Blog Archives
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
BIO Buzz: Lifecycle Massachusetts BIO 2013 Recap
We had an exciting couple of days in Chicago at BIO 2013! From press announcements and patient celebrations to cutting edge panel discussions, and plenty of networking opportunities - The Massachusetts Pavilion did an outstanding job showcasing all that the state has to offer the life sciences industry.
In case you missed it, here’s a recap of Lifecycle Massachusetts’ presence at BIO:
Monday, April 22nd
Press Announcement
Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s President and CEO, Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, announced a new International Collaborative Industry Program (ICIP) with Victoria, Australia, Wallonia, Belgium, Quebec, Canada and Alsace, France. Read more about the program here.
Celebrate the Patient
We honored the people who are at the heart of what we do – the patients. Our featured panelists were Deb Beaudette (Pompe patient) and Ron Banks (MS patient) who shared their powerful stories. Deb had the audience laughing with her frank discussion of what it’s like to face a rare disease diagnosis, and Ron inspired everyone with his determination to be a motivator and advocate for additional research and clinical trials. The panel was moderated by Kathleen Coolidge, who works in patient advocacy at Genzyme. Read the rest of this entry
Talking Biosimilars: Implementing Sound Policies to Ensure Patient Safety
The introduction of biosimilar and interchangeable biologics into clinical practice will present some new challenges that have not historically been present with small molecule generic medicines. Current state rules on substitution will very likely need to be updated or completely re-written in the context of biosimilar and interchangeable biologic medicines. MassBio’s Annual Policy Leadership Breakfast held in January focused on this very issue.
Listen as our panel discusses the importance of implementing sound policies at the state level to ensure patient safety:
Massachusetts in Top Quantile of U.S. Biosciences According to 2012 Battelle/BIO Report
At the 2012 BIO International Convention, BIO released their Battelle/BIO State Bioscience Industry Development 2012 report. This report analyzes the industry’s impact on the economy and recent employment trends to give an overall snapshot of how the bioscience industry is doing and also goes through a state-by-state analysis of the industry.
If you read the MassBio 2011 Industry Snapshot (2012 edition coming soon!), you know that numbers have been very good for Massachusetts (we’re home to the top 5 NIH-funded hospitals, MA receives a high percentage of VC funding, etc.), so it was no surprise to see that Massachusetts fell in the report’s Top Quantile. The report summarized Massachusetts by saying:
Massachusetts is home to a large, highly specialized, and growing bioscience industry. Since 2001 the sector has grown by 15 percent and managed to maintain job gains during the more recent period since 2007 which includes the deep national recession. The state is diverse across the subsectors with three of five having a specialized employment concentration in 2010—research, testing, and medical labs; medical devices and equipment; and drugs and pharmaceuticals.
Massachusetts also made a strong showing in the introductory, industry-overview sections of the report. Here is just one example:
Figure 5. Bioscience Employment Change by State, 2001-10
BREAKING: Supreme Court Upholds Affordable Care Act
BREAKING NEWS: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS ACA
The U.S. Supreme Court today upheld the constitutionality of all parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) including the “individual mandate,” which requires that nearly all Americans have health insurance or pay a penalty.
SCOTUSblog explains the decision:
“The Affordable Care Act, including its individual mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional. There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn’t comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.”
Read the full decision here: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2.pdf
So, what does this mean for biotech and the life sciences industry? Join us next Monday, July 2nd, for a conference call with industry experts to discuss the implications of this historic decision. For details and registration, click here.
MassBio will continue to work with BIO and state and federal agencies on effective implementation of the law and we will be sure to keep you informed.
