Intelligent nanobots offer the promise of smart drug delivery systems for a variety of therapeutic applications. A promise that experts in the field believe will become a reality within the next 30-40 years.
But at MedImmune, we don’t think patients should have to wait.
The idea of using patients’ own immune cells to fight cancer is over a hundred years old. In the late 19th century, an American doctor called William Coley attempted to treat cancer by stimulating the immune system with dangerous bacteria, arguably the first example of what is now known as immunotherapy. His procedure appeared to shrink some patients’ tumours, but was criticised as unsafe and largely forgotten about. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy became the focus of cancer research and the standard tumour treatment for the rest of the 20th century.
The former Belly Wine Bar and The Blue Room in Cambridge’s Kendall Square has been transformed into a biotech incubator.
The last time GEN compiled a list of CEOs, investors, and others with the biggest stakes in biopharma companies—what GEN calls “molecular millionaires”—was last year, based on 2016 data. Only one new person who had not been listed in previous editions made the cut back then.
This eighth, biennial report focuses on the economic progress and footprint of the industry geographically including the performance, positioning and latest trends in the bioscience industry for the nation, states and metropolitan areas. For the first time, it includes a national assessment of the full economic impact of the bioscience industry not only in terms of employment, but also with respect to economic output and fiscal impacts. In addition, the report details the nation’s academic research activities and trends in federal funding, access to critical angel and venture capital and the innovation outputs context via patent activities.
The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund has awarded VLP Therapeutics a $3.9 million grant to further develop a novel tetravalent dengue virus-like particle vaccine.
In a world where it seems like startups are created every other day and market economics remain largely unpredictable, securing funding for your biotech startup can prove to be an arduous task. Venture capitalists prefer tested and proven biotech enterprises, government- and NGO-backed funding remain ever so slightly out of reach, and every other funding outlet seemingly comes with its own set of hard-to-match requirements and specifications. What is the fate of the budding startup without experience in the harsh economic climate of today’s biotech ecosphere? As it turns out, it’s not quite as bad as one would expect. It’s all down to knowing the ropes and peculiarities of the market.
After months of anticipation, the just released draft paper Return on Investment Initiative to Advance the President’s Management Agenda: Unleashing American Innovation signals that the Administration is serious about addressing a wide range of long neglected issues undermining effective technology commercialization. The paper, generated under the leadership of Commerce Under Secretary Walter Copan, who heads the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), is “a discussion document” based on feedback from a series of public meetings and written comments for improving the return on investment from $150 B spent annually on government-supported R&D.
Early-stage pharmaceutical company Spiral Therapeutics received $3.7 million in new investment as it looks to advance treatments for hearing loss and other inner ear disorders.
The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and the Frederick Innovative Technology Center Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with partners Monday to start an accelerator program for biotechnical companies.
