March 2013- Volume 9, Issue 3
March 2013
In this Issue
Tools & Technology
A P4 partnership
A P4 partnership
The Institute for Systems Biology and AB SCIEX partner to make medical care more ‘predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory’
Adding new dimensions
Adding new dimensions
Organovo and OHSU Knight Cancer Institute collaborate on biological models for cancer drug discovery and development
End-to-end workflow
End-to-end workflow
Life Technologies acquires BAC, expands bioprocessing protein purification workflow
Dealing with the data
Dealing with the data
Curie- Cancer, GenoSplice to target cancer genomics data via bioinformatics
Feature
A capitol idea -- AACR 2013 conference preview
A capitol idea -- AACR 2013 conference preview
AACR’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., offers chance for education, networking and a public call for policy changes
A capitol idea -- AACR 2013 conference preview (Part 2)
A capitol idea -- AACR 2013 conference preview (Part 2)
More information about the annual meeting and more photos from Washington, D.C.
Research & Development
MAP leads to pot of gold
MAP leads to pot of gold
Allergan subsidiary, MAP Pharmaceuticals merger could be worth nearly $1 billion
Marriage for MS treatment
Marriage for MS treatment
Merck Serono and Opexa Therapeutics enter into $225 million drug development agreement
Canada continues stem cell tradition
Canada continues stem cell tradition
Toronto’s Stem Cell Therapeutics, Trillium propose merge to develop new drugs to combat AML, other cancers
Maxing out with GVAX
Maxing out with GVAX
Aduro acquires cancer vaccine assets from BioSante for $1 million
Safer drugs, better cancer care
Safer drugs, better cancer care
NanoSmart Pharmaceuticals and UCLA enter collaboration agreement for pediatric cancer drug development
Global News
Addressing a growing need
Addressing a growing need
Galapagos acquires Cangenix for $1.5 million
European Lead Factory launched
European Lead Factory launched
Public-private partnership aims to accelerate early drug discovery
Resistance really is futile
Resistance really is futile
European partnership aims to re-enable antibiotics against resistant bacteria
Uber-antibiotic duo
Uber-antibiotic duo
Sweden’s Pergamum collaborates with India’s Cadila Pharmaceuticals to develop novel peptides to treat infections
A breakup worth billons
A breakup worth billons
Biogen Idec purchases Elan’s share in Tysabri franchise for more than $3 billion; Elan is already entertaining acquisition offers
Diagnostics
A deeper companionship
A deeper companionship
QIAGEN and Lilly enter into expanded collaboration relationship to develop and commercialize companion diagnostics
When East meets West
When East meets West
Vela, Jefferson to combine experience for the development of molecular diagnostic assays
Assay for AD
Assay for AD
Amorfix and QPS to collaborate on Alzheimer’s disease project
JPT Peptide, Institute for Medical Immunology partner on chronic fatigue syndrome
JPT Peptide, Institute for Medical Immunology partner on chronic fatigue syndrome
JPT Peptide Technologies GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of BioNTech AG, and the Institute for Medical Immunology at the Charité in Berlin recently announced a collaborative agreement to develop serological peptide markers for the differential diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
Omics & Systems Biology
Heart-smart commercialization
Heart-smart commercialization
Collaboration targets R&D of RNAi compound to treat cholesterol issues
It’s only logical
It’s only logical
King’s College London, Emerald Logic seek to develop predictive, discriminative Alzheimer’s model
Drawing a better map
Drawing a better map
New technique pinpoints protein locations, helping scientists figure out their functions in live cells
Glycomics on the map
Glycomics on the map
Kyowa Hakko Kirin to fund projects exploiting Ezose’s GlycanMap technology
Meddling with medulloblastoma
Meddling with medulloblastoma
Trio unites to seek metastasis biomarkers for common childhood brain tumors
Government Watch
The USPTO uncertainty principle
The USPTO uncertainty principle
Effects of changes in U.S. patent regime may take years to be fully understood, adjudicated
FDA on a hot streak
FDA on a hot streak
U.S. regulators approved a record number of new drugs in 2012
Taking it to the states
Taking it to the states
Pharmas and biotechs lobby state legislatures to limit generics, biosimilars
Commentary
A genome’s got to know its limitations
A genome’s got to know its limitations
Although we are believers in genomics, we suspect that it will take the conventional 20 years or so between investment in research and commercial exploitation. We also feel that application of genomics to healthcare delivery will take place by a large number of small steps, and not as a big bang. In short, a genome’s got to know its limitations.
Out of Order: Didn’t see that coming
Out of Order: Didn’t see that coming
Too often, the industry’s hands appear to be tied when it comes to providing target markets with information, as regulatory agencies and advertising counsels argue that consumers aren’t capable of digesting this information. I think we’re not giving today’s consumers enough credit.
Editor's Focus
Cancer patients: The heart of the matter
Cancer patients: The heart of the matter
If you’re in a position to create treatments for cancer, what’s the silver bullet for you? Is it creating a safe and effective blockbuster drug that brings in the revenue your company needs to continue work on future drugs? Is it an altruistic quest for a cure?
Special Reports
‘Good enough’ is no longer good enough
‘Good enough’ is no longer good enough
Trends in Cancer Research feature report Part 1 of 2: Aiming beyond the standard of care in oncology
