The Cross-Border Biotech Blog

Biotechnology, Health and Business in Canada, the United States and Worldwide

Monthly Archives: March 2009

Wednesday Brain Dump: Food Edition

1 Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 18, 2009

Here’s a food edition of the Wednesday Brain Dump, but it’s all about limits: Limiting Salt Intake: A new epidemiological model predicts major benefits from minor reductions in salt intake. Limiting Antibiotic Use: Some possibility that a bill, introduced in the House by Louise Slaughter (yep.), could pass, banning the use of antibiotics important to human [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, Wednesday Brain Dump animal antibiotics, food origin labels, GE rice, genetically modified corn, gentically modified rice, GM corn, GM crops, Rep. Slaughter, salt intake

Anyone Else Short on Cash?

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 17, 2009

Yesterday, the WSJ Health Blog picked up on Burrill & Co.’s report, noting that one-third (120 out of 360) of publicly-traded U.S. biotech companies have under 6 months’ cash left, a figure that sounds depressingly familiar… In the UK, the BioIndustry Association put out a press release January 27 that said: The current situation is grave [...]

Bailout, Jeremy Grushcow BioIndustry Association, BIOTECanada, Burrill & Co., cash

States Step in to Ban Stem Cell Research

1 Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 17, 2009

For those in Canada and the UK who were worried that Obama’s move to restore U.S. federal funding for stem cell research would create a 50-state mecca, I have good news: Reuters reported yesterday that several U.S. states — Oklahoma, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Arizona and Louisiana – have passed or are considering legislation to outlaw some forms [...]

Jeremy Grushcow ban on stem cell research, Embryonic Stem Cells, funding, stem cells

CV Therapeutics – Going Once, Going Twice…

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 16, 2009

… Sold to the Knight in White for $1.4 billion? With Astellas announcing this morning that they will not be outbidding Gilead for CV Therapeutics, the share price dropped back down slightly below Gilead’s $20 per share offer price, indicating that investors don’t see another bidder materializing.

Jeremy Grushcow, News Astellas, CV Therapeutics, Gilead Sciences

We’ll See What VC

1 Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 16, 2009

A post on Capital Rants this morning says the Mayfield Fund will be the Ontario Venture Capital Fund’s first investment, that it will be in the range of US$5 – US$7.5 million, and that Mayfield will open a one-person office in Toronto. Mayfield’s investments page shows they invested in biotech and device plays in the [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News CVCA, Entrepreneurship 101, MaRS, Mayfield Fund, Ontario Venture Capital Fund, OVCF

Monday Deal Review: March 16, 2009

3 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 16, 2009

M&A: We already noted the JLL bid for Patheon this week, and the Patheon Special Committee’s response. It turns out that JLL has been a busy enterprise lately, extending the expiration on a bid for PharmaNet Development Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDGI). Partnering: MedMira Inc., (TSX-V:MIR, NASDAQ: MMIRF), which has been active on the securities front with a [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, Monday Deal Review Advitech, AgeChem, Akela Pharma, Caisse de Depot, Cytognomix, delisting review, Helix BioPharma, HIV Test, JLL Partners, LAB Research Inc., litigation settlement, LMS Medical Systems, MedMira, Michael Sabia, Ontario Genomics Institute, Patheon, PharmaNet, Pre-commercialization Business Development Fund, private placement, Resverlogix, Spectral Diagnostics, Toray Industries, Vitest

Electronic Medical Records Update: Walmart Solution, Google Problem

3 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 14, 2009

When we identified electronic medical records as a trend in 2009, it was before $19 billion of the stimulus was allocated to implementing EMR. With that money on the table, the movement toward wide scale implementation has only accelerated: This week, Walmart announced that it will be offering an EMR solution through Sam’s Club, using Dell [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, Trends in 2009 eClinicalWorks, electronic medical records, Google, Google Docs, Google Health, privacy breach, Stimulus, Walmart

Friday Science Review: March 13, 2009

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 13, 2009

Training Brains: Sheena Josselyn’s lab at SickKids specifically erased a fear memory in mice by selectively ablating CREB neurons using an inducible diptheria toxin. Let me break this down, because it’s so unbelievably cool: they trained mice to be afraid of a sound, then they destroyed some specific cells in the brains of the mice, then the mice forgot [...]

Friday Science Review, Jeremy Grushcow Bioniche, brain cancer, Canadian Partnership Against Cancer Study, CREB neurons, E. coli O157, erase memory, glioblastoma protocol, gout, Hodgkin's, insomnia, mind-reading, National Cancer Institute of Canada Clinical Trials Group, NCI, Senator Kennedy, SickKids, UBC, Universite de Sherbrooke, University of Manitoba, vaccine, vitamin C

Changes to Canada’s Competition Act and Investment Canada Act Become Law

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 13, 2009

Shopping for biotech assets in Canada? Remember that changes to Canada’s Competition Act and Investment Canada Act became law on March 12, 2009 (yesterday). Most of the changes are immediately in force, although certain changes (such as the increased Investment Canada thresholds) will not take effect until a time fixed by the Governor in Council while [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News Competition Act, Investment Canada Act, Ogilvy Renault, seminar

Patheon Special Committee Bites its Thumb at JLL’s Bid. Clubs, Bills and Partisans to Follow!

2 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 12, 2009

Following JLL’s commencement of its bid for Patheon yesterday, Patheon’s Special Committee released its response this morning advising shareholders that JLL’s offer is “substantially undervalued, opportunistic and structurally coercive.” Patheon shares closed up slightly at $2.55 (up 0.79% from $2.53 yesterday), approximately matching the gains made by the Canadian dollar (up 0.55% today). JLL’s bid [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News JLL Partners, M&A, Patheon, takeover bid

M&A! Hooray! Genentech’s and CV Therapeutics’ Dreams Come True

1 Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 12, 2009

Seems like $95 per share was the magic number for Genentech, which finally succumbed to Roche’s persistent advances; and in other new news… CV Therapeutics‘ (Nasdaq: CVTX) found a White Knight in Gilead Sciences, which will pay $1.4 billion ($20/share), topping Astellas’ $16/share offer, which CV Therapeutics rejected a few weeks ago. Pre-market trading is [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News Astellas, CV Therapeutics, Genentech, Gilead Sciences, Roche, White Knight

Waxman Drives Hard Bargain on FOBs Market Exclusivity

3 Comments Posted by dorganpeters on March 11, 2009

Representatives Waxman (D-CA), Pallone (D-NJ) and Deal (R-GA) released the Promoting Innovation and Access to Life Saving Medicine Act today, a.k.a. Follow-On Biologics legislation. The legislation provides a five-year initial exclusivity for products with a unique molecular structure. The Biotechnology Industry Organization is not too happy. In the past BIO has called for a 14-year [...]

Dani Peters, Trends in 2009 BIO, Biosimilars, Follow-On Biologics, Health Canada, Waxman

Wednesday Brain Dump: March 11, 2009

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 11, 2009

Regulatory Brain Dump… Regulating Nanotech: The FDA is collaborating with the Houston-based Alliance for NanoHealth (ANH) and its eight member institutions to expand knowledge of how nanoparticles behave and affect biologic systems. Results will be placed in the public domain. Regulating Natural Health Products: Health Canada launched the first phase of Online Solution, a secure [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, Wednesday Brain Dump Alliance for NanoHealth, Avamed, Biosimilars, FDA, Follow-On Biologics, Hamburg, Health Canada, HITRUST, Lovenox, Momenta, regulation, Sharfstein, Teva

Canadian M&A Update: JLL Commences Patheon Bid at USD$2.00 per share

4 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 11, 2009

JLL Partners’ bid for Patheon Inc. (TSX: PTI), which has been brewing since December at the same USD$2.00 price, turned into a takeover bid today, with JLL announcing the lockup of shareholders holding 12,581,766 (about 13.8% by my calculation) of the subject shares. As we noted in the Monday Deal Review February 23, Patheon has [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News anti-takeover, JLL Partners, M&A, Patheon, poison pills, takeover bid

Bailout Update: UK and Canada

2 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 11, 2009

Two bailout developments to report yesterday: In the UK, the science minister Lord Drayson is championing a call by Imperial College London and the universities of Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford to create a £1bn fund to finance the early stages of university spin-outs: Medical research was given as an example, but Drayson is said to be [...]

Bailout, Jeremy Grushcow, News Bailout, BIOTECanada, Canada, Cleantech, High Tech, Imperial College London, Lord Drayson, MaRS, UK

The Face of Cod

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 10, 2009

The government has given a $3 million grant to Genome Atlantic to conduct genomic studies of atlantic cod. This is the first part of a 4-year, $5.8 million project. According to The New Brunswick Business Journal: Early maturation results in a slower growth rate for the fish. That means a longer wait before harvesting, and [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News Cod Genomics, Genome Atlantic, Genome Canada

SOX-Like Controls for Scientific Integrity

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 10, 2009

Yesterday, President Obama called for a restoration of scientific integrity to government decision-making in a sweeping Presidential Memorandum. Specifically, he directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to develop recommendations “designed to guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch.” Well, I have a recommendation: OSTP should use the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) as a model to create [...]

Jeremy Grushcow Corporate Governance, Obama, OSTP, Presidential Memorandum, Sarbanes-Oxley, scientific integrity

Patent Reform Live (Updated): Senate Judiciary Committee Hearings

1 Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 10, 2009

You can watch the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings live here starting at 10 am. Here’s a letter sent yesterday (pdf) by Sens. Feingold, Wyden, Bond, Brownback, Grassley, Kyl and Coburn to Sens. Leahy and Hatch expressing the writers’ concerns. Witness list and links to the witness statements

News, Trends in 2009 Patent Reform, Patent Reform Act of 2009, Senate Hearings

100th Post – State of the Blog

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 9, 2009

5 contributors, 46 days since launch, 100 posts, 544 tags, 3300 hits.* Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment; take the poll: * Hits as in page-views. Don’t assume stuff just because we’re in Canada.

Guest Blogger attempted humo(u)r, biotechnology, blog

Restoring Scientific Integrity to Government Decision Making

1 Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 9, 2009

In addition to Obama’s announcement today lifting the ban on federal funding of stem cell reasearch, he also issued a presidential memorandum To ensure that in this new Administration, we base our public policies on the soundest science; that we appoint scientific advisors based on their credentials and experience, not their politics or ideology; and that [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News federal funding, Obama, Presidential Memorandum, scientific integrity, stem cells

Merck and Schering-Plough in Canada

3 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 9, 2009

Following this morning’s announcement of Merck’s offer for Schering-Plough (0.5767 share of Merck and $10.50 in cash for each Schering-Plough share = $23.61 a share, a 34% premium, with Merck shareholders owning 68% of the combined company), we thought we’d take a look at the respective Canadian operations. See what we turned up

Jeremy Grushcow, News Intervet, M&A, Merck, Schering-Plough

Monday Deal Review: March 9, 2009

3 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 9, 2009

A big dose of Canadian deals and company info from this week

Jeremy Grushcow, Monday Deal Review Aeterna Zentaris, Angiotech, BioMS, Bioniche, BPH, Bradmer Pharmaceuticals, Caisse de Depot, delisting, development commercialization and licensing, Enobia, Fralex Therapeutics, iCo Therapeutics, InNexus Biotechnology, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Isotechnika, Jovian Capital Corporation, LHRH, Oncolytics, Oxford Finance Corporation, Performance Plants, prepayment, Quest PharmaTech, restructuring, Sanofi, share consolidation, Silicon Valley Bank, Sustainable Development Technology Canada, warrants

Canadian Budget Reaction Boils Over

3 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 8, 2009

A meeting this week between the Canadian Association of University Teachers and Gary Goodyear, Canada’s Minister of Science and Technology descended into a shouting match over cuts to research funding announced in Canada’s 2009 federal budget. Interestingly, the Minister focused on a point I made last week – that the Canadian approach lately has centered on commercialization: [...]

Jeremy Grushcow Canada Budget 2009, Canadian Association of University Teachers, CAUT, commercialization, Goodyear, meeting, Obama, Silverman, stem cells

Roche-Genentech Update

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 7, 2009

Roche raised its bid to $93 per share, more than the $89 per share it started at, and considerably more than the $86.50 per share it had been proposing lately. No substantive response yet from Genentech’s special committee. Keep your eyes peeled for a new SEC filing here.

Jeremy Grushcow, News Genentech, Roche

Stimulus Funding from NIH!

Leave a Comment Posted by dorganpeters on March 6, 2009

On Wednesday the National Institutes of Health published its Request for Applications (RFA), allocating $200 million provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The deadline for submissions is April 27, and requests for funding cannot exceed $1 million over two years. Applications must come from U.S. institutions and organizations, but there are no apparent restrictions [...]

Bailout, Dani Peters, News NIH, Stimulus

Preemption Update: Waxman and Pallone Hit the Ground Running

1 Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 6, 2009

When we reported on the Supreme Court’s decision in Wyeth v. Levine, we wondered what the effect would be on legislation proposed by Reps. Waxman and Pallone. We did not have to wonder long — they introduced legislation yesterday, with a parallel effort from Sens. Kennedy and Leahy, to moot the Supreme Court’s decision in Reigel v. [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News FDCA, Kennedy, Leahy, Levine, MDA, Medtronic, Pallone, PMA, Reigel, Supreme Court, Waxman, Wyeth, Wyeth v Levine

Friday Science Review: March 6, 2009

1 Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 6, 2009

Cool Canadian science stories this week… Stem Cells: The big Canadian science news this week was the report by Dr. Nagy’s lab at the Lunenfeld that they have found a much safer way to make pluripotent stem cells from adult tissue. Their publication (co-authored with Keisuke Kaji’s team at the University of Edinburgh) appeared in [...]

Friday Science Review, Jeremy Grushcow analgesia, asthma, eosinophils, GSK, interferon gamma, iPS Stem Cells, Kremer, Lunenfeld, McGill, McMaster, Mepolizumab, mesenchymal stem cells, MUHC, music chair, Nagy, nanotechnology, Occupational Cancer, osteoblasts, pluripotent stem cells, REACH program, Ryerson, SickKids, SMART lab, sugar, World Diabetes Congress

Trends in 2009: Personalized Medicine and Cancer Update

2 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 5, 2009

The Boston Globe reported this week on current trends in genetic testing of tumors: Massachusetts General Hospital will be adding $2,000 per patient worth of genetic testing as part of its standard of care for cancer. Dana-Farber tests selected patients, including patients with certain melanomas, where doctors know those malignancies can carry abnormalities that are susceptible [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, Trends in 2009 breast cancer, endometrial cancer, genetic testing, Personalized Medicine, tumor genotype, tumors

Wednesday Brain Dump: March 4, 2009

Leave a Comment Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 4, 2009

Monkey Business: glycerol monolaurate (GML), a well-known microbicide, may protect macaques against SIV; but future experiments may need to use a modified HIV strain instead; meanwhile, who will protect them from the University of Louisiana? Smoky Business: the tobacco industry is facing new litigation in Ontario, and FDA regulation in the U.S. Actual, Honest-to-Goodness* Profitable [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, Wednesday Brain Dump animal welfare, Burrill, cost-recovery litigation, FDA, HIV, microbicide, tobacco

Supreme Court Rules 6-3 Against Preemption in Wyeth v Levine

2 Comments Posted by Jeremy Grushcow on March 4, 2009

The Wyeth v. Levine opinion (pdf) was handed down this morning, holding that state tort law claims (in this case, inadequate warning) are not preempted by the FDCA. Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion starts at page 30 of the pdf. Alito and Scalia’s dissent starts at page 54 of the pdf. Now we have different preemption rules for [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News Levine, Lohr, Medtronic, Pallone, Reigel, Waxman, Wyeth, Wyeth v Levine

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Monthly Archives: March 2009

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