The Cross-Border Biotech Blog

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

Monthly Archives: March 2010

Monday Biotech Deal Review: March 29, 2010

3 Comments Posted by on March 29, 2010

This week’s Canadian biotech deals include an acquisition by Biovail, Hæmacure’s BIA filing comes to a predictable end, MethylGene finds $8.9 million in its couch cushions from some Ontario numbered corps, Leap Medical leaps ahead with $1 million from MSBiV and other Quebec favourites, and BioSyntech borrows against its SR&EDs.  Those, plus more securities, debt [...]

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This Week in the Twitterverse

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 27, 2010

Here are some good tidbits to catch up on over the weekend in case you missed them the first time around on @crossborderbio: Most enjoyable CLE ever — http://www.ipcolloquium.com/ — thanks DGL (@doug_lichtman )! RT @FDAcdrhIndustry: Online presentation: Good Clinical Practice 101 http://bit.ly/akRkIo #fda #medicaldevice  New Post: Friday Science Review: March 26, 2010 – Why [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse

Friday Science Review: March 26, 2010

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 26, 2010

Why Did the Duck Kill the Chicken? Well… a scientific explanation is RIG-I.  Ducks are resistant to influenza viruses but may by asymptomatic carriers.  One of the reasons for ducks’ resistance is because ducks express the RIG-I protein that senses the presence of the viruses.  Chickens, however, do not appear to express RIG-I or a [...]

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Ontario Budget 2010: Reserving Final Judgment

3 Comments Posted by on March 25, 2010

In the post below, I noted the increased budget for the Ministry of Research and Innovation. More than one little birdie says this increase portends significant pending program changes. So put away your poison pens for now and we’ll keep our ears to the ground for good news from the deployment of that additional funding. [...]

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2010 Ontario Budget Stands Still on Innovation

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 25, 2010

Ontario’s 2010 budget was released today.  It contains no new innovation-related initiatives, leaving the province to fall further behind competitive jurisdictions. Read on for more detail, but also see this post noting that signs point to further announcements. Despite recent strategic initiatives in Québec and across the U.S., and despite opportunities to improve funding for [...]

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Capstone Therapeutics’ Proposed Put Rights Put the Company’s Future in Investors’ Hands. Here’s How they Work, and Why.

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 24, 2010

Capstone Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CAPS)  got a lot of press today (DealBook, FierceBiotech, etc.) for the “put rights” it’s proposing to give its shareholders.  If shareholders agree at Capstone’s May 21 AGM, they will each get “the right to require the Company … to purchase for cash all or a portion of [their] shares [for cash] on or about [...]

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Biotech Trends Update: ChemGenex and the Importance of Companion Diagnostic Development

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 24, 2010

Australian cancer drug developer ChemGenex was scolded by the FDA’s oncology panel for “fairly sloppy drug development.” The company’s mistake? It presented its leukemia drug, designed for patients with a particular genetic mutation, without a validated diagnostic test for the mutation. ChemGenex says it’s a matter of months, not years, before it gets a test [...]

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Health Canada Calibrates Caffeine Consumption — Energy Drinks May Get New Labels

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 22, 2010

Two recent bulletins from Health Canada‘s caffeine directorate provide updates for the sleep-impaired.  The first update reminds us of recommended limits: 400mg/day for healthy adults.  Health Canada describes this as “about three 8oz cups of coffee.” Pay attention though, because a “medium” at Tim’s is 10oz (14oz in the U.S.) and only the rarely ordered ”short” at Starbucks [...]

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Monday Biotech Deal Review: March 22, 2010

2 Comments Posted by on March 22, 2010

Bought deals are all the rage this week, with BioExx and Osta Biotechnologies both heading in that direction.  Also, everywhere we look, warrants are being exercised and debentures are being converted. We even noted the green shoots of a new Canadian listed biotech company poking through the ground via a CPC transaction.  Is there a [...]

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This Week in the Twitterverse

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 20, 2010

Here are some good tidbits to catch up on over the weekend in case you missed them the first time around on @crossborderbio: RT @JohnCFierce: In followup on the FDA’s new approach to cocktail drugs … a new TB collaboration. Reuters: http://bit.ly/dg1XCj 1 day ago Medicago (TSXV $MDG) sees $1.6m from exercise of 99% of warrants from [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse

Friday Science Review: March 19, 2010

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 19, 2010

An abbreviated Review this week – headliners with links to news article… Unlocking The Opium Poppy’s Biggest Secret Scientists Take Animal Breeding To The Next Level McGill Researchers Create DNA Nanotubes Able To Carry And Selectively Release Materials HLI Team Identifies a Key Predictor of Cardiovascular Death Study Opens New Avenue For Developing Treatments For [...]

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Biotech Trends Update: A Personalized Critique of Comparative Effectiveness Misses the Mark

3 Comments Posted by on March 18, 2010

As the U.S. and Canada move to invest and rely more on comparative effectiveness research (CER), lack of personalization has been the loudest and most frequent objection.  That is why we have been following the interaction between comparative effectiveness and personalized medicine as a key industry trend. Yesterday, an opinion piece in the WSJ by Leonard [...]

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Subsequent Entry Biologics (aka Biosimilars) get Final Health Canada Guidance, 6 Years of Data Exclusivity

2 Comments Posted by on March 16, 2010

Health Canada released the finalized version of its Guidance Document for ”Subsequent Entry Biologics” (SEBs).  The final version is mostly the same as the draft guidance released last March, and actually comes after the approval of Canada’s first SEB last April. SEBs are a class of drugs that the EU calls “biosimilars” and the U.S. calls [...]

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Deal Review is On Vacation

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 15, 2010

We’ll be back next week with a double dose of Canadian deal info, and regular posting should resume tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Jeremy Grushcow

This Week in the Twitterverse

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 13, 2010

Here are a few tidbits to catch up on over the weekend from  @crossborderbio.  Back to full capacity next week. RT @genomicslawyer: FDA Announces New Warning for Plavix linked to genotype http://bit.ly/9LdAVR (HT @GeneSherpas) 13 hours ago Agrium to terminate CF offer http://bit.ly/9SNyPb RT @AHCJ_Pia: RT @marynmck: RT @setonh1n1: Canadian Press reports 17x increase in MRSA in Canada between [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse

Friday Science Review: March 12, 2010

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 12, 2010

Good viruses, bad viruses, biomarkers and protein structures in this week’s research highlights… Biomarker for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Subset: Using a high-throughput genomic approach to associate gene expression profile with treatment outcomes for Hodgkin lymphoma, researchers identified an overexpression of genes typically expressed by macrophages in samples from patients who had experienced a relapse after treatment.  [...]

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Monday Biotech Deal Review: March 8, 2010

4 Comments Posted by on March 8, 2010

A busy week in Canadian deals, with Paladin Labs in a global transaction with SpePharm; M&A activity from therapeutics and consulting companies; the last of the SIFT/SR&ED deals; over $20 million of new offerings from BioSign, Bradmer and YM; government funding for Medicago and Isotechnika; a new standby equity deal from Yorkville for Allon; and the [...]

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This Week in the Twitterverse: Weekend Reading

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 6, 2010

This week was full of news and analysis from the federal budget, so check that out by clicking here. When you’re done with that, here are some other good tidbits to catch up on over the weekend in case you missed them the first time around on @crossborderbio: RT @FDAcdrhIndustry: Deadline for commenting on 510(k) [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, This Week in the Twitterverse

Reactions to Canada’s 2010 Federal Budget

1 Comment Posted by on March 5, 2010

Reaction in the biotech and innovation community to the 2010 budget was generally positive, since they (we) got something in a year when most groups got nothing.  As Rob Annan put it over at Researcher Forum: “What a difference a year makes… Funding increases, though relatively small, are made more significant by the context of [...]

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Friday Science Review: March 5, 2010

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 5, 2010

Missing Enzyme Improves Metabolism: Mice lacking the TGH gene for the enzyme triacylglycerol hydrolase showed an unexpected dramatic improvement in their metabolic profile.  TGH is an enzyme that helps to release stored fat or triglycerides into the blood stream where it circulates to be used as an energy source or, if in excess, ends up [...]

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More Highlights in Canada’s 2010 Federal Budget For Biotech, Venture Capital and Innovation Groups

2 Comments Posted by on March 4, 2010

My first take on the most important bits for Canadian biotech companies and investors: 1) Looks like Section 116 will stay dead this time! 2) Better for research funding, with Genome Canada, NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC coming out much better than last year.  Grease?  Meet squeaky wheel. 3) Is this the end of the SIFT/SR&ED deals?  [...]

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Canada Federal Budget 2010: Goodbye Section 116

7 Comments Posted by on March 4, 2010

As predicted by Mark McQueen among others: Section 116: Eliminating tax reporting under section 116 of the Income Tax Act for investments such as those by non-resident venture capital funds in a typical Canadian high-technology firm. Specifically: “narrowing the definition of taxable Canadian property, thereby eliminating the need for tax reporting under section 116 of the [...]

Jeremy Grushcow, News ,

Highlights of Canada’s 2010 Federal Budget For Biotech, Venture Capital and Innovation

4 Comments Posted by on March 4, 2010

 Here’s the highlight reel.  More details and analysis here. $45 million over five years to establish a post-doctoral fellowship program. $222 million in funding over five years for TRIUMF, Canada’s premier national laboratory for nuclear and particle physics research. Additional $32 million per year for Canada’s research granting councils, plus an additional $8 million per year to the [...]

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X-Prize Ventures Further Into Biology: Millions May Be Up for Grabs for New Organs from Stem Cells and New Doctors from Software

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 3, 2010

A story in FierceBiotech reports that the X Prize Foundation, most famous for incentivizing Burt Rutan’s SpaceShipOne, is considering a “stem cell” prize that would award $10 million to “the first team to be able to create a lung, liver, or heart from the stem cell of a patient who is terminal, have that new organ transplanted into [...]

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Biotech Trends Update — IP Constituencies: India’s Courts Nix Drug Patents while India Courts Innovation

Leave a Comment Posted by on March 2, 2010

This blog has been tracking increasing innovative activity in India and China as part of our Biotech Trends series, the idea being that as innovative activity increases, the host countries will take a kinder view of property rights. The trend toward innovation in India is undeniable — as the WSJ’s Venture Capital Blog noted recently, India even [...]

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Monday Biotech Deal Review: March 1, 2010

2 Comments Posted by on March 1, 2010

This week saw a lot of offerings move forward, in the shadow of Anthera’s shrunken and postponed IPO, but the news wasn’t all good in Canada either. ConjuChem filed for restructuring, and other companies are still holding on by their teeth. See who’s who

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