The Cross-Border Biotech Blog

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

Monthly Archives: December 2009

Biotech Trends of 2009: Three Biggest Losers

When we started the blog almost a year ago, we identified what we thought would be key trends for biotech investors and companies to watch.  Most panned out, but a few turned out to be… not so trendy.  You can call them premature (if you’re feeling generous) or call them dumb (if you’re feeling mean); [...]

Top Four Biotech Trends of 2009

These may not all be consensus picks (and don’t miss the IVB’s year-end deal-centric fun) but I’m sticking with these four trends as the ones that have really shaped the year that was: Follow-on Biologics. Call them what you want (we like “biosimilars”, but we’re internationalist like that), there’s no denying that biosimilars were a major [...]

This Week in the Twitterverse

This week was not so quiet in the world of biotech, despite my mostly successful attempts at vacation.  Here are some highlights from our Twitter stream @crossborderbio for you to catch up on: AstraZeneca Pays Up to $425 Million for Novexel (from NYT DealBook) http://viigo.im/1TfK 1 day ago Good summary of year-end #biotech #pharma deals http://viigo.im/1Tfz 1 day ago [...]

Monday Biotech Deal Review: Gone Fishin’

The Monday Deal Review is on vacation this week. Keep an eye on the Twitter stream (over to your right in the sidebar of this page or @crossborderbio), and check back next week for a double dose of Canadian biotech deals.  All the best to everyone for a happy, successful 2010!

Trends Update — Social Media: Upopolis Keeps SickKids’ Patients Connected

One of the fantastic uses for social media in healthcare (a trend we will be following this coming year) is to connect communities of patients to each other and to their friends and families when those connections would be difficult to make or maintain IRL (in real life).  The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto [...]

Monday Biotech Deal Review: December 21, 2009

This week’s deal review shows no signs of a holiday showdown.  In Canada, BioMS’ deal with Spectral Diagnostics was interesting as a possible indicator of more to come and internationally, 5 new pharma deals were announced this morning including a $430 million deal that OncoGenex landed from Teva joining new links between Athersys and Pfizer, Lilly and Incyte, sanofi-aventis [...]

This Week in the Twitterverse

Things to read this weekend if you aren’t following us on Twitter @crossborderbio… That’s bound to help. CBO estimates new #senate #hcr bill reduces deficit by $132b in 1st 10 yrs http://bit.ly/6Ue1T9 18 hours ago @jensmccabe most interesting take-away from attractiveness study is a take-along..everyone bring a ruler to ur haircut! http://bit.ly/8RmvMb 1 day ago Next IPO to watch [...]

Friday Science Review: December 18, 2009

Advancing Cell Research with Proteomic Tools: Advances in technology – particularly in proteomics – are allowing scientists to perform research in more complex systems, a complexity that more closely reflects the situation inside the body.  In the latest trend, researchers can label two different populations of cells with different modified amino acids and use mass [...]

BioMS’ New Directions — Buys 48% of Spectral Diagnostics, Still Has Dry Powder

BioMS (TSE: MS), which like the kids in Glee* was in need of some re-invention, has entered a new phase.  BioMS announced that it is investing $11.7 million in Spectral Diagnostics (TSE: SDI), which will use the funds to advance its lead product Toraymyxin, a treatment for severe sepsis.  Spectral will pay BioMS $3 million over the next 3 years for [...]

Trends Update — Electronic Medical Records: Importance of Telemedicine, Implementation and Data Security

Since the Canadian and U.S. stimuli directed fuding towards electronic medical records (EMR), we’ve been following developments in the area as part of our Biotech Trends series here on the blog and have noted successes and failures.  A few recent stories highlight risks and benefits: A recent Scientific American story (H/T @mikesgene) turned an analytical [...]

Monday Biotech Deal Review: December 14, 2009

In this week’s biotech deal review, some stimulus money finds its way to biotech, some M&A finds its way to shareholders’ votes, the NRC-BRI finds its way to two deals, and Patheon finds itself entering a new fiscal year a bit less burdened.  Even some securities may find their way into the market…

This Week in the Twitterverse

A busy week for @crossborderbio on Twitter.  Here’s what you may have missed: RT @FiercePharma: BusinessWeek: Drug maker Patheon to close or sell PR plant. http://bit.ly/5bVqog RT @CLSD: Carleton U Prof. finds new way to repair damaged nerves http://bit.ly/6DjSd6 + more cool Canadian #science at http://ow.ly/168yJn  RT @genomicslawyer: Regulations to Implement GINA Move One Step [...]

Friday Science Review: December 11, 2009

WOW!  A busy week in the bioscience world… Pull Down Your ‘SOCS’ and Grow Some Nerves: A long standing question is how to get mature neurons, which stop growing at around the age of two, to start growing again after sustaining nerve damage.  The answer may lie in a protein called SOCS3 (suppressor of cytokine [...]

Biotech Trends in 2010: Top Three Reasons Why Biotech Companies Should Use Social Media

Tech startups use social media avidly [rabidly?], but biotech companies? Not so much.  Biotech companies should be blogging, tweeting and linking in like mad, though.  Here’s why: Your customers (pharma companies) do it.  More and more pharma companies are active in social media. Take a look at this article in the December issue of Life [...]

Canadian Science Policy Conference Video: Bruce Alberts, Preston Manning and Other Luminaries

The first Canadian Science Policy Conference was held at the end of October this year, and video and audio of the event is now available at the conference website.  I’d encourage you to check out the whole thing, but definite highlights include: Preston Manning and Bruce Alberts (links to conference videos), who both called for greater involvement [...]

Monday Biotech Deal Review: December 7, 2009

This was a fairly busy week for Canadian biotech deals, including a new brain-y collaboration for MaRS; peace at Patheon; some overallotment and some underallotment; some diversification by Canadian pharma (even if not on quite the scale of Pfizer’s deal with Protalix); and some trans-Atlantic acquisitiveness of a Canadian company’s own devicing [sic., sorry].  Don’t [...]

This Week in the Twitterverse

For those who don’t follow us on Twitter @crossborderbio, here are this week’s short, but notable, developments: Globe and Mail article criticizes Canadian absence of Oncotype DX test (21-locus personalized breast cancer expression) http://bit.ly/65baVw 3 hours ago Æterna Zentaris’ Perifosine Receives Fast Track Designation for the Treatment of Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma http://bit.ly/5CTZBV 2 days ago RT @RICCentre: Register for [...]

Friday Science Review: December 4, 2009

Universal Cancer Signalling Pathway: This is an interesting new twist on cancer signalling that may make scientists rethink how to tackle the disease.  It is thought that there is no single cure for cancer as the hetergenous disease may arise from mutations in a number of different pathways.  In this report, however, researchers demonstrate that [...]

No Preemption No Problem: State Courts Step Up

For anyone following the U.S. Supreme Court’s emerging case law on FDA approval and preemption (as we have been here, here, here, and here), it looks like the next frontier is going to be state law. With the Supreme Court’s ruling that drug manufacturers are subject to state tort claims even if they have undergone [...]

Biotech Trends Update — Commercialization by Foundations: New Initiatives from ALS Organizations, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

As part of our Biotech Trends series, we’ve been following the increasing commercialization activity shown by non-profits (although they’ve been having as hard a time succeeding as everyone else).  Two recent stories highlight the important role foundations are playing in this market environment. JDRF Canada – FedDev Ontario Clinical Research Collaboration.  The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation [...]

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