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Today the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) released a report that outlines two potential growth trajectories for the U.S. biopharmaceutical sector and the top policy factors that enable the industry to innovate and, in turn, contribute to the U.S. economy.

Developed by the Battelle Technology Partnership Practice, the report finds that coverage and payment policies, a well-functioning, science-based regulatory system and strong intellectual property (IP) protections drive U.S. leadership in biopharmaceutical innovation, and if negative trends in these key policy areas continue, jobs supported by the industry would decrease over the next decade. However, if reasonable pro-innovation policies are pursued, the U.S. biopharmaceutical sector stands to retain and add well over 300,000 jobs to the U.S. economy by 2021.

QIAGEN N.V.  today announced it has acquired an exclusive worldwide license to the biomarker calreticulin (CALR), whose recently discovered mutations are found in an estimated 15% of cases of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a group of blood disorders. QIAGEN licensed the technology from CeMM Vienna, the Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, whose scientists led a team that discovered the presence of mutations of the CALR protein in MPNs. QIAGEN plans to develop a molecular diagnostic test for the CALR mutations to offer each patient a clearer prognostic profile and to guide disease management. Development of a CALR diagnostic test is expected to be highly complementary to QIAGEN’s kits for a key mutation of the Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) gene.

Myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of blood disorders involving overproduction of blood cells, are chronic diseases that can lead to several complications including thrombosis (blood clots) and in some cases difficult-to-treat acute leukemia. QIAGEN already has an exclusive license for the JAK2 V617F mutation, which is present in about 75% of patients with MPNs. According to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in December 2013 by the CeMM team led by Robert Kralovics, patients with CALR mutations suffer from a milder form of the disease than those with the JAK2V617F mutation, including a lower risk of thrombosis and a higher survival rate.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced its new collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline to advance development of cancer immunotherapies.

The collaboration will focus on the identification of new therapeutic approaches, evaluation of patient outcomes in clinical testing, and utilization of resulting information to develop drugs that recruit the body’s own immune system against cancer.

Health care is a misnomer for our medical system.  It should be called sick care. Doctors, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies only make money when we are in bad health.  If we could instead prevent illness and disease, it would turn the entire medical system on its head and increase the quality of our lives.

The good news is that technology is on its way to letting us do this.  It is now moving so rapidly that within a decade the small handheld medical reader used by Dr. Leonard McCoy in Star Trek — the tricorder — will look primitive. We are moving into an era of data-driven, crowdsourced, participatory, genomics-based medicine.  Just as our bathroom scales give us instant readings of our weight, wearable devices will monitor our health and warn us when we are about to get sick.  Our doctors—or their artificial intelligence replacements—will prescribe medicines or lifestyle changes based on our full medical history, holistic self, and genetic composition.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) seeks feedback from the small business community regarding the current state of the science and commercial feasibility of using in vitro human cellular models as an experimental tool for predicting in vivo drug responses to cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR)-directed therapeutics for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) lung disease at the individual level.  Responses to this Request for Information (RFI) will assist NHLBI staff in assessing the value of the research in areas related to advancing precision medicine approaches to treatment.

New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA), a leading global venture capital firm, today announced the kickoff of a second installment of its design mentorship program, In the Studio. Building on NEA’s successful 2013 program, In the Studio will be an intensive, two-week program for up to six design teams, developed and produced in collaboration with New York City-based product studio All Tomorrows, led by Albert Lee, and with Liz Danzico, founding chairperson of the Interaction Design program at New York City’s School of Visual Arts. Applications are now being accepted for the program, which will take place June 2nd through 17th, 2014.

Led by NEA Partner Dayna Grayson, the program evolved in response to a growing community of entrepreneurially minded designers, particularly in the New York City tech ecosystem. With design increasingly central in building successful consumer and enterprise applications, the program recruits talented designers with entrepreneurial or startup aspirations and provides mentorship, resources and opportunities to collaborate.

This year has been charted with the unfolding of several White House technology initiatives that involve leveraging the groundbreaking work of the nation’s federal laboratories. In 1986, the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) was mandated to pursue these initiatives by facilitating the movement of technologies from labs to the marketplace, strengthening research and development by streamlining technology transfer (T2) procedures, and increasing industry partnerships and collaborations. And, given the theme of this year’s FLC national meeting, “Accelerating Innovation for Economic Impact,” coupled with its nearby capital setting at the North Bethesda Marriott in Rockville, Maryland, this year is no exception.

BVCF, a Shanghai-based life sciences investor, has closed its third fund with $188 million to back upstart biotechs on both sides of the Pacific focused on the booming Asian market. Dow Jones’ VentureWire and other media outlets reported that the backers to this fund include Novartis ($NVS), BlackRock, NEA and International Finance, which is gambling $20 million on the fund at a when time drug development activities in China continue to heat up.

BVCF sits on the crossroads of a relatively small but fast-growing area in biotech. U.S. and European biopharma companies have been looking for new ways to enter the Chinese drug market as the Big Pharma giants build out large new R&D operations in Asia and start linking up with academic groups. And the trend is spawning new joint ventures and company startups with in-licensed development projects.

Drug research is a small world, where the main players often intersect repeatedly as they take on new roles at different institutions. And MD Anderson’s new “moon shots” program on immuno-oncology is proving that maxim yet again as GlaxoSmithKline’s immunotherapy team suits up for the last big slot in an ambitious alliance of industry giants aimed at discovering some new products in the red-hot cancer R&D field.

GlaxoSmithKline ($GSK) is taking a berth next to teams from AstraZeneca ($AZN), Pfizer ($PFE) and Johnson & Johnson ($J&J). And the pact brings together two of the key players in the development of Yervoy, the pioneering anti-CTLA-4 immune checkpoint inhibitor which helped trigger one of the most frenetic development races the industry has seen.

Historic release of data gives consumers unprecedented transparency on the medical services physicians provide and how much they are paid

Today, as part of the Obama administration’s work to make our health care system more transparent, affordable, and accountable, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the release of new, privacy-protected data on services and procedures provided to Medicare beneficiaries by physicians and other health care professionals. The new data also show payment and submitted charges, or bills, for those services and procedures by provider.