Category Archives: News Roundup
Top 5 News: 5/18-5/24
1) Merck Serono scouting biotech opportunities - The Boston Globe – 5/24/2o13
Stefan Oschmann came courting biotechnology start-ups last week, a trans-Atlantic visitor promising not only pharmaceutical industry expertise but also cash. Oschmann, who made his pitch to several dozen area life sciences insiders at the Charles Hotel, isn’t an investment banker or venture capitalist. He’s chief executive of Merck Serono, the German-based multinational drug maker that owns the EMD Serono biotech division in Rockland and life sciences toolmaker EMD Millipore in Billerica. Increasingly, however, Oschmann is playing a role as a partner to smaller biotechs — and also as an investor in them. Link
2) Stem-cell treatment restores sight to blind man - New Scientist – 5/20/2013
An experimental stem-cell treatment has restored the sight of a man blinded by the degeneration of his retinal cells. The man, who is taking part in a trial examining the safety of using human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) to reverse two common causes of blindness, can now see well enough to be allowed to drive. “There’s a guy walking around who was blind, but now can see,” says Gary Rabin, chief executive officer of Advanced Cell Technology, the company in Marlborough, Massachusetts that devised the treatment. “With that sort of vision, you can have a driver’s licence.” Link
3) MGH, AstraZeneca partner to create new drug combos – The Boston Globe – 5/20/2013
Advances in genetic profiling have allowed doctors to match more of their cancer patients with treatments that will target their particular illnesses. But for some about one-third of cancer patients, there are no good matches, leaving them with only conventional chemotherapies and radiation. Now Dr. Keith T. Flaherty, an oncologist, and his colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a more sophisticated formula for analyzing tumors to find their vulnerabilities. On Monday, the hospital will unveil a partnership with AstraZeneca to pair Flaherty’s computer analysis with the company’s growing library of drugs to identify combinations of treatments that would not otherwise have been considered. Link
4) FDA panel backs a new sleep drug - Los Angeles Times – 5/22/2013
An advisory panel to the Food & Drug Administration has recommended approval of a new sleep drug that targets the brain’s wakefulness centers, but suggested the agency should consider a dose of the drug, called suvorexant, lower than that proposed by the medication’s maker, Merck. In doing so, members of the FDA’s advisory committee on peripheral and central nervous system drugs appeared to agree with concerns raised by FDA staff scientists that, at higher doses, the sleep medication may cause dangerous next-day drowsiness in some patients. Link
5) Regeneron, Sanofi asthma drug seen as potential game changer - Reuters – 5/21/2013
A new type of asthma drug meant to attack the underlying causes of the respiratory disease slashed episodes by 87 percent in a mid-stage trial, making it a potential game changer for patients with moderate to severe disease, researchers said on Tuesday. Link
Top 5 News: 5/11-5/18
1) Massachusetts keen to collaborate with Dublin’s HealthXL - Business & Leadership- 5/15/2013
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick attended a digital health gathering today in accelerator HealthXL’s headquarters in Trinity Technology and Enterprise Campus in Dublin. Link
2) MHT and BBJ honor 20 Women to Watch for 2013 (slide show) - Mass High Tech – 5/10/2013
More than 300 people in the high tech and life sciences community gathered Thursday morning to applaud the accomplishments of 20 local women who are making a difference in the local technology and life sciences scene in Massachusetts. Link
3) Covidien, others join together to find jobs for vets – Mass High Tech – 5/14/2013
Massachusetts has a thriving life sciences cluster, and there continues to be rapid growth in the sector. That’s why six of the state’s life sciences businesses are working together to fill some of those employment opportunities by recruiting and mentoring veterans. Link
4) Human Immune-Boosting Cancer Drugs Seen Extending Lives - Bloomberg – 5/13/2013
Merck & Co. (MRK), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) and Roche Holding AG (ROG) have opened a new front against cancer with the next generation of experimental drugs that use the human immune system to seek and destroy tumor cells. Link
5) Sequester Hits Mass. Medical Industry On Multiple Fronts - 90.9 wbur- 5/17/2013
The Budget Control Act of 2011, better known as sequestration, has been law for more than a month now. And for months we’ve been reporting on the ripple effects the automatic federal budget cuts are having — or will have — in Massachusetts. WBUR’s Bruce Gellerman reports on the impact on the medical industry in the state, which is being hit not just on the research side, but also the patient care side. Link
Top 5 News Stories: 5/4-5/10
1) Biotech and medical technology companies are lining up for IPOs – Boston Globe- 5/9/2013
More than two dozen life sciences companies, including at least nine in Massachusetts, could go public this year, the biggest coming-out class since at least 2007 and a sign investors are excited about the prospects for new life-extending drugs and medical devices. Link
2) Elections may have big impact on tech, biotech - The Boston Globe- 5/5/2013
Tuesday, a primary with pretty poor voter turnout chose the two major party candidates who will face off in the Senate special election June 25, while two dozen candidates hoping to succeed Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston began collecting signatures to get on the ballot in November. Boston’s next mayor and Massachusetts’ next senator have the potential to be helpful, harmful, or just so-so for the region’s innovation economy. But what has been surprising to me is how disengaged the tech, biopharma, and energy sectors have been in the process to fill these jobs. These are the seven major policy issues that leaders of our state’s innovation economy ought to be pressing, and that Boston’s next mayor and Massachusetts’ next senator ought to have high on their agendas. Link
3) PCORI Awards $88.6 Million in Funding for Comparative Effectiveness Research Projects - The Wall Street Journal – 5/7/2013
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved 51 new awards, totaling $88.6 million over three years, to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects under the first four areas of its National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda. This brings the total that PCORI has awarded for projects addressing these priorities to $129.3 million. PCORI also has committed another $30 million in funding for a series of pilot projects. Link
4) MassBio Recognizes Marlborough as a Major Life Sciences Hub in Massachusetts - PR.com- 5/5/2013
The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) has identified Marlborough as a leading incubator for mature life sciences companies, and is now planning to host a Life Sciences Open House in the city this summer.The news comes after the Marlborough Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) participated in the 20th BIO International Convention in Chicago, IL, which took place April 22nd-25th. MEDC was there on behalf of the City of Marlborough, one of just a couple of municipalities that, along with statewide economic development agencies, represented the Commonwealth at the “Lifecycle Massachusetts” Pavilion. Link
5) Merck’s Liptruzet Wins U.S. FDA Approval to Lower Cholesterol - Bloomberg – 5/3/1013
Merck & Co. (MRK) won U.S. marketing approval for Liptruzet, a combination of the company’s Zetia pill and a generic version of Pfizer Inc. (PFE)’s Lipitor, to lower elevated levels of bad cholesterol. Link
Top 5 News Stories: 4/29-5/3
1) Translating research into medical treatments - Telegram & Gazette – 4/28/2013
Assistant Professor Craig J. Ceol’s laboratory is using the fish to study the genes and genetic defects at work in melanoma, a dangerous skin cancer. His lab sits in the medical school’s Albert Sherman Center, a new $400 million building designed partly to position scientists so they can rub shoulders with one another. That proximity can be helpful when a molecular biologist, say, needs some help from bioinformaticians to make sense of the scads of data pouring out of experiments. But there’s more going on than just sharing services. UMass, like many academic medical centers across the country, is chasing “translational science” — the kind of discoveries that will produce medical products, treatments and services for patients. Link
2) Merck, Pfizer to jointly develop diabetes drug - Reuters – 4/29/2013
Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co Inc said they will co-develop Pfizer’s experimental type 2 diabetes drug ertugliflozin, both as a standalone product and in combination with other drugs, including Merck’s blockbuster Januvia. Link
3) PCORI Launches Clinical Research Network to Support Trials, Outcomes Research - PharmExec.com – 4/30/2013
The new National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) aims to provide patients and clinicians with useful information on treatment options and outcomes. By encouraging more comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER), the program also has potential to support development of new drugs and devices, explained PCORI executive director Joe Selby, in unveiling the program April 23. This prospect has generated enthusiasm for CER, along with concerns about how patient medical data could be misinterpreted and lead to erroneous conclusions. Link
4) Cancers Share Gene Patterns, Studies Affirm – The New York Times- 5/1/2013
Scientists have discovered that the most dangerous cancer of the uterine lining closely resembles the worst ovarian and breast cancers, providing the most telling evidence yet that cancer will increasingly be seen as a disease defined primarily by its genetic fingerprint rather than just by the organ where it originated. Link
5) PAREXEL acquires HERON, increases guidance - Mass High Tech- 5/1/2013
On the same day as PAREXEL International Corp. (Nasdaq: PRXL) reported double-digit growth and rasied its expectations for the next three months, the company announced its purchase of life science consultants HERON Group Ltd. The deal is worth up to $38 million. Link
Top 5 News Stories: 4/20-4/26
1) Return of BioPharm America™ 2013 to Boston Will Draw Leading International Life Science Dealmakers to Northeast - EON – 4/18/2013
EBD Group, the leading partnering firm for the life science industry, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio) announced today that BioPharm America™ 2013 will again be held in Boston September 17–19 at the Westin Boston Waterfront in Boston, MA. Link
2) French biotech Hemarina opens Boston office - Mass High Tech – 4/24/2013
Hemarina SA, a privately-held biotechnology company based in Morlaix, France, is opening its first Americas location in Boston. The announcement was made by Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) president and CEO Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister at the 2013 BIO International Convention in Chicago this week. Link
3) Mass. woos biotech firms at BIO convention - Boston Globe – 4/24/2013
Around the tables at the Massachusetts pavilion Tuesday, there was the buzz of deals in the making. State officials, along with representatives from Boston, Cambridge, and Quincy, huddled in meetings with executives from biotech companies in Israel, Northern Ireland, and New Zealand. Similar scenes were being played out across an exhibition hall the size of four football fields at the Biotechnology Industry Organization annual convention here. Link
4) Mass. groups emphasize international collaboration with new programs - Mass High Tech – 4/22/2013
Two local organizations are working to boost international collaboration in the form of investment, trade and research and development. From the floor of the 2013 BIO International Convention in Chicago, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) said Monday it was launching a new International Collaborative Industry Program (ICIP) to enable the group to partner with other nations to award funding to support R&D in Massachusetts and in the partnering nations. The international program will promote collaboration between life sciences companies and to increase the development of new products for commercialization. Link
5) AstraZeneca follows Pfizer for BIND’s second cancer nano-drug deal of the month - BBJ – 4/22/2013
AstraZeneca is set to pay up to $199 million to Cambridge biotech BIND Therapeutics for development of Accurin, a cancer nanomedicine based on a kinase inhibitor owned by AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN). Link
