When President Trump proposed a cut of nearly 20 percent in support for the National Institutes of Health, many wondered how the administration would even attempt to find such reductions. The answer emerged in the congressional testimony last week of Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who argued the government could save billions without hurting research by cutting back on the overhead reimbursements to colleges and universities.
Qiagen said Friday after the close of the market that it has acquired an exclusive worldwide license from Johns Hopkins University for detection of the AR-V7 biomarker in all sample and cell types using nucleic acid tests such as PCR or next-generation sequencing.
As a result, Qiagen will commercialize its research-use-only AdnaTest Prostate Cancer Panel AR-V7 to detect the androgen receptor splice variant 7 from liquid biopsies to investigate resistance to potential drugs for advanced prostate cancer.
Research tools developer Canopy Biosciences announced today that it has exclusively licensed a novel gene-editing technology from Washington University in St. Louis and Johns Hopkins University.
The technology, called Tunr, involves targeting translation elongation by introducing consecutive adenosine nucleotides — known as polyA tracks — into a gene coding sequence of interest. As described in Nature Communications earlier this year, inserting polyA tracks into the open reading frame of an mRNA will suppress protein expression by decreasing the efficiency of the translation elongation phase leading to diminished production of protein and mRNA destabilization, thereby diminishing mRNA levels.
Independence Health Group, Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. have given a $150,000 seed investment to VitalTrax. This is the group’s first investment from their $6 million digital health funding initiative announced in December 2016.
Scientists and policy-makers have long argued that public investments in science have practical applications. Using data on patents linked to U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants over a 27-year period, we provide a large-scale accounting of linkages between public research investments and subsequent patenting. We find that about 10% of NIH grants generate a patent directly but 30% generate articles that are subsequently cited by patents. Although policy-makers often focus on direct patenting by academic scientists, the bulk of the effect of NIH research on patenting appears to be indirect. We also find no systematic relationship between the “basic” versus “applied” research focus of a grant and its propensity to be cited by a patent.
Doctors can rebuild parts of the body that have been damaged, but they need soft tissue to do it.
Whether it’s facial reconstruction after trauma, a masectomy as a result of breast cancer or something more cosmetic like stopping wrinkles, the person who needs the procedure is typically the one to provide the tissue.
When: Tuesday, April 11, 2017 from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM EDT Add to Calendar
Where: Harbor Launch @ IMET 701 E Pratt St Baltimore, MD 21202
Let’s talk about the startup F word – Finance. It’s a critical component of a company’s success, and it’s more than just spreadsheets. We’re giving this topic its day in the sun, answering such questions as… When does a startup need a CFO? What functions should a CFO serve? What qualities are desirable in a CFO? How can startups without a CFO best attend to their finances?
Join us on Tuesday, April 11th from 5:30-7:30pm at the Columbus Center (701 E Pratt Street) for this fireside-chat style event, moderated by Ken Malone of BioHealth Innovation, Inc. and Early Charm Ventures. We will hear the experiences and perspectives of Eileen O’Rourke, Chief Financial Officer at The Abell Foundation, Steve Dubin, Principal, SDA Ventures LLC; Chairman, Enzymotec Ltd., and Ryan McQueeney, Chief Financial Officer at RedOwl.
Program: 6-7pm with BioBuzz networking before and after.
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) today announced that it has signed a modification to its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to manufacture and store bulk drug substance for its botulism antitoxin, BAT® [Botulism Antitoxin Heptavalent (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) – (Equine)], valued at approximately $53 million with a five-year period of performance. This modification to the contract will enable future filling and deliveries of final drug product to the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS). BAT is indicated for the treatment of symptomatic botulism following documented or suspected exposure to botulinum neurotoxin serotypes A, B, C, D, E, F, or G in adults and pediatric patients.
It’s a bit of a strange world when a company growing at perhaps 5% per year, with downside risks, trades at 23X TTM EPS (historical GAAP numbers), but that’s completely par for the course. The S&P 500 trades near 25X TTM EPS.
Some competitors to Roche Holding AG (OTCQX:RHHBY) trade much pricier than it does. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is at 29X. Before a one-time payment to settle a patent suit that affected Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) Q4 EPS, MRK was around 32X. Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), a smaller player, is at 33X.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will spend $87.5 million over the next five years to continue a research partnership with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and University of Maryland, College Park and to bring on additional partners, the universities announced Thursday.
Scientists from the participating universities will study high energy astrophysics, gravitational waves, space exploration and planets in the solar system at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, said T. Jane Turner, a professor of physics who runs UMBC’s arm of the program.
