The Cross-Border Biotech Blog

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

Monthly Archives: October 2009

This Week in the Twitterverse

1 Comment Posted by on October 31, 2009

A lot of my tweeting this week was live reporting/commentary/snark from the first ever Canadian Science Policy Conference. The conference was a great success and will hopefully spur continued reflection and action in the coming months.  The highlight for me was moderating a panel on commercialization comprising Tom Brzustowski, Ronald Dyck, Jorge Niosi and Mark Romoff. [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse

Ontario H1N1 Swine Flu Update October 31: All Indicators Still Increasing. 2 New Deaths, 10 Toronto Clinics

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 31, 2009

Checking out this week’s Influenza Bulletin, indications are that the Fall’s Swine Flu outbreak in Ontario is going to get worse before it gets better.  Unfortunately, the vaccine is just starting to become available.  This coming week, there will be 10 public clinics open in the greater Toronto area, but still only for those among the [...]

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Friday Science Review: October 30, 2009

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 30, 2009

Regenerative medicine and Cross-border awards… Gene Therapy Saves Donor Lungs: A technique using gene therapy on donor lungs before transplantation may be used to repair and save damaged lungs, making them potentially suitable for transplantation into patients.  The procedure involves first preserving the lungs at normal body temperature in a protective chamber called the Toronto [...]

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Gairdner Breakfast: Nobel and Gairdner Winners Discuss Biotech and Pharma’s Pipeline Problems

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 29, 2009

As part of the  Gairdner Foundation’s 50th anniversary celebrations this week, there was a breakfast panel this morning with a lot of brainpower (even for MaRS). Cal Stiller lead a discussion by David Baltimore, Phillip Sharp and Corey Goodman who between them have three Gairdner awards and two Nobel prizes. These top-notch scientists also have truly impressive [...]

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Bruce Alberts’ Two Strategies to Promote the Impact of Science on Policy

1 Comment Posted by on October 28, 2009

In Bruce Alberts‘ keynote tonight kicking off Canada’s first Science Policy Conference, he highlighted two approaches to increasing the role of science on policy decisions. Here they are: To spread science, we need to spread scientists. Scientists in government, pre-college education, law, media and business can bridge cultures. Academic programs need to encourage alternate careers. [...]

News

Ontario H1N1 Swine Flu Update October 27: Vaccine is on the Way

1 Comment Posted by on October 27, 2009

The latest actual figures on Ontario Swine Flu are in Ontario’s weekly “Influenza Bulletin”. See below for some interesting data from last Friday’s edition. While you’re perusing those, note that vaccine is on the way.  The message from Deb Matthews, Ontario’s Minister of Health and Long-Term Care is: “Get vaccinated when it’s your turn.”   First in [...]

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Trends Update — Electronic Medical Records: Pogue Mugs On CBS and Interviews Blumenthal While Australia Shows How It’s Done

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 26, 2009

David Pogue waded into the EMR narrative this week, with a piece on CBS News that took a look at the U.S. efforts with an interesting focus on Kaiser’s EMR efforts. Pogue follows up with a blog post containing a transcript of his full interview with David Blumenthal.  Interestingly, the main negative angle in his CBS piece [...]

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Monday Biotech Deal Review: October 25, 2009

3 Comments Posted by on October 26, 2009

A very busy deal week coincided with a very busy work week (for those of us with day jobs), so allow me a particularly grateful thank-you to Jacob Cawker, who’s been an invaluable help with the Deal Review this and the last several weeks.  After the jump, licenses both inbound, outbound and just tied up (optioned); securities extended and [...]

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A Third REMS Advantage? Allergan Says REMS for Botox Requires Off-Label Communication

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 25, 2009

Allergan sued the FDA earlier this month, claiming that the FDA’s prohibition of off-label promotion violates Allergan’s First Amendment rights by preventing Allergan from communicating about BOTOX’s REMS restrictions to physicians who need the information to properly treat off-label.  As the Allergan press release says: “To serve the objectives of the FDA-mandated REMS program for [...]

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This Week in the Twitterverse

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 24, 2009

Interesting items this week that were too short for their own post: Prep session with my panelists tomorrow morning for next week’s Science Policy Conference! http://sciencepolicy.ca/ Part of healthymagination RT @FierceBiotech GE launches $250M life sciences VC fund, extends pact with Lilly. http://is.gd/4vX3T #Health #Canada approves $GSK #swineflu #H1N1 #vaccine, delivery to provinces in progress [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse

Friday Science Review: October 23, 2009

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 23, 2009

A lucky find and two very different genomics projects… Connective Tissue Disorder Linked to Defects in Ltbp4:  A McGill University researcher collaborating on two independent projects, one from Washington University School of Medicine and the other from New York University School of Medicine, made the coincidental link between the two after realizing that the tissue [...]

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Preventing Bias in Comparative Effectiveness Research

1 Comment Posted by on October 20, 2009

Comparative effectiveness research has the potential to avoid wasteful spending and create net benefits for patients if approached properly, but it’s expensive.  Many of the large-scale comparative effectiveness studies include industry funding, and benefits managers are no strangers to the game, but giving those partners a say in study design risks introducing bias.  An interesting [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, Trends in 2009 , , , , , ,

Dreaming of REMS: A Second Reason Why FDAAA Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies Might Be a Benefit to Drug Developers

1 Comment Posted by on October 19, 2009

Over at The In Vivo Blog, Michael McCaughan has another thought-provoking piece on REMS — the FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies that impose tight controls on the distribution channels for certain drugs. Michael compares two drugs for the same indication — opioid-induced constipation therapy, if you must know — and though they have similar [...]

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Monday Biotech Deal Review: October 18, 2009

1 Comment Posted by on October 19, 2009

This week’s deal review has a big bought deal for IMRIS (and RBC), the details of Cardiome’s successful offer, and some follow-through for MethylGene and BioSyntech. 

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This Week in the Twitterverse

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 17, 2009

Tweets we tweeted this week, in case you don’t follow us on Twitter.  Here’s what you missed: RT @ogilvyrenault: #Canada Signs Three New PPH Pilot Program Agreements http://bit.ly/2ldtnT << PPH = #Patent Prosecution Highway RT @randypicker: #rpatf09 Update on reverse payments for Hatch-Waxman generics: http://bit.ly/3gy3Q2  Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternate Resources (ICFAR) opens today [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse

Friday Science Review: October 16, 2009

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 16, 2009

A mixed bag of research reports but nonetheless important and significant… How MS Drug Works: Glatiramir Acetate (COPAXONE®, Teva Pharmaceuticals) is used for the treatment of patients with Multiple Sclerosis, however, it is not clear how this drug works.  In this new study, researchers demonstrate that glatiramir acetate can regulate the formation of myelin, the [...]

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Trends Update — Biosimilars: The State of Play of U.S. Follow-on Biologics Legislation

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 15, 2009

With the Senate Finance Committee voting this week in favour of its health reform bill, the legislative process will now move on to an attempt to reconcile the House bill and the two Senate bills in conference. What does this mean for a biosimilars pathway?  Will there be one?  What will the exclusivity period be?  [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News, Trends in 2009 , , , , , , , ,

Planned UK Bioscience Park Features “Open Innovation,” is Brought to You By GSK, the UK Government, The Wellcome Trust and the EEDA

1 Comment Posted by on October 14, 2009

A new biotech “hub” (aka campus, park, centre, cluster…) is being planned at GSK’s Stevenage Campus in the UK.  Whatever you call it, the organizers are pitching two novel features: An “Open Innovation” model; and Access to GSK management and expertise. I’m not sure how far “open innovation” could really go, in an industry that [...]

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A New Online Resource for Canadian Patients: MedSchoolForYou.com

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 13, 2009

mdBriefCase Inc., which provides online education for Canadian medical professionals, is branching out into the consumer market.  Their new website, MedSchoolForYou.com, will provide Canadian-specific online medical information for patients.  With different drug nomenclature and different regulatory and reimbursement environments, a Canada-specific health resource could be extremely helpful.  At launch, the new site is limited to [...]

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Monday Biotech Deal Review: October 12, 2009

1 Comment Posted by on October 12, 2009

Here’s the roundup for today. It’s the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, but there’s not a turkey in the bunch. 

Jeremy Grushcow, Monday Deal Review , , , , , , , , ,

This Week in the Twitterverse

1 Comment Posted by on October 11, 2009

Tweets I tweeted this week @crossborderbio: RT @jensmccabe: CCHIT announces ‘modular’ EHR certification http://tinyurl.com/ykj9shz This week’s Friday Science Review: cancer, genomics and Nobels, oh my! http://bit.ly/kUkhN << Richard Chan, ladies and gents. RT @FierceBiotech: Kansas looks to boost early stage drug dev with $50M in venture capital funding. http://is.gd/46Qak << incl. Burrill,MPM Big news in [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse ,

Friday Science Review: October 9, 2009

1 Comment Posted by on October 9, 2009

Breast cancer, genomics and two cover stories in prestigious journals… Cancer Evolution and Progression:  Scientists at the BC Cancer Agency have sequenced and compared the entire cancer genome of a metastatic tumour versus the primary breast tumour that originated nine years earlier.  They used next generation DNA sequencing technology to reveal 32 mutations in the [...]

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Québec’s $122 million New Biopharmaceutical Strategy Includes $30 million for Genomics, May Include SR&ED Tax Credit Financing

5 Comments Posted by on October 8, 2009

The Province of Québec rolled out a new “biopharmaceutical strategy” Thursday that they say aims to provide “development support for biotech and biopharmaceutical firms.” The Roll-Out: The announcement was beautifully coordinated with the relevant constituencies, as illustrated by the near-immediate chorus of support: Génome Québec said thank-you for the $30 million, we’ll get right to work. Merck Frosst [...]

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Mimetogen Pharmaceuticals Sews Up Financing Through Phase II POC

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 7, 2009

Mimetogen Pharmaceuticals, a pharma company developing peptidomimetics based on technology from McGill University and the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research in Montréal, closed a new financing from iNovia Capital and VIMAC Ventures LLC.  The amount of the financing was not disclosed, but it is budgeted to take Mimetogen’s lead product, MIM-D3 for keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News , , , , ,

Biotech Trends in 2010: Get An Early Start at OGI’s Synthetic Biology Conference

1 Comment Posted by on October 6, 2009

In updating this blog’s Trends in 2009 series for 2010, I noted that synthetic biology has garnered recent attention in The New Yorker and The Economist and it may be poised to attract more commercial attention.   Here’s a great chance to get a jump on the topic… Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI) and Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) are [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News, Trends in 2009 , , ,

Monday Biotech Deal Review: October 4, 2009

2 Comments Posted by on October 5, 2009

Read on for all the details of QLT’s sale of its U.S. subsidiary, as well as more M&A and a series of securities deals from Canadian companies this week

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This Week in the Twitterverse

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 3, 2009

Tweets I tweeted @crossborderbio.  Lots of stuff that’s worth knowing but is too short to get its own post: HHS proposed rule modifies the HIPAA Privacy Rule to cover genetic info pursuant to GINA http://bit.ly/19w0Pf via @GenomeWeb_News link to Tweet RT @CVCACanada: 20 Most Active Venture Capital Investors in Canada http://ow.ly/sp2c via @techvibes link to Tweet [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse

Friday Science Review: October 2, 2009

Leave a Comment Posted by on October 2, 2009

Prostate cancer and H1N1 updates… Nanotechnology is Coming:  A research study by a group of University of Toronto engineers, nanoscientists, and pharmaceutical specialists has garnered a lot of media attention this week describing the use of nanomaterials in microchip technology to create a highly sensitive biosensor.  In the more technical report published in Nature Nantotechnology [...]

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Trends Update — IP Constituencies: India’s Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Sets an Example for Canadian Innovation

6 Comments Posted by on October 1, 2009

This blog has been following the increasing innovative activity taking place in India’s and China’s biopharma industries, and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is a great example of this trend. Forbes profiled Glenmark this week (H/T FierceBiotech), noting that it started in 1978 as a generics firm but now has 7 clinical-stage compounds and has partnerships with Forest [...]

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