News about Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare

Immunforscher der Charité wird jüngstes Berliner Akademie-Mitglied

In ihrer Sitzung am vergangenen Freitag wählten die Mitglieder der Berlin-Brandenburgischen...

Prof Cathie Martin made an MBE

Professor Cathie Martin, plant biologist and editor-in-chief of the American monthly journal The Plant Cell,  has been made an MBE in recognition of her work. “Cathie is an inspirational scientist – fearless, but also selfless”, says Professor Anne Osbourne from the John Innes Centre.  “It is a real pleasure to see her contributions to plant [...]

Researchers develop easy and effective gene therapy to restore sight

Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed an easier and more effective method for inserting genes into eye cells that could greatly expand gene therapy to help restore sight to patients with blinding diseases ranging from inherited defects like retin...

11 medical schools earn AMA grants for education innovation

Physicians and educators hope the $11 million initiative will spark nationwide curriculum changes to better prepare future doctors for leadership roles in team-based care.

AMA meeting opens with recap of year of promoting changes in health care

At the opening of the House of Delegates, the AMA president and executive vice president describe how the Association made improvements for doctors and patients.

NCATS to announce awards for Discovering New Therapeutic Uses for Existing Molecules program

Media briefing with NCATS Director Christopher P. Austin, M.D.

WHO Pleads for Voluntary Blood Donors Amid Low Supply -- Voice of America

Ahead of World Blood Donor Day, Lisa Schlein reports on safe blood supply need and the key role of voluntary blood donors. "The World Health Organization [WHO] warns there is a global shortage of safe blood...[and] is appealing for more voluntary blood donors...[as] millions of patients requiring life-saving transfusions do not have timely access to safe blood. In low- and middle-income countries,...

Genome sequence for mother of ash dieback survival

The first sequence data for a survivor of the ash dieback epidemic has been made available by scientists from The Genome Analysis Centre (TGAC) as part of a research collaboration led by the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory. The data is available for analysis on crowdsourcing site OpenAshDieBack. In Denmark, the Chalara fraxinea [...]

Waters Enhances its Omics Research Platform Solution with TransOmics 2.0 Informatics

At ASMS Waters is previewing an enhanced range of Omics Research Platform Solutions, powered by TransOmics™ 2.0 Informatics.  The new TransOmics 2.0 informatics packages for proteomics and metabolomics/lipidomics, created exclusively for Waters by its strategic business partner Nonlinear Dynamics (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), are based on extended versions of the Nonlinear Dynamics Progen...

Revision of guideline on clinical and non-clinical issues for biosimilars

On 10 June 2013, the EMA released a revision of the guideline addressing the clinical and non-clinical issues related to similar biological products (biosimilars) containing biotechnology-derived proteins as the active substance. The draft guideline...

Call for clarity in FDA’s draft guidance on biosimilar meetings

Drug companies have made comments on FDA’s draft guidance for industry on formal meetings between the agency and biosimilars manufacturers. They believe that the guidance needs some revision to protect data and provide clarity.

Use of G-CSF biosimilars for reduction of fever

The American Society of Hematology, the British Society of Haematology, the European Society of Hematology and the European Group of Bone Marrow Transplantation all recommend the use of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) after transplant i...

Possibility of substitution of biosimilars in Europe

To date, 14 biosimilars within the product classes of human growth hormone (1), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (8) and erythropoietin (5) have been approved in Europe [1]. EMA Head of Biologicals Dr Peter Richardson and Amgen Director of Value...

Teva and Sun Pharma settle battle over generic Protonix

Pfizer announced on 12 June 2013 that the pharma giant had reached a settlement with generics manufacturers Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries (Teva) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma) for damages resulting from their ‘at-risk’ launches...

Trials to start for biosimilar infliximab and etanercept

Pfizer is to start a phase I study for its biosimilar infliximab candidate (PF-06438179) and Samsung Bioepsis has initiated a phase III clinical trial for its biosimilar etanercept (SB4), according to entries on the US and EU clinical trials websites...

Nigeria needs to combat fake drugs and ageing facilities

Nigeria has ageing drug-manufacturing facilities and a problem with imports of fake drugs, according to Mr Olakunle Ekundayo, Group Managing Director, Drugfield Pharmaceuticals.

Indian Government moves closer to complying with EU API rules

On 23 May 2013, the Indian Government announced that it had issued finalized guidelines for drugmakers to comply with a European Union (EU) directive on standards for import of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) into the EU that takes effect on...

Yellow fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is launching an emergency mass vaccination campaign against yellow fever from 20 June 2013, following laboratory confirmation of six cases in the country on 6 June 2013.

Organomation Announces the New Automatic 20 Position N-EVAP Nitrogen Evaporator

Organomation unveils the company’s new Automatic 20 Position Nitrogen Evaporator.  This latest addition to the company’s widely successful N-EVAP product line allows for automatic operation to save laboratory technicians time while reducing human error. Sales Technician Anthony Sacino stated that “The 20 Position Automatic Nitrogen Evaporator was modeled after our most popul...

Merck Millipore Adds Flow Cytometry Capabilities to Biomarker Testing Services

Merck Millipore, the Life Science division of Merck, today announced the expansion of its biomarker testing service capabilities with the launch of flow cytometry services at its North America facility. The service supports exploratory and GLP-requiring studies, and includes full and flexible assay development, validation and sample testing services using clinically established flow cyto...

Health IT stands out as insurance exchange hurdle

A GAO investigation of seven state exchanges finds some are encountering unexpected technical problems in setting up coverage marketplaces.

Supreme Court Rejects Patents for Natural Human Genes -- McClatchy Newspapers

Michael Doyle reports on the human genome, open research and drug development law. "The Supreme Court ruled [this week]...that naturally occurring human genes may not be patented, but that synthetic ones may be. In a unanimous decision...the court distinguished between genes found in the human body and those created in the lab...justices determined...that so-called 'complementary DNA,' which is cr...

Breast Cancer Screening Fails to Cut Deaths -- The Telegraph, London

Nick Collins reports: "Although the number of [British] women who die from breast cancer is steadily decreasing, there is 'no evidence' to suggest this is because of screening programmes...researchers from Oxford University said...The findings contradict a review commissioned by the Department of Health, which last year found that death rates were 20 per cent lower among women invited to screening...

India's Poorest Women Coerced into Sterilization -- Bloomberg

Andrew MacAskill reports: "When it comes to family planning, women are on the front lines in India, which has carried out about 37 percent of the world's female sterilizations. Government-imposed quotas and financial incentives for doctors mean 4.6 million women were sterilized last year...Vasectomies, by contrast, accounted for just 4 percent of all sterilizations...Despite the coercive nature of...

New exhibition makes genome accessible to public

Unique NIH-Smithsonian collaboration unlocks the present and future of genome science.