“We now have the technical ability to get the wrong answers with unprecedented speed.” Carolyn Compton, Director, Office of Biorepositories and Biospecimen Research
Archive for May, 2010
Food for Thought: Synthetic Biology
Friday, May 28, 2010
A lot has been written since last week’s publication of Craig Venter’s latest coup – the creation of the first cell controlled by a synthetic genome. While the reactions span from the alarmist (“playing god”) to the dismissive (“nothing new”), most commentaries overlook that Venter has demonstrated that life – for now, bacteria – can be customized to an extend that by far exceeds conventional genetic technologies which merely introduce a few new genes into existing organisms.
Company News: 365 Energy Selected as Provider of ChargePoint® Networked Charging Stations in Poland
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
- 365 Energy and partner Zohar Energy start collaboration with POLENERGIA -
365 Energy today announced that its partner Zohar Energy has been chosen by Polish energy company POLENERGIA to support its expansion as a leading provider of infrastructure solutions for electric vehicles (EVs) in Poland. The first ChargePoint® Networked Charging Station was installed in Warsaw earlier this month. The ChargePoint stations are manufactured by US-based Coulomb Technologies. More information is available here.
Food for Thought: Open Source Principles – A Concept for the Life Sciences?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
In the IT industry, open source is an acknowledged development principle for software that uses peer review and transparency of the development process. The promise of open source is better quality, i.e. higher reliability, more flexibility, and lower cost, among others.
Now, this principle is spreading to the life sciences. For one, there is the Open Source Sensing Initiative which is trying to apply a bottom-up, decentralized approach to the development of sensors for security and environmental purposes. Read more…
Company News: MediGene Expands Commercialization of Veregen to China and South Korea
Monday, May 10, 2010
- Closing of two additional license and supply agreements for the commercialization and marketing of Veregen® -
MediGene AG (Frankfurt, Prime Standard, TecDAX) has signed two further license and supply agreements for the commercialization and marketing of Veregen®. These have been signed with GC-Rise Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in China and JS Bio Pharm Co., Ltd. in South Korea.
Company News: MediGene Publishes First, Preliminary Results from a Phase II Clinical Trial of EndoTAG-1 for the Treatment of Triple Receptor-negative Breast Cancer
Thursday, May 6, 2010
- Study Meets Primary Endpoint -
MediGene today announced first preliminary results from its Phase II clinical trial of EndoTAG(TM)-1 for the treatment of triple receptor-negative breast cancer. The trial in 140 patients was conducted to show efficacy of EndoTAG(TM)-1 against this extremely difficult to treat cancer type, and to further investigate the safety of the drug candidate. The primary endpoint was a progression-free survival rate at 16 weeks of at least 30% of EndoTAG(TM)-1 monotherapy treated patients, and at least 30% of EndoTAG(TM)-1 plus paclitaxel combination treated patients respectively.
Company News: Micromet Announces Global Collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim for Multiple Myeloma BiTE Antibody and Reports First Quarter 2010 Financial Results
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Micromet, Inc. (Nasdaq: MITI) and Boehringer Ingelheim announced today that they have entered into a collaboration agreement for the research, development and commercialization of a new BiTE antibody for the treatment of multiple myeloma.
Despite recent advances in the treatment of multiple myeloma, the disease remains largely incurable. While the majority of patients initially respond to treatment, almost all of these patients will eventually relapse.
