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Medical doctors, surgeons, researchers, and other practitioners in the field are usually bound by the Hippocratic oath and other professional codes to “do no harm” to the patient. Yet they face a growing number of dilemmas that increase the patient’s risk to be harmed, even if that risk is freely and willingly undertaken—specifically when a person requests a procedure or medication with the intention to enhance his or her already-healthy body.
... morePatent protection for pharmacogenomics innovations is facing significant challenges. U.S. patent law has undergone major changes recently due to a series of court rulings that will have significant impact on biotechnology innovations. Traps for the unwary are plentiful, and missteps can lead to failure to obtain the desired protection. This article explores some of the challenges to and practical approaches in pharmacogenomics patenting.
... moreRegions are looking to biotech to make the difference between boom and bust for their economies, but it takes more than tax incentives, buildings, and land to construct a winning biotech incubator. Unfortunately, the regions doing the planning often ignore that basic fact and proceed blithely onward despite a scarcity of the type of human capital and infrastructure that makes the difference between success and failure.
“A lot of things have to happen in order to have a successful biotech initiative, and the state can only do so much to build a better environment,” stresses Maik Klasen, senior healthcare consulting director at Frost & Sullivan.
Despite the apparent turn of market fortunes more recently, by virtually any measure it would appear that the life science industry may be poised for a period of profound structural transformation. Declines in equity values and their implications paint a sobering picture for the future.
... moreMicrosoft created its health solutions group about four years ago to explore software applications for the life science market. The software giant strengthened its life science position last month by buying Rosetta Biosoftware from Merck & Co. Researchers use Rosetta’s computational software to learn how genes interact with each other, analyze peptides and metabolites, and determine what controls gene expression. Microsoft will offer Rosetta’s software through its Amalga Life Sciences platform starting in January 2010.
... moreStem cells are the biological building blocks that form other cells in the body. Because of their universality and ability to replace or repair damaged tissue, the therapeutic benefits are thought to be limitless. This emerging market should provide plenty of opportunities for producers of unique equipment and services that facilitate development of stem cell treatments.
... moreResearchers’ needs are driving advances in the biomagnetic separations market. Recognizing that binding capacity is one of the key criteria scientists use when choosing particles, Thermo Scientific launched SeraMag® SpeedBead™ streptavidin-blocked particles this month. This bead offers many of the same qualities as the SeraMag particles, but magnetic response time occurs at least two times faster, reports Aaron Craig, marketing communications specialist.
... morePharmas and biotechs struggle to screen large quantities of compounds, hoping to eliminate early those that would prove more destructive than beneficial. One avenue toward a successful resolution of this challenge is the cell-based viability assay, a rapid and convenient technique for use in drug discovery. A number of companies have taken advantage of novel approaches to offer a variety of innovative upgrades to this platform.
... moreMolecular interactions play a myriad of important roles in drug discovery and development. From determining mechanism of action to identifying unwanted biological reactions (e.g., monitoring for an immune response to an administered drug), the study of binding events is a critical part of many phases of therapeutic research.
... moreEnzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) continue to evolve to meet increased user demands. One such advancement stemming from traditional ELISA technology is the use of microspheres (beads) as a solid support matrix in conjunction with microplates. Bead-based microplate assays provide greater surface area for binding with lower background signal than traditional ELISAs.
... moreWill RNAi-based therapeutics provide the next class of blockbuster drugs? If pharma’s acquisition spree of companies with relevant technologies proves predictive, then all bets are on. In 2001, siRNA duplexes were hailed as new tools for studying gene function in mammalian cells, and it was predicted that they eventually would be used as gene-specific therapeutics as well. The subsequent growth spurt in the use of RNAi as a research tool and potential drug target has borne out that prediction. Advancement toward the clinic, however, depends on overcoming some key hurdles, including drug delivery and off-target effects.
... moreAt the ASMS conference held last month in Philadelphia, Waters launched the Synapt™ G2 quadrupole TOF-MS system, which incorporates QuanToF™ and High Definition MS™ technologies and is designed for use with Waters’ Acquity UPLC-MS and MS/MS applications.
... moreDescribing the new RapidFire® 300 platform as an automated in vitro ADME solution for drug discovery research, BioTrove introduced the label-free, high-throughput, MS-based system for screening and analysis of in vitro ADME data at ASMS.
... moreA number of leading supply and service companies shared their perspectives on biologics production at a recent SAFC Biosciences-sponsored seminar. The topics ranged from cell culture medium design to improving capacities in downstream processing.
... moreAdvances in synthetic chemistry, solid support materials, purification technology, and biological drug delivery strategies have all contributed to strong growth and expanding interest in peptide drugs, especially among large pharma companies. Even with the global economic downturn, the market for GMP peptides continues to grow—albeit at a reduced rate—with the progression of established therapeutic peptide projects through clinical development and the emergence of new peptide drug candidates from discovery research.
... moreIn May, TheraCode acquired JPT Peptide Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jerini. JPT offers peptide-based products and services for vaccine development, immune monitoring, and peptide biomarker discovery. “Our acquisition by TheraCode means that, in addition to continuing our work in the service arena, we will also develop immunodiagnostic and immunotherapeutic products in collaboration with our new parent,” explains Holger Wenschuh, Ph.D., managing director of JPT.
... moreLike all areas of bioprocessing, downstream purification has its own favored buzzwords—titers, bottlenecks, capacity, and others—meant to evoke a particular response depending on who is speaking or writing them. But, if we could just identify one leading, universal trend in downstream bioprocessing, it would be simplification.
... moreThe initial applications of single-use filtration products were for small-scale processes in laboratories where total process volumes were either quite small or exhibited low solids content. Today, single-use filtration systems are evolving quickly to address expanding applications, ranging from sterile filtration in final filling to the handling of hazardous or toxic products. Further, new frontiers such as virus filtration are leading the call for continued development.
... moreCurrently, large-scale culturing of embryonic and induced pluripotent stem (ES, iPS) cell lines for use in regenerative medicine and drug discovery applications is a major challenge in biomedical research and the pharmaceutical industry. To overcome this bottleneck, stem cell culture processes must become robust, reproducible, and capable of generating sufficient numbers of cells while still maintaining a stable stem cell phenotype.
... moreNew and evolving laws, mandates, and guidance from regulatory bodies and international health organizations necessitate that all companies performing clinical trials provide increased transparency. They must do this through specific disclosure processes detailing their clinical trial procedures, results, and, soon, adverse events in publicly available databases.
... moreThe enhancement of PCR with real-time quantitative methods takes PCR from a workhorse laboratory preparatory method for molecular biology to an extremely powerful diagnostic and analysis tool for clinical and research applications. Studies of gene expression are some of the most common applications of qPCR. It is also increasingly used for clinical diagnostic testing. The technique is sensitive enough to detect DNA or RNA from an infectious disease, or even early stages of cancer.
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INTERVIEW:
WHY JUNK DNA IS NOT TRASH - Inteview with Kevin Verstrepen, Ph.D., Group Leader, Laboratory of Systems Biology, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology, and Associate Professor, Biological Engineering, Catholic University of Leuven
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