"DNA sequencing tools help scientists look at genomes of microbes"

---

29 August 2011 - The New York Times


"Several teams of U.S. scientists are using DNA sequencing technologies to rapidly decipher the genomes of microbes to determine the origins of diseases.

"One team is planning to create disease weather maps and prevent disease outbreaks by gathering samples from various locations, such as hospitals and subways, and mapping the microorganisms' genomes.

"Meanwhile, another group was able to determine through DNA sequencing techniques the cause of death of a man suspected to have died of inhalation anthrax."

Original article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/science/30microbe.html?_r=1


Originally noted in: 

BIO SmartBrief - 30 Aug 2011
http://www.smartbrief.com

------

POSTED 30 August 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California

cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

--------

30,000-year-old bacteria contain genes linked to antibiotic resistance

---

In sum -- no bacteria alive today was ever defenseless !  Nor any bacteria alive 30,000 years ago.


"Researchers Find Antibiotic Resistance in Ancient DNA"

The New York Times -- 31 August 2011


"Researchers at McMaster University in Ontario examined the DNA of 30,000-year-old bacteria taken from the Yukon permafrost and found that ancient bacteria harbored major genes responsible for resistance to antibiotics. 

"Antibiotic resistance is part of the natural ecology of the planet, and this finding is a cautionary note about how we use these things," said Gerard D. Wright, one of the researchers."

...

The discovery that the bacteria of 30,000 years ago had genes for antibiotic resistance underlines the danger of looking at bacteria from a purely medical perspective. Resistance to antibiotics is a defense that bacteria have developed in an arms race that has gone on for a billion years.       

“Our use and overuse of antibiotics is amplifying the phenomena dramatically,” Dr. Blaser said."


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/science/01gene.html?_r=1

[ first noted in BIO www.SmartBrief.com ]

------

POSTED 02 September 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California

cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

------

Lightening strikes ! -- mid-sized Japanese pharma makes deal with biotech company !

---

If you have not seen many deals the past 3+ years between American or European biotech companies and risk-averse mid-sized Japanese pharma companies ? -- then me neither.  Here is one below.

I hear many such deals are unannounced, but most biotechs worldwide need/want an announcement as validation for fund-raising purposes.  So I really doubt the size of this "unannounced" underground Japanese deal market.  And it's certainly not something any biz dev professional should tell his peers & board members really exists.  It will just raise their expectations unduly.

Your thoughts ?

Now, let's cut to the news:


"Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma taps Synageva for orphan disease R&D"

September 2, 2011 -- FierceBiotech.com

"Rare disease know-how remains a hot commodity.  Aiming to gain access to orphan disease and protein drug-making expertise, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma has struck an R&D deal with Synageva BioPharma. Lexington, MA-based Synageva, a rare disease drug developer, will pocket $3 million upfront in addition to unspecified research dollars from the Japanese drugmaker.

Using Synageva's tech for expressing therapeutic proteins, the collaborators plan to focus their research on a novel drug for treating an undisclosed orphan disease, according to a statement.  The target apparently won't be one Synageva is pursuing in its own pipeline, which includes its lead enzyme replacement therapy SBC-102 for LAL Deficiency."

...

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/mitsubishi-tanabe-pharma-taps-synageva-orphan-disease-rd/2011-09-02

The original release:

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-releases/synageva-biopharma-corp-enters-development-collaboration-mitsubishi-tanabe--0

http://www.mt-pharma.co.jp/e

----------

POSTED 05 Sept 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448


------------

Beta amino acid allows salmonella to cause disease & resist antibiotics

---

25 August 2011

"The inclusion of an atypical amino acid in their proteins allows Salmonella bacteria to resist certain antibiotics.

"University of Toronto scientists found that salmonella carries a beta version of an amino acid that produces proteins to allow the bacteria to cause infections, according to a study published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology."

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/full/476374e.html

http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/betaversion.htm

--------

POSTED 26 August 2011 by:

David Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com

& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

-----------

"'More bang for buck' from GSK's Cervarix; Findings suggest more uses for HPV vaccines"

---

Cervarix reduces long-term incidence of anal & cervical cancers in women caused by HPV strains 16 and 18

23 August 2011 - From FiercePharma.com

"Is another indication for GlaxoSmithKline's HPV shot in the cards?  A new study published in Lancet Oncology found Cervarix protected women from anal cancer, which can be caused by the two strains of human papillomavirus targeted by the vaccine, HPV 16 and 18.

"There was strong protection with the vaccine against anal infection," lead author Aimee Kreimer of the National Cancer Institute told Reuters, adding, "We know anal HPV 16, but also 18, cause the bulk of anal cancers.  We know if we remove the infection, it will greatly reduce the likelihood for the cancer."

The researchers analyzed tissue specimens in 4,210 healthy women, half of whom then received the vaccine.  The other half got a placebo injection. Four years later, the women were tested for HPV 16 and 18 infections in the anus and cervix.  The vaccine prevented 62% of anal cancers and 77% of cervical cancers caused by HPV infection, compared with cancer rates in the general population, Reuters reports.  The shot prevented 84% of anal infections with HPV and 89% of cervical HPV infections.

The researchers also found cross-protection from the vaccine against three other cancer-causing HPV strains.  "We're getting more bang for our buck than we realized with this vaccine," Kreimer said.

Merck's Gardasil, Cervarix's competitor, has already won FDA approval to prevent anal cancers in men and women.  But that approval came on the basis of a study in men.  Kreimer told Reuters she isn't sure her data would be enough to justify broader use of Cervarix, but that the study does add to evidence that HPV vaccination protects women from anal cancer.  "I do think it is getting close to a tipping point," she said, "but I don't know if we're there yet."

Original Reuters source:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44234436/ns/health-cancer/?ocid=twitter#.TlO0VXMXcXh

See also:  http://www.cervarix.com

---------

POSTED 24 August 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com

& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

---------

Researchers discover body's natural defense against C. difficile toxins: S-nitrosoglutathione

---

Newly discovered cell mechanism uses amplified nitric oxide to fight C. difficile

22 August 2011

By Howard Lovy -- FierceBioResearcher.com

"Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile, is a nasty bit of business.  It can be the scourge of hospitals, striking patients when antibiotics kill all the "good bugs" that dwell in the gut -- like the ones that aid in digestion -- and leave only the dreaded harmful bacteria.

But as it turns out, the body has a natural way of defending against C. difficile by inactivating the toxin that spreads it.  And researchers describe how this knowledge can create new treatments in Nature Medicine.

C. difficile enters the gut through what Reuters colorfully describes as "molecular guillotine called cysteine protease."  The bacteria can easily fit into cells lining the intestine, release their toxin and do their damage.

However, the team discovered the body has a natural mechanism involving a nitric oxide-based molecule, S-nitrosoglutathione, which binds to the toxins secreted by C. difficile and prevents them from damaging cells.  It gums up the guillotine; therefore, the next step is to come up with a way to bottle up that natural mechanism with a treatment that mimics the process.

"Understanding how this mechanism deactivates toxins provides a basis for developing new therapies that can target toxins directly and thereby keep bacterial infections, like C. difficile, from spreading," Jonathan Stamler, a Case Western Reserve University researcher, said in a release.  The researchers tried the new treatment on mice and saw promising results; however, more research is needed."

Contact:  Kevin Mayhood
Case Western Reserve University
kevin.mayhood@case.edu
216-368-4442

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/21/us-prosunday-bacteria-treatment-idUSTRE77K1TR20110821

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/press-releases/newly-discovered-cell-mechanism-uses-amplified-nitric-oxide-fight-c-diff

-----------

POSTED 23 August 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com

& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

----------

Digital Outcomes & Zero-sum Games in the Japanese Pharma Market

---

Can the world's most indebted, cronyistic, deflationary -- and fragile ! -- OECD country (Japan) be an asset to your biotech company ? -- or save itself from sclerotic metastatic pernicious end-stage economic stagnation ?

The short answer ? -- probably not, so recalibrate your expectations.

More than likely, the Japanese market will not "viagrafy" your company's sales or biz dev goals for the next 3 - 5 years.  Why ? -- because in Japan, past results are indeed a guarantee of future performance !

Or non-performance !

Just as Japanese stock-market investors have on average lost 80 % of their investment for the past 21++ years (since December 1989), your company too should expect good business results in Japan to take time.  A loooooooooooooong looooooooong Time.

Doubtful ?  Although 12+ years old, this short New York Times article below reifies (makes concrete) everything above and still says it all:


"Japan's Tale of Two Pills:  Viagra and Birth Control"
By Sheryl Wu-Dunn

Published: April 27, 1999

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/27/science/japan-s-tale-of-two-pills-viagra-and-birth-control.html

------

In short, it took 40 (forty) years for the birth-control pill to be accepted / approved in Japan, but it took less than 6 months for Viagra's approval by the Japanese MHW (Ministry of Health & Welfare).  Excuse me, come again ?  Only 6 months ?  Versus 40 years ?  Yes !

In sum, unless your biotech/pharma product or service improves the sex lives of Japanese men, don't expect fast business results in Japan !

Moreover, when there is another major earthquake in the Tokyo region -- the now overdue Daini Kanto Dai-jishin -- which is the ineluctable tectonic "Manifest Destiny" of Japan -- then business outcomes for foreign companies in Japan will be Zero for many many years. 

Yes, Zero.  Or negative, sadly.

Thus, yes, you should address the Japanese market in your business plans, but the mathematical or statistical Expected Value (EV) in your spreadsheet should be ......... Zero.  Lamentably.

That's what a conservative planner or observer would say.

----------

POSTED 21 August 2011 by:

David Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Business Development & Licensing since 1991”

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com

& Group Founder:

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

-------

"Got Vaccines ? -- New Business Opportunities & Product Development Challenges" -- a panel discussion, 24 August 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM, San Diego

---

If you have sincere interest, please join us for the 2nd *FREE*, in situ plasmid-swapping meeting in San Diego of the new LinkedIn.com group:


-->>  Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network

-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/


And we encourage group members not near San Diego to organize and hold their own similar quorum-sensing plenary all-hands meetings in other cities around the world.


PANEL ABSTRACT:

After decades of getting no respect from BIG Pharma, vaccines got their mojo again ! -- with several attaining, or close to, blockbuster status (US$ 500 million - $ 1 billion in annual sales) including Wyeth's (now Pfizer's) Prevnar, Merck's Gardasil, and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix.

Moreover, vaccines are just not for breakfast bugs anymore ! -- rather, vaccine strategies are also being applied to non-I.D. indications such as stroke, Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancers, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, smoking cessation, obesity and Parkinson's.

A new Piribo.com market research report states that the overall global vaccines market was valued at $28 billion in 2010, and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11.5% -- reaching about $57 billion by 2017.

The top vaccine companies include GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck & Co., SP-MSD and Sanofi.

So if you love the smell of infectious diseases in the morning -- join us for this **FREE** meeting kindly sponsored by the law firm of Sheppard Mullin.


WHEN:  24 August 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM


Confirmed PANELISTS:

David WHITACRE, Ph.D.
Vice President
Scientific Operations
VLP BIOTECH, INC.
[ VLP = virus-like particle ]
San Diego, CA 92121


PLUS ! -- other PANELISTS INVITED FROM:

Synthetic Genomics Vaccines
Cato Research
Pfizer
Inovio -- and more !


MODERATOR:

David Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella
blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


WHERE -- & Your host for the evening:

Ms. Amy ROMAKER
Client Service Team
SHEPPARD MULLIN
12275 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego CA 92130-2006

direct tel: 858-720-7403
main tel: 858-720-8900
email:  aromaker@sheppardmullin.com
http://www.sheppardmullin.com


REMINDER:  This is a *FREE* meeting, courtesy of Sheppard Mullin.


NOTA BENE:  NO formal registration is needed; we don't complicate your lives!


For more info & to RSVP, contact:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Business Development & Licensing since 1991”
San Diego, Calif.
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com

---------


POSTED 11 August 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448


-----

"Biotech Company Success Strategies? -- in the New New Normal ?!" -- a Licensing Executives Society (LES) panel discussion, 13 Sept 2011, Tuesday, 6-8 PM, San Diego

---

Join us for an interactive panel discussion about survival -- and success ! -- strategies for biotech companies in the Darwinian New New Normal U.S. economy !

This is a monthly meeting of the San Diego chapter of Licensing Executives Society (LES) -- a worldwide non-profit professional society.

If you have interest in business development, licensing and I.P. (intellectual property) related to **ANY** field of business, you should join LES.  More details here for those in North America:

-->>  http://www.lesusacanada.org


Not in San Diego ?  Then find your closest North American chapter by clicking on the locator map here:

-->>  http://www.lesusacanada.org/MainNav/LocalChapters.aspx


Not in North America ?  Find your closest country organization here:

-->>  LES International
-->>  http://www.lesi.org


For those in San Diego, you can learn about the local chapter here:

-->>  http://www.lesusacanada.org/MainNav/LocalChapters/LES-USA-West/SanDiego.aspx


NOTA BENE:  This is **NOT** a free meeting; you will need to *PAY* to play. 
Pricing will be announced later on the chapter web page.


WHEN:  13 Sept 2011, Tuesday, 6 - 8 PM


WHERE -- At a law firm office in San Diego -- TBD.


Confirmed PANELISTS:

Karen DOW
Attorney at Law
SUGHRUE
San Diego, Calif.
http://www.sughrue.com


Glenn DOURADO, MSc., MBA
Director
Bus. Dev. & Commercial Strategy
SANFORD-BURNHAM Medical Research Institute
La Jolla, Calif.
http://www.sanfordburnham.org


& OTHERS TBA (to be announced).


MODERATOR:

David Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella
blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com

---------------------

For more info, contact:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448


--------

Innocent BioSimilars "fingerprinted" by FDA ! -- Assumed guilty a priori !

---

Foreign-born BioBetters waterboarded at U.S. ports-of-entry by FDA longshoremen and fitted with Phase IV concrete boots !


A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine written by FDA employees stated that the FDA may take a "fingerprint" approach to racially profiling biosimilar proteins to ensure genetic conformance with Aryan regulatory principles.

Thus meaning that more biochemically diverse and so-called "biosimilar" Rx mAbs (monoclonal antibodies) -- and so-called "BioBetters" of any protein class -- will face even more regulatory bio-equivalent waterboarding and autoclaving by FDA officials at American ports-of-entry.

Still, almost weekly we hear of another Mom & Pop biotech company from Timbuktu entering the biosimilars and biobetters field with a business plan that calls for exporting their putative "identical" bio-products to the U.S. market (or to European markets, whose regulatory agencies may follow the FDA's lead).

But common sense dictates that even Merck, Sandoz/Novartis, Teva and Samsung will be challenged by this inchoate and emerging segment of the biotech drug industry.

Read the epitaph of the biosimilars / biobetters field here:


"Is the FDA writing a recipe for the failure of biosimilars in the U.S.?"

August 8, 2011

By John Carroll of www.FierceBiotech.com


"Will FDA officials raise the regulatory bar on biosimilars so high they can't be competitive in the U.S.?  Longtime researcher and clinical trial consultant Dr. Saurabh Aggarwal seems to think there's a very high risk of that."

...

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/fda-writing-recipe-failure-biosimilars-us/2011-08-08

-----------


And here is the earlier related post on this group:


FDA confirms pursuit of “Biosimilars” will be a fool’s errand

Biosimilars industry trapped for 3 – 5 years at least in horrific FDA Hall of Mirrors !


“FDA sketches a complex instruction manual for biosimilars”

FierceBiotech.com -- 04 Aug 2011

“A group of top FDA regulators has penned an article in the New England Journal of Medicine intending to give drug developers a clearer picture of the agency's thinking on the "abbreviated pathway" lawmakers demanded for biosimilars.  But anyone hoping for a simple instruction manual with crystal clear goals and relatively low-cost data demands will be sorely disappointed.  The regulations for developing biosimilars will come with its own complex set of customized instructions, complete with demands on animal and human data and new ground rules for initial talks with regulators."

...

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/fda-sketches-complex-instruction-manual-biosimilars/2011-08-04?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Original article here:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1107285

------

Posted by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448


--------

Bio-engineered strain of E. coli targets drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa

---

Study: Biotech strain of E. coli targets drug-resistant P. aeruginosa

16 August 2011


"Singaporean scientists said they have developed a bioengineered strain of E. coli bacteria that proved effective in stopping the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a drug-resistant microbe usually found in hospitals, by 90%.

The biotech E. coli works by producing and releasing a toxin that targets the pathogen, the scientists reported in the journal Molecular Systems Biology. 

The formula used to re-engineer the bacteria could be used to bioengineer other microbes against infectious pathogens, said the lead author of the study."

Reuters article:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/16/us-bacteria-singapore-bug-idUSTRE77F35B20110816


Original source:

http://www.nature.com/msb/journal/v7/n1/full/msb201155.html

---

http://www.nature.com/msb/index.html

-------------------

Posted 18 Aug 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448


--------

FREE Biotech Networking event -- 24 August 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM @ the offices of Sheppard Mullin, San Diego

---

Happily ! -- the "Got Vaccines?" meeting scheduled for 24 August 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM in San Diego -- has been changed to a free and **pure-play** summer biotech networking party kindly sponsored by the law firm of Sheppard Mullin !

This party will be a combined event for members of the following LinkedIn groups:


-->>  Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

-->>  Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

-->>  Asia Business & Finance Roundup
-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

-->>  Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

-->>  Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/


Non-members of these groups may attend too, but membership does have its privileges.

! Bring lots of business cards ! -- at least 30 - 40 !

One is required to enter the drawing for prizes -- various bottles of not tooo shabby wine will be given away.


WHEN:  24 August 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM


**RSVP** by email to the Organizer:

David Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, CA
email: dpalella@gmail.com


PARTY LOCATION -- & Your generous host for the evening:

Ms. Amy ROMAKER
Client Service Team
SHEPPARD MULLIN
12275 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego CA 92130-2006

direct tel: 858-720-7403
main tel: 858-720-8900
email:  aromaker@sheppardmullin.com
http://www.sheppardmullin.com


REMINDER:  This is a *FREE* meeting, courtesy of Sheppard Mullin !


NOTA BENE:  NO formal registration is needed; we don't complicate your lives!


For more info, contact:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Business Development & Licensing since 1991”
San Diego, Calif.
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com

---------


POSTED 20 August 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448


-----

"Drugmakers take a hit on Greek [ junk ] bonds" -->> Is Japan next ?

---

Japan is the most indebted country in the world with outstanding debt of about U.S.$ 14 trillion, equal to about 230 % of its GDP -- much worse than Italy, Greece or Ireland -- and well over twice as bad on a percentage basis as us slacker Americans !

So when will Japan take a page from the high-drama fiscal Odyssey of Greece and pay its international drug bills with risky Japanese [ junk ? ] bonds ?  Perhaps sooner than any of us think.  Remember the book ? -- "Japan: The Fragile Superpower" ?

Read the bitter tea leaves below:


"Drugmakers take a hit on Greek bonds"

[ Source:  FiercePharma.com -- 19 Aug 2011 ]


"After carrying the public health system's debt on their books for many months -- in some cases, more than a year -- drugmakers are finally getting paid by the Greek government.  Good news, right?  Well, there's just one drawback: Greece is paying its drug bills in zero-coupon government bonds.

You don't have to be an economics professor to know that Greece's bonds aren't high-grade securities.  So, converting those debts into bonds is costing drugmakers money.  Australia's CSL took a $26 million charge against earnings to account for losses in the value of securities it accepted in lieu of cash payments.  Some of those securities came from other hospitals in southern Europe, but they're mostly from Greece.  "You would have to describe it as collateral damage," CSL Managing Director Brian McNamee said (as quoted by Bloomberg).

Greece paid Roche with a bond, too.  The company sold it -- at a discount of 26%, CFO Alan Hippe said.  "But we have now the cash," Hippe said on a conference call last month, Bloomberg reports.  "And cash is what counts.  We are monitoring our exposure, especially in Southern Europe, very, very diligently."

The long wait -- and discounted payments -- have some companies cutting off supplies, or threatening to.  Bloomberg reports that Novo Nordisk has stopped selling some products in the country.  Roche stopped delivering some drugs to hospitals in arrears, Dow Jones reported back in June. 

And Nycomed's chief executive, disgusted by the bonds-as-payment strategy, said his company can't operate on faith.  'If the situation gets totally out of hand and we don't think we will get paid in the end, we simply cannot continue to deliver products,' he has said."

Original sources:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-19/greek-arrears-give-drugmakers-collateral-damage-correct-.html

---

http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/drugmakers-take-hit-greek-bonds/2011-08-19?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal


----------

POSTED 21 August 2011 by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Business Development & Licensing since 1991”

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448


------

"Superbug antibiotics: New drugs advance amid R&D investment shortfall"

---

By Howard Lovy -- Fierce Biotech Research

19 July 2011

"It sounds like something out of a science fiction B-movie or a Steven King novel.  Out-of-control superbugs that are resistant to anything humans can throw at them.  Unfortunately, it's no fiction.  It's deadly serious.

The problem is so serious that the World Health Organization recently warned of an impending drug-resistance crisis if humanity does not do something quickly. 

WHO Director-General Margaret Chan forecasted the approach of a "post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once again, kill unabated." 

The WHO called on governments and researchers to step up funding and discovery of new medicines to take the place of antimicrobial drugs that have been rendered ineffective or useless through the evolution of drug-resistant diseases.  At the moment, there is not much to take the place of current antibiotics that are increasingly ineffective. 

Today, there are only two Big Pharma companies, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, with active antibiotic R programs, UPI recently reported, citing the Infectious Diseases Society of America.  In 1990, there were nearly 20."


Read the full superbug antibiotics report:

http://www.fiercebiotechresearch.com/special-reports/superbug-antibiotics-new-drugs-advance-amid-rd-investment-shortfall?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

&

http://www.fiercebiotechresearch.com/special-reports/superbug-antibiotics-new-drugs-advance-amid-rd-investment-shortfall/superbug-antibio

--->> & Etc.

-----------

Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.: 20 July 2011 -- 12:40 AM


Posted by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

------

FINAL REMINDER: "Emerging & Resistant Infectious Diseases" -- a panel discussion, 27 July 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM, San Diego

---

"Emerging & Resistant Infectious Diseases: R&D Strategies and Business Opportunities" -- a panel discussion, 27 July 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM, San Diego, Calif.

If you have sincere interest, please join us for the first FREE, in situ plasmid-swapping meeting in San Diego of the new LinkedIn.com group:

-->>  Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network

-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

And we encourage group members not near San Diego to organize and hold their own similar quorum-sensing plenary all-hands meetings in other cities around the world.


ABSTRACT:

Few areas of drug & vaccine development offer such unlimited business opportunities as Infectious Diseases. 

In addition to vast unmet medical needs for well-recognized pathogens such as HCV, HBV, HIV, HPV, HSV, VZV, EBV, CMV and DPV -- and in addition to burgeoning drug resistance as evidenced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), and the fatal endemic pathogenic E. coli strains now rampant in Germany -- new infectious agents now appear almost annually somewhere worldwide, such as novel influenza strains -- the bird flu, swine flu and Hong Kong flu -- as well as the Ebola & Marburg viruses in Africa.

This panel discussion will highlight new R&D and business opportunities arising from emergent pathogens and discuss possible strategies for their containment prior to the approval of countervailing therapeutic agents.

If you love the smell of infectious diseases in the morning, please join us for this **FREE** meeting kindly sponsored by the law firm of Sheppard Mullin.


WHEN:  27 July 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM


Confirmed PANELISTS:


Michael DUDLEY, Pharm.D., FCCP, FIDSA
SVP, R & D  & CSO
REMPEX PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
[ spun out from Mpex Pharmaceuticals ]
San Diego, CA
http://www.mpexpharma.com


Victor NIZET, Ph.D.
Division of Pediatric Pharmacology & Drug Discovery
UCSD School of Medicine
Cellular & Molecular Medicine
UCSD
La Jolla, CA
http://nizetlab.ucsd.edu


Karen Joy SHAW, Ph.D.
SVP, Biology
TRIUS THERAPEUTICS
San Diego, CA
http://www.triusrx.com


PLUS ! -- other PANELISTS INVITED FROM:

Optimer Pharmaceuticals
Scripps
Sofinnova Ventures
Sanofi
Synthetic Genomics Vaccines


MODERATOR:

David Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella
web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com
blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


WHERE -- & Your host for the evening:

Ms. Amy ROMAKER
Client Service Team
SHEPPARD MULLIN
12275 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego CA 92130-2006

direct tel: 858-720-7403
main tel: 858-720-8900
email:  aromaker@sheppardmullin.com
http://www.sheppardmullin.com


REMINDER:  This is a *FREE* meeting, courtesy of Sheppard Mullin.


NOTA BENE:  NO formal registration is needed; we don't complicate your lives!


For more info & to RSVP, contact:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Business Development & Licensing since 1991”
San Diego, Calif.

cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com

---------

POSTED 25 July 2011 @ 8:30 AM by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

-----------

Japan's Shionogi to Acquire C&O Pharmaceutical Technology for about $182 Million to expand into China

---

Shionogi takes subtle backdoor into China by acquiring Singapore-listed & Hong Kong-headquartered C&O Pharmaceutical Technology


01 August 2011

"Japan's Shionogi & Co said on Monday that it intends to acquire Hong Kong-headquartered and Singapore-listed China drug-maker C&O Pharmaceutical Technology for about S$219 million."

http://www.biospace.com/news_story.aspx?NewsEntityId=228662

The original news release:

http://www.4-traders.com/SHIONOGI-CO-LTD-6493659/news/SHIONOGI-Co-Ltd-to-Acquire-China-based-C-O-Pharmaceutical-Technology-Holdings-Limited-13733345/

-----------

Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.: 01 August 2011 -- 10:30 PM


Posted by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

---------

FDA confirms pursuit of “Biosimilars” will be a fool’s errand

---

Biosimilars industry trapped for 3 – 5 years at least in horrific FDA Hall of Mirrors !


“FDA sketches a complex instruction manual for biosimilars”

FierceBiotech.com -- 04 Aug 2011


“A group of top FDA regulators has penned an article in the New England Journal of Medicine intending to give drug developers a clearer picture of the agency's thinking on the "abbreviated pathway" lawmakers demanded for biosimilars.  But anyone hoping for a simple instruction manual with crystal clear goals and relatively low-cost data demands will be sorely disappointed.  The regulations for developing biosimilars will come with its own complex set of customized instructions, complete with demands on animal and human data and new ground rules for initial talks with regulators.

Drawing off the European biosimilar regulations established in 2005 as well as its own experience on abbreviated reviews for protein therapeutics, the regulators -- a group which includes Janet Woodcock -- say that there will be no "one size fits all" systematic assessment for biosimilars.  Instead developers will need to integrate various types of evidence "since it seems possible to exceed a current state-of-the-art analytic characterization by evaluating more attributes and combinations of attributes at greater sensitivities with multiple complementary methods."

It is possible that a "fingerprint" approach to protein structures can be used, they add.  While fingerprinting wouldn't eliminate the need for animal as well as human studies, those studies could be reduced in scope.  And the FDA likes the EMA's approach to monoclonal antibodies, with its emphasis on "populations, pharmacodynamic markers, and end points that are sensitive to the potential differences between products."

All developers are familiar with the INDA process, where they hope to glean some initial idea of the kind of data that will be needed to gain an approval for a new drug.  But the FDA warns it will need to create a new "paradigm" for its initial discussions with biosimilar developers, with a more extensive product review to detail the additional data needed for a biosimilar approval.  Rules on interchangeability, which would allow doctors to switch a branded biologic for a biosimilar, are still in the works. 

It's been well over a year since the law passed and biosimilar regulations are still very much a work in progress.  But the FDA is clearly establishing a daunting set of clinical demands for biosimilar developers.  That will limit the number of players taking the field, significantly raising the bar for researchers and pushing R&D costs to painfully high amounts.”

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/fda-sketches-complex-instruction-manual-biosimilars/2011-08-04?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Original article here:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1107285

------

Posted by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448



--------

China partnering conference announced: "International Summit of China Pharmaceutical Industry - Hangzhou 2011" -- (near Shanghai)

--

September 19-22, 2011 -- Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China


Potential speakers, sponsors and attendees are invited to learn more about this conference (one hour by train from Shanghai) from one of the organizers:

Ms. Hong MA (M.D., Ph.D, MBA)
Managing Partner & Founder
China Business Partners, LLC
(a BIOCOM Asia Initiative Partner)
&
Partner
BioScience Ventures, Inc

San Diego, California
cell: 858-357-4349
email:  hongma2008@gmail.com

http://www.BSVpartners.com

http://www.bio-ch.com/english/show.asp?id=3899

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/hong-ma/4/9b3/3b9

------

CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION:

"The 6th Summit this year will be held in Hangzhou Economic & Technological Development Area (HEDA), Zhejiang, China from September 19 to 22, 2011.

The theme is "Cooperation, Service, Integration, and Innovation of China Bio-Pharm Industry Development during the Twelfth Five-Year Plan”. 

By theme speeches and interactive video conferencing panels, the Summit will make an in-depth approach to several hotspot issues such as "International Cooperation among Bio-Pharm Enterprises", "Development of Innovative Preparation Industry", and "Cooperation and Development of Bio-pharm CRO/CMO", etc.

Besides, to provide face-to-face interactive communication opportunity to conference participants and speakers, several high-end video conferencing panels will be held regarding topics on R&D of Bio-pharm, Policy Interpretation, Personalized Therapy, Translational Medicine, Innovative Preparation, and Investment/Financing, etc."

http://www.bio-ch.com/english/index.asp

http://www.bio-ch.com


Again, for more info, please contact directly:

Ms. Hong MA (M.D., Ph.D, MBA)
Managing Partner & Founder
China Business Partners, LLC
&
Partner
BioScience Ventures, Inc

San Diego, California
cell: 858-357-4349
email:  hongma2008@gmail.com

---------------------

Posted by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

--------

"Got Vaccines ? -- New Business Opportunities & Product Development Challenges" -- a panel discussion, 24 August 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM, San Diego

---

If you have sincere interest, please join us for the 2nd *FREE*, in situ plasmid-swapping meeting in San Diego of the new LinkedIn.com group:


-->>  Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network

-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/


And we encourage group members not near San Diego to organize and hold their own similar quorum-sensing plenary all-hands meetings in other cities around the world.


PANEL ABSTRACT:

After decades of getting no respect from BIG Pharma, vaccines got their mojo again ! -- with several attaining, or close to, blockbuster status (US$ 500 million - $ 1 billion in annual sales) including Wyeth's (now Pfizer's) Prevnar, Merck's Gardasil, and GlaxoSmithKline's Cervarix.

Moreover, vaccines are just not for breakfast bugs anymore ! -- rather, vaccine strategies are also being applied to non-I.D. indications such as stroke, Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancers, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, smoking cessation, obesity and Parkinson's.

A new Piribo.com market research report states that the overall global vaccines market was valued at $28 billion in 2010, and is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 11.5% -- reaching about $57 billion by 2017.

The top vaccine companies include GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Novartis, Merck & Co., SP-MSD and Sanofi.

So if you love the smell of infectious diseases in the morning -- join us for this **FREE** meeting kindly sponsored by the law firm of Sheppard Mullin.


WHEN:  24 August 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM


Confirmed PANELISTS:

David WHITACRE, Ph.D.
Vice President
Scientific Operations
VLP BIOTECH, INC.
[ VLP = virus-like particle ]
San Diego, CA 92121


PLUS ! -- other PANELISTS INVITED FROM:

Synthetic Genomics Vaccines
Cato Research
Pfizer
Inovio -- and more !


MODERATOR:

David Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella
blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


WHERE -- & Your host for the evening:

Ms. Amy ROMAKER
Client Service Team
SHEPPARD MULLIN
12275 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego CA 92130-2006

direct tel: 858-720-7403
main tel: 858-720-8900
email:  aromaker@sheppardmullin.com
http://www.sheppardmullin.com


REMINDER:  This is a *FREE* meeting, courtesy of Sheppard Mullin.


NOTA BENE:  NO formal registration is needed; we don't complicate your lives!


For more info & to RSVP, contact:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Business Development & Licensing since 1991”
San Diego, Calif.
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com

---------

POSTED 11 August 2011 by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

-----

Bio-similars will become the DRAM commodity business of the biotech industry in the 21st Century -- Duh !!

-----

Remember the DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory chip) industry in the 1980s & 1990s? -- a supposedly "lucrative" business that, like biosimilars today -- became a race to the bottom of profit Hell for 80++ % of companies.

Likewise biosimilars will become a race to the bottom for the following reasons:

(1) Almost no barriers to entry.  There will be 100s of entrants, like the auto industry in the U.S. in the 1930s and 1950s.  80++ % who went out of business.

(2) Many Asian and some Middle Eastern countries are establishing biosimilar "Berlin Airlift" programs to quickly become self-sufficient in biosimilars and thus will set up trade barriers to imports.  You got a better biosimilar ? -- who cares ? -- it's illegal here.  National autarky (self-sufficiency) in biosimilars will kill your biosimilar exports.  National job creation and minimization of trade deficits are more important than your biosimilars business plan.  Tsk, tsk. 

(3) For those old enough to remember, about 10 - 12 years ago Xoma and Genentech had trouble transferring an Rx Ab manufacturing process between the two companies only 30 miles apart from each other.  Why ? -- incompatibility of manufacturing processes.  They quickly recovered from the problem in only 7 - 9 months and received FDA approval for the transferred process.  But if 2 of the most experienced biopharma companies in the world have trouble transferring an Rx Ab bio-manufacturing process, imagine new entrants to the field with no access to proprietary CMC / process / manufacturing files.  So 90 + % of them will be dead in the water due to producing non-equivalent product -- and having to repeat extensive clinical trials to receive any approvals.

(4) -->> Add your own rational death wishes here for the 100s of poorly funded and poorly staffed biosimilar entrants worldwide who think biosimilars is a "lucrative" business.

Dumb and dumber.

Finally, the article below from FierceBiotech will partially reify (make concrete) the points above.

----

"Multinationals eager to jump into the multibillion-dollar biosimilar business"

"Dealtalk:  Race to copy biotech drugs creates odd bedfellows"

By John Carroll of FierceBiotech -- 22 June 2011


"There's a new breed of corporate player jumping into the biotech business.

Reuters takes a close look at an unlikely lineup of multinational companies like Samsung, Hanwha Chemical and Fujifilm which are weighing in with new pacts on biosimilars to compete against dozens of biologics that will lose patent protection in the decade to come.

While tech manufacturers and camera companies aren't known for their expertise in drug development, they make excellent deep-pocket partners for Merck and others who are beavering away at the biosimilar game."

...

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/multinationals-eager-jump-multibillion-dollar-biosimilar-business/2011-06-22?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

---

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/22/us-pharmaceuticals-biotech-idUSTRE75L2M020110622

---

Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  27 June 2011 -- 2:30 AM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

X-tech Roundup(SM) - San Diego
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2836926


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

----------

Researchers, companies quick to crack E. coli case in Germany

---

FierceBiotech Research -- Today's Top News -- 14 June 2011

http://www.fiercebiotechresearch.com/story/researchers-companies-quick-crack-e-coli-case/2011-06-13?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

By Howard Lovy

The deadly E. coli outbreak in Europe has at least given biotech companies and researchers a reason to brag about their roles in helping to identify the strain responsible with press releases flying fast and furious.  But a few companies and research groups can claim credit for the bulk of the sleuth work. 

Researchers at the Beijing Genomics Institute, working together with the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf did the genetic-sequencing grunt work.

But the company of the day is Ion Torrent, a startup bought by Life Technologies last year.  The desktop decoder turned out to be faster and more convenient for the Chinese and German researchers, reports Forbes' Matthew Herper.

"The PGM (Personal Genome Machine) is finished sequencing in the amount of time you spend to just prep the other machine," Jonathan Rothberg, the entrepreneur behind Ion Torrent, told Herper, referring to the Personal Genome Machine. "It's a machine that gets used." 

The Chinese and German scientists say it's an entirely new strain, but some scientists are skeptical, saying that it may be rare, but not new.  Robert Tauxe, a foodborne disease expert at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Associated Press that the strain had previously caused a single case in Korea. 

Meanwhile, Gaithersburg, MD-based OpGen has announced that it has successfully completed whole genome maps of the E. coli outbreak, in cooperation with University Hospital Münster, using the company's optical mapping system.  A release from the company says it completed the process in less than 48 hours. "Working with OpGen, Optical Mapping allowed us to quickly compare multiple isolates from this outbreak to demonstrate convincingly the clonality of the ongoing outbreak here in Germany," University Hospital's Harmsen said in the release.

Other groups claiming some credit include The Genome Analysis Centre in the UK., which "crowd-sourced" a genome analysis through scientific cooperation throughout Europe.

And, according to Wall Street Journal editorial writer Anne Jolis, all this science is well and good, but the real culprit is an anti-science attitude in Europe.  The origin of the E. coli outbreak came from tainted sprouts in an organic farm.  In other words, it wasn't anything a little irradiation couldn't have cured.

Read a report on the Chinese-German research: 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2011-06/04/c_13910980.htm

------

POSTED 14 June 2011 @ 9:40 PM by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Corporate Development for Biopharmaceuticals since 1991”

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site: http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

X-tech Roundup(SM) - San Diego
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2836926


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

---------

"Stem Cell Therapy (UPDATED program) -- From the Lab to the Clinic" -- a panel discussion, 22 June, Wednesday, 6-8 PM, San Diego

---

"Stem Cell Therapy (UPDATED program) -- From the Lab to the Clinic: Strategies to Accelerate Commercialization" -- a panel discussion, 22 June, 2011, Wednesday, 6-8 PM, San Diego


Please join us for a *FREE* event of the "Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine" group held at Sheppard Mullin in San Diego.

If you have not already, please join the group on LinkedIn:

-->> Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine

-->> http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448


MEETING OVERVIEW:

Stem cell therapy is a medical intervention that introduces new cells (stem cells) into a patient's malignant or damaged tissue in order to treat disease or injury.  Stem cell therapy holds the promise to cure more than 70 major diseases and medical conditions that affect 10s of millions of people around the world.

But how soon can we expect stem cell therapies to reach the clinic ?

And what strategies & tactics should be embraced to accelerate the commercialization of stem cell therapies ?

Join our FREE round-table discussion to learn the answers to these questions and have the opportunity to share your experience and insights.

---

PANELISTS (invited):

Gail Naughton, Ph.D.
CEO
HISTOGEN
San Diego, CA
tel: 858-200-9520
email:  GNaughton@histogeninc.com
web site:  http://www.histogeninc.com


Thomas “Tom” E. ICHIM
CEO & Chief, Scientific Development
MediStem Laboratories, Inc.
San Diego, CA
email:  thomas.ichim@gmail.com, thomas.ichim@medisteminc.com
web site:  http://www.medisteminc.com


David HOWE, M.D., MBA
SVP & Medical Director
STEMEDICA CELL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
San Diego, CA
main tel: 858-658-0910
email:  DavidHoweMD@stemedica.com, DHowe@stemedica.com
http://www.stemedica.com


MODERATOR:

Ms. Desimira Ivanova
Strategic Consultant
Quantum Advisors LLC
tel. 619-850-6780
email:  DesimiraIvanova@gmail.com
http://www.DesimiraIvanova.com


WHEN:  June 22 (Weds) 2011, 6pm – 8pm


WHERE -- & Your host for the evening:

Ms. Amy ROMAKER
Client Service Team
SHEPPARD MULLIN
12275 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego CA 92130-2006

direct tel: 858-720-7403
main tel: 858-720-8900
email:  aromaker@sheppardmullin.com
http://www.sheppardmullin.com


REMINDER:  This is a *FREE* meeting, courtesy of Sheppard Mullin.


NOTA BENE:  NO formal registration is needed; we don't complicate your lives!


For more info & to RSVP, contact:

Ms. Desimira Ivanova
Strategic Consultant
Quantum Advisors LLC
tel. 619-850-6780
email:  DesimiraIvanova@gmail.com

OR:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Corporate Development for Biopharmaceuticals since 1991”
San Diego, Calif.

cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella
web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com
blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com

-----------

Fungal SHOCKER !! -- Human Genome Sequence Contaminated with Mycoplasma DNA !

---

"All employees must wash their hands before returning to the restaurant !!"

Dirty male scientists introduce fungal Andromeda Strain into "The Human DNA Matrix" !!!


Quoted from:  the physics arXiv blog

22 June 2011

"The discovery of alien DNA in the published human genome raises important questions about preventing 'virtual infections'

Earlier this year, molecular biologists announced that 20 per cent of nonhuman genome databases are contaminated with human DNA, probably from the researchers who sequenced the samples.

Now, the human genome itself has become contaminated. Bill Langdon at University College London and Matthew Arno at Kings College London say they've found sequences from mycoplasma bacteria in the human genome database.

This contamination has far reaching consequences. Biotech companies use the human genome database to create DNA chips that measure levels of human gene expression. Langdon and Arno say they've found mycoplasma DNA in two commercially available human DNA chips.

Anybody using these chips to measure human gene expression is also unknowingly measuring mycoplasma gene expression too.

In some ways, this is hardly a surprise. "It is well known that mycoplasma contamination is rife in molecular biology laboratories," says Langdon and Arno. With any luck the discovery of this stuff in the human genome database will focus minds on the problem.

A key question is the nature of this kind of information transmission. These mycoplasma genes are clearly successful in reproducing themselves in silico. One possibility is that we're seeing the beginnings of an entirely new kind of landscape of infection. Here, genes that can masquerade as human (or indeed as other organisms) can successfully transmit themselves from one database to another.

And if we think of this as virtual infection, a sure bet is that we'll be worrying about virtual evolution in the near future. But what to do? The level of contamination and the way in which it is spreading suggests that researchers are losing the battle to eliminate it.

"We... fear current tools will be inadequate to catch genes which have jumped the silicon barrier," they say. 

Most frightening of all is the possibility that Langdon and Arno may have only scratched the surface.  "Having found two suspect DNA sequences, it seems likely the published "human genome" sequence contains more," they say. 

If virtual infection is really as big a problem as Langdon and Arno suggest, we may well need to protect databases with the genomic version of antivirus software, a kind of virtual immune system.

But this in itself is likely to trigger an evolutionary arms race that selects genes most capable of beating the safeguards.

Clearly, this is a nettle that needs to be grasped quickly. That's if it's not too late already."


References:  http://arxiv.org/abs/1106.4192

--

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26921/?ref=rss

--

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0016410

-----------

Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  24 June 2011 -- 6:30 AM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

X-tech Roundup(SM) - San Diego
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2836926


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

----------

Genetic Basis of Parkinson's Reaffirmed and Expanded by 23andMe

--

23andMe identifies 2 novel genetic associations and a substantial genetic component to the disease

Eureka! Science News -- 24 June 2011


"23andMe, an industry leader in personal genetics, announced the discovery of two significant, novel genetic associations with Parkinson's disease (PD) and provided new evidence that there is a substantial genetic component remaining to be discovered ...

In a report in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics, researchers at 23andMe studying some 3500 Parkinson's Disease patients report two novel genome-wide associations with the disease and confirm about 20 others. ..."


https://www.23andme.com/about/press/pd_discoveries_plos_62311/

---

http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002141

---

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2011/06/24/23andme.identifies.2.novel.genetic.associations.and.substantial.genetic.component.parkinsons

---

http://www.23andme.com

---

http://spittoon.23andme.com

-----------

Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  24 June 2011 -- 10:30 PM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

X-tech Roundup(SM) - San Diego
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2836926


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

-----

"Emerging Infectious Diseases" (UPDATED program) -- a panel discussion, 27 July 2011, 6-8 PM, San Diego

---

"Emerging Infectious Diseases: R&D Strategies and Business Opportunities" -- a panel discussion, 27 July 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM, San Diego, Calif.


If you have sincere interest, please join us for the first FREE, in situ plasmid-swapping meeting in San Diego of the new LinkedIn.com group:


-->>  Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network

-->>  http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/


And we encourage group members not near San Diego to organize and hold their own similar quorum-sensing plenary all-hands meetings in other cities around the world.


ABSTRACT:

Few areas of drug & vaccine development offer such unlimited business opportunities as Infectious Diseases. 

In addition to vast unmet medical needs for well-recognized pathogens such as HCV, HBV, HIV, HPV, HSV, VZV, EBV, CMV and DPV -- and in addition to burgeoning drug resistance as evidenced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), and the fatal endemic pathogenic E. coli strains now rampant in Germany -- new infectious agents now appear almost annually somewhere worldwide, such as novel influenza strains -- the bird flu, swine flu and Hong Kong flu -- as well as the Ebola & Marburg viruses in Africa.

This panel discussion will highlight new R&D and business opportunities arising from emergent pathogens and discuss possible strategies for their containment prior to the approval of countervailing therapeutic agents.

If you love the smell of infectious diseases in the morning, please join us for this **FREE** meeting kindly sponsored by the law firm of Sheppard Mullin.


WHEN:  27 July 2011 (Weds), 6-8 PM


Confirmed PANELISTS:

Michael DUDLEY, Pharm.D., FCCP, FIDSA
SVP, R & D  & CSO
REMPEX PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
[ spun out from Mpex Pharmaceuticals ]
San Diego, CA
http://www.mpexpharma.com


Victor NIZET, Ph.D.
Division of Pediatric Pharmacology & Drug Discovery
UCSD School of Medicine
Cellular & Molecular Medicine
UCSD
La Jolla, CA
http://nizetlab.ucsd.edu


Karen Joy SHAW, Ph.D.
SVP, Biology
TRIUS THERAPEUTICS
San Diego, CA
http://www.triusrx.com


PLUS ! -- other PANELISTS INVITED FROM:

Optimer Pharmaceuticals
Scripps
Sofinnova Ventures
Sanofi
Synthetic Genomics Vaccines


MODERATOR:

David Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California

cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella
web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com
blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


WHERE -- & Your host for the evening:

Ms. Amy ROMAKER
Client Service Team
SHEPPARD MULLIN
12275 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego CA 92130-2006

direct tel: 858-720-7403
main tel: 858-720-8900
email:  aromaker@sheppardmullin.com
http://www.sheppardmullin.com


REMINDER:  This is a *FREE* meeting, courtesy of Sheppard Mullin.


NOTA BENE:  NO formal registration is needed; we don't complicate your lives!


For more info & to RSVP, contact:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
“Global Business Development & Licensing since 1991”
San Diego, Calif.

cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com

---------


POSTED 15 July 2011 @ 10:45 PM by:

David A. Palella
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.
San Diego, California

cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog:  http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech/Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

San Diego Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

X-tech Roundup(SM) - San Diego
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2836926


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

------

Knome Assists Canadian Team Identify Parkinson's Disease Gene

---

Bio-IT World -- By Kevin Davies

14 July 2011

"The results identify the gene encoding vacuolar protein-sorting 35 (VPS35) as the cause of Parkinson's in several families with late-onset inherited PD.  Their findings were published today online in the American Journal of Human Genetics. ..."

http://www.bio-itworld.com/news/07/14/2011/Knome-assists-Canadian-team-identify-Parkinsons-gene.html

---

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/cp-ami071211.php

---

http://www.genomics.cn/en/index.php

---

http://www.bgisequence.com/us/

---

http://www.knome.com

---------------

Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  14 July 2011 -- 9:10 PM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

----------

Parkinson's Disease and H. pylori Infections of the gastrointestinal tract

---

"Beating Ulcer-Causing Bugs"

HealthNewsDigest.com

By Olga Falkowski, M.D.

July 12, 2011

"In recent months, researchers have made other important discoveries, she says, finding a link between H. pylori and Parkinson's disease and identifying the mechanism by which H. pylori seems to flip the cancer switch in some people.

...

"In the Parkinson’s research, several studies have found that people with the disease were more likely to be infected with H. pylori -- and that Parkinson's patients who were treated and cured of H. pylori infections did better than people who weren’t treated.

"All of this shows that testing for H. pylori can be immensely valuable, Dr. Falkowski says.  “We know that this bacteria plays an important role in the development of gastric cancer, and we’re learning more and more about the role they play in other diseases, such as Parkinson’s,” she says.  “This understanding gives us a whole new way to prevent these diseases.”

...

http://www.healthnewsdigest.com/news/Guest_Columnist_710/Beating_Ulcer-Causing_Bugs.shtml

--------------


Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  13 July 2011 -- 9:15 PM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

---------

Parkinson's: It Started With a Gut Feeling -- [that a bacteria, virus or prion could be the cause of Parkinson's]

---

Alzforum News -- 11 July 2011


When neuroanatomists Heiko Braak and Kelly Del Tredici proposed a new theory on the origin and progression of Parkinson's disease (PD) -- suggesting that it starts outside the central nervous system, induced by a virus or other pathogen ...

http://www.alzforum.org/new/detail.asp?id=2830

-------

Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  13 July 2011 -- 8:45 PM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

----------

SUMO defeats protein aggregates that typify Parkinson's disease

---

Public release date: 11-Jul-2011



"A small protein called SUMO might prevent the protein aggregations that typify Parkinson's disease (PD), according to a new study in the July 11, 2011, issue of The Journal of Cell Biology [ http://www.jcb.org ].

Insoluble protein clusters are the hallmarks of several neurodegenerative diseases.  In PD, neurons harbor insoluble clumps of the protein alpha-synuclein.  What triggers these protein pileups remains obscure.  A possible clue for PD came when researchers overexpressed alpha-synuclein in human kidney cells and found that the protein was modified by the addition of the small, ubiquitin-like molecule SUMO.  Since sumoylation generally boosts the solubility of proteins, the result raised the possibility that SUMO proteins affect the aggregation of alpha-synuclein.

Researchers tested whether sumoylating purified alpha-synuclein hindered its clustering into fibrils, filaments similar to those detected in neurons of PD patients.  If all of the alpha-synuclein molecules in a solution were sumoylated, no fibrils appeared.  And even if only 10 percent of the molecules were sumoylated, fibril formation slowed dramatically.

SUMO molecules typically attach to two sites on alpha-synuclein, the researchers found.  Compared with controls, cells that produced alpha-synuclein variants lacking these two sites contained more protein clusters and were more likely to die by apoptosis.  The scientists then genetically altered rats to manufacture the alpha-synuclein variants specifically in neurons.  Cell death surged in the substantia nigra, the brain region where large numbers of neurons perish in PD patients.  But whether sumoylation goes awry in these patients remains unknown."

###

Contact:

Rita Sullivan
email:  rsullivan@rockefeller.edu
212-327-8603
Rockefeller University Press
http://www.rupress.org

--

Krumova, P., et al. 2011. J. Cell Biol. doi:10.1083/jcb.201010117.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-07/rup-sdp070711.php

------------------

Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  13 July 2011 -- 8:30 PM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

----------

U.K. Office of Health Economics calls for shake-up to reward antibiotic R&D

---

World News -- July 08, 2011

By Kevin Grogan -- [ via FierceBiotech ]


The U.K. Office of Health Economics has called for new incentives for antibiotics R&D in order to entice companies to focus on the growing superbug threat.  ...

http://www.pharmatimes.com/Article/11-07-08/Calls_for_shake-up_to_reward_antibiotic_R_D.aspx

http://www.ohe.org

-----------


Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  10 July 2011 -- 6:45 PM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

---------

Colorado University researchers find promising drug [phenylbutyrate] for Parkinson's disease

---

Drug phenylbutyrate [ sold as "Buphenyl" ] already on market and sold by a division of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. (Scottsdale, AZ)


Denver Post -- 05 July 2011

By Margaret Jackson

"Colorado researchers have discovered a drug that stops the progression of Parkinson's disease in mice and is now being tested on humans.  Dr. Curt Freed and Wenbo Zhou have found that the drug phenylbutyrate turns on a gene ..."

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_18407428


Contact:  Margaret Jackson
tel: 303-954-1473
email:  mjackson@denverpost.com

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Other References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_phenylbutyrate

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ucyclyd_Pharma

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http://www.medicis.com  [ owns Ucyclyd Pharma ]

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http://ureacycle.com  [ web site for Buphenyl ]


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Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  08 July 2011 -- 11:00 PM

Researched & Posted by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

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Sanofi to research new types of antibiotics with Rib-X Pharmaceuticals

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Sanofi has signed a research collaboration with Rib-X Pharmaceuticals to investigate new types of antibiotics

06 July 2011


"The French pharma company has taken an option to licence Rib-X’s novel classes of antibiotics in return for an upfront payment of $10 million and further milestones that could be worth more than $186 million per product developed.

The partners aim to produce treatments for multi-drug resistant bacteria, infections from which are responsible for at least 25,000 patient deaths in the European Union each year."

     .........

http://www.inpharm.com/news/161747/sanofi-rib-x-pharmaceuticals-antibiotics-research

--

http://en.sanofi.com/home.asp

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http://www.rib-x.com

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Dateline -- San Diego, Calif.:  08 July 2011 -- 9:00 PM

Posted by:

David A. Palella
Founder
BIOSCIENCE VENTURES Inc.

San Diego, California
cell: 619-787-5767
email:  dpalella@gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpalella

web site:  http://www.BSVpartners.com

blog: http://biobizdev.blogspot.com


& Group Founder:

Infectious Disease R&D and Business Network
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-godydbie-43/vgh/3937807/

Japan Biotech / Biopharma Partnering Forum
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2857975/

Biotech / Pharma Business Development, Licensing & Dealmaking
http://www.linkedin.com/e/-ubgx8c-gp40f4dt-22/vgh/3964633/

Asia Business & Finance Roundup
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3132759/

Biofuels & Sustainable Chemicals Networking Group
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3891375/

X-tech Roundup(SM) - San Diego
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2836926


& Co-founder:

Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine
http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/3921448

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