September 2010- Volume 6, Issue 9
September 2010
In this Issue
Research & Development
7,000 points of light
7,000 points of light
Sigma Life Science and Boston University awarded NHLBI grant to probe samples from Framingham Heart Study for biomarkers in cardiovascular disease
Jumping into the game
Jumping into the game
Envoy to seek new Parkinson’s disease therapy with Scripps Research Institute
Signaling the pathway to antibody development
Signaling the pathway to antibody development
NovImmune enters into exclusive antibody licensing agreement with Genentech
Striking a nerve
Striking a nerve
Gladstone, Danish drugmaker Lundbeck sign neurological disease research agreement
The French connection
The French connection
Seeking to acquire Genzyme, sanofi-aventis goes public with a nearly $20 billion cash offer
Government Watch
The big decision on Bilski
The big decision on Bilski
Supreme Court patent ruling on Bilski means much for diagnostics, less for pharma
DTC genetic testing faces federal fire
DTC genetic testing faces federal fire
GAO investigators say DNA tests give bogus results, mislead consumers; FDA launches probe of several companies
Is close enough good enough for medicine?
Is close enough good enough for medicine?
Proposal to allow biosimilars takes heat at Congressional caucus hearing
2010 U.S. healthcare bill: Good, bad or double-edged sword?
2010 U.S. healthcare bill: Good, bad or double-edged sword?
Report examines reform’s impact on pharma
Instruments & Informatics
A VisEn-ary acquisition
A VisEn-ary acquisition
PerkinElmer’s acquisition of VisEn Medical will add in vivo molecular imaging capabilities to enhance preclinical research
A collaboration in the Cleve
A collaboration in the Cleve
EMD Millipore and Cleveland Clinic collaborate on method to rapidly stain and assess tissue
Automation solution enables protein purification
Automation solution enables protein purification
PhyNexus, Tecan collaborating on development of standard processes
Axela’s acquisition of Xceed Molecular hits snag
Axela’s acquisition of Xceed Molecular hits snag
Plan to create a powerhouse in robust and easy-to-use systems for translational medicine put on hold as recession hits Canadian life sciences companies hard
Illumina shines light on Helixis acquisition
Illumina shines light on Helixis acquisition
Company announces purchase, launch of new PCR product in Q2 financial report
Omics & Systems Biology
Partnership is primed and ready
Partnership is primed and ready
FivePrime Therapeutics partners with GSK on skeletal muscle disorders
AB SCIEX and ETH Zurich Institute join forces to advance systems biology
AB SCIEX and ETH Zurich Institute join forces to advance systems biology
Collaboration to create new methods on AB SCIEX QTRAP 5500 System for faster and broader quantitative analysis in support of metabolomics studies
A new avenue for Alzheimer’s
A new avenue for Alzheimer’s
MIT researchers say SIRT1, a gene implicated in aging, may control production of protein fragments that make up amyloid plaques
Nitto Denko and Quark Pharmaceuticals to jointly develop siRNA anti-fibrotic drug
Nitto Denko and Quark Pharmaceuticals to jointly develop siRNA anti-fibrotic drug
Quark also signs licensing option agreement with Novartis for p53 suppressor
Diagnostics
Penning a pair of diagnostic deals
Penning a pair of diagnostic deals
Eurogentec enters into two agreements with BD Diagnostics regarding molecular diagnostics: one in technology transfer and the other in suppl
Korea collaboration is key for cancer research
Korea collaboration is key for cancer research
Pfizer forms research partnership with South Korea’s Samsung to analyze, treat liver cancer tumors
Cancer double-team
Cancer double-team
Novartis, Pathwork Diagnostics forge collaboration to develop and sell diagnostics
IRIS takes AlliedPath to personalized medicine
IRIS takes AlliedPath to personalized medicine
Company closes on acquisition, gains laboratory offering MDx services
Global News
Shire hungry for share of gastro market
Shire hungry for share of gastro market
British drugmaker announces plans to buy Movetis NV
A sure selection
A sure selection
Agilent Technologies and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute develop all-exon target enrichment tool for next-generation sequencing
Easing the pain
Easing the pain
BioFocus and University of Bristol enter drug discovery collaboration in diabetes-related chronic neuropathic pain
A dowry to the seal the engagement
A dowry to the seal the engagement
Actelion obtains option to acquire privately held Trophos for just under $13 million
Tour of Italy
Tour of Italy
Aptuit, Siena Biotech forge strategic partnership for former GSK facility in Verona
Special Reports
Pharmacogenomics harnesses power of prediction, personalization
Pharmacogenomics harnesses power of prediction, personalization
Branch of pharmacology stands at the precipice of the era of personalized medicine in cancer treatment
Getting down to basics
Getting down to basics
Researchers dig deep into the genome, not just to establish the causes of cancer, but also the best approaches to treatment
Editor's Focus
When shareholders attack, it’s not just the news that suffers
When shareholders attack, it’s not just the news that suffers
It’s the phone call or e-mail that every publication editor dreads. It comes seconds before deadline time, as the content your editorial team has worked for the last month to produce is committed to print. It comes from a writer whose story has morphed so materially from its original state that it can’t run as planned—usually leaving a black hole in your layout to be filled at the eleventh hour.
Commentary
Guest Commentary: Prioritizing hits based on drug-target residence time
Guest Commentary: Prioritizing hits based on drug-target residence time
Amid the complexity and expense of the small-molecule drug discovery process, from identification and validation of a “drugable” target to the development of an understanding of the impact of pharmacogenomic differences in patient populations on drug action, lies the “hit-to-lead” process in which compounds that show activity in an assay system are iteratively improved upon through medicinal chemistry that is guided by more detailed assays and filtering criteria.
Patent News
Lilly loses method patent after use was disclosed in earlier patent
Lilly loses method patent after use was disclosed in earlier patent
Eli Lilly & Co. recently lost an appeal from a final judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, finding claims 2, 6, and 7 of U.S. Patent No. 5,464,826 invalid for obviousness-type double patenting over its earlier U.S. Patent No. 4,808,614. (See, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries v. Lilly, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, 2010-1105).
