‘cord’ with spinal injuries
InVivo, UMiami collaboration to combine SCI technologies for treatment
What's Next(erone) for Baxter?
What's Next(erone) for Baxter?
Pharma giant acquires Ligand partner Prism to bring Nexterone, an anti-arrhythmic agent, to market
One for the history books
One for the history books
In its largest acquisition to date, Johnson & Johnson acquires medical device maker Synthes for $21.3 billion, creating the world’s largest orthopedics business
Right fit, right time
Right fit, right time
Alkermes and Élan Drug Technologies announce $960 million merger, creating leader in CNS therapeutics
Feature
Look at what’s new in D.C.
Look at what’s new in D.C.
Program for 2011 BIO International Convention seeks to provide attendees with a well-rounded knowledge base they can use to advance business objectives
Contract Services
Controlling their own destiny
Controlling their own destiny
Nautic Partners acquires Omnicare’s CRO arm
Entrée into the Orient
Entrée into the Orient
Mitsui acquires MBS and expands geographic base
Serving up ‘plate-to-patient’ fare
Serving up ‘plate-to-patient’ fare
Quotient Bioresearch and KWS BioTest partner on end-to-end anti-infectives screening
A public-private partnership
A public-private partnership
Paragon, UMB and Life Technologies to develop stem-cell therapies
Omics & Systems Biology
Taking the path of least resistance
Taking the path of least resistance
Gene-editing collaboration to fight EGFR- targeted therapy resistance
Surf’s up for microRNAs
Surf’s up for microRNAs
Regulus Therapeutics, UCSD collaborate on angiogenic disease research utilizing microRNA technology
Wet or dry, hope for the eye
Wet or dry, hope for the eye
Tufts researchers find protein CD59 is key to slowing age-related macular degeneration
Creating cancer for the greater good
Creating cancer for the greater good
Researchers make normal stem cells into cancer stem cells and achieve important insights into triple-negative breast cancer
Playing by the Rules
Playing by the Rules
Myriad acquires Austin-based Rules- Based Medicine for $80 million, boosting capabilities in biomarker discovery
Global News
Taking cancer to TASQ
Taking cancer to TASQ
Active Biotech and Ipsen partner on Tasquinimod TASQ compound in uro-oncology
Once-in-a-decade breakthrough
Once-in-a-decade breakthrough
Alnylam and Precision NanoSystems form RNAi delivery collaboration
A helping hand in India
A helping hand in India
Swedish pharma Karo Bio and Indian pharma Alkem Laboratories Ltd. to develop eprotirome for dyslipidemia
Back to school
Back to school
Swiss developer Debiopharm and Yale in licensing deal on inhibitor for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases
Diagnostics
Alzheimer’s disease: First steps to stem the epidemic
Alzheimer’s disease: First steps to stem the epidemic
AD guidelines updated for the first time in decades; NIH-supported revision also proposes staging of disease, potential use of biomarkers
A wide spectrum narrows
A wide spectrum narrows
SynapDx licenses autism diagnostic discoveries from Children’s Hospital Boston
Multiplex makes for a magnetic attraction
Multiplex makes for a magnetic attraction
Applied BioCode announces strategic technology partnership, license agreement with EraGen Biosciences
In NARMS way
In NARMS way
Magellan Biosciences and miacom diagnostics partner to speed up identification of pathogens, streamline lab workflow and enable better treatment decisions
Instruments & Informatics
Two’s a cloud
Two’s a cloud
PerkinElmer acquires Geospiza, a leading developer of cloud computing software
Imaging is everything
Imaging is everything
GE Healthcare to acquire cellular imaging company Applied Precision as part of its life-science expansion plans
Avantor acquires POCH from Kulczyk Holding
Avantor acquires POCH from Kulczyk Holding
Acquisition of Poland’s leading performance materials supplier will expand Avantor’s laboratory offering and manufacturing footprint in Eastern Europe
License to drive
License to drive
Sigma Life Science commercializes technology from King’s College London that eases miRNA target identification bottlenecks
The future of work
The future of work
Cognizant, Eagle Genomics work with Pistoia Alliance to develop cloud-based platform to streamline sequencing services
Editor's Focus
Will open access open a Pandora’s box for scientific journals?
Will open access open a Pandora’s box for scientific journals?
Should the content in scientific journals be made available to the public? There are unintended consequences to opening up copyrighted material, as evidenced by the many challenges facing the journalism business since Al Gore 'invented' the Internet.
Commentary
New tools take time
New tools take time
It’s been a rough first half in 2011, but beneath the noise, much progress is being made, and the last five years have been a lot more productive than we take time to realize.
Guest Commentary: Generating more knowledge from data and more value from studies
Guest Commentary: Generating more knowledge from data and more value from studies
The nature of drug discovery and development remains an information-rich endeavor, and in order to increase success rates, we must make better use of our data—and our information science experts.
