News Archive

QIAGEN N.V. (NASDAQ: QGEN)(Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) announced today that its business area, QIAGEN Bioinformatics, has been named by Genomics England (GeL) an assessment winner for the UK100K project, along with other life science technology providers. The company will be providing project researchers access to Ingenuity® Variant Analysis™, a powerful web-application that allows users to rapidly identify and prioritize disease causing genetic variants using advanced analytics powered by published biological evidence and large numbers of sequenced genomes.

Antibiotic resistance is taking its toll on the pharmaceutical industry: Drugs are getting retired from clinical circulation, because many are starting to get rendered ineffective, according to an article from Washington University of St. Louis. It highlights the work of WUSTL’s Michael Kinch, associated vice chancellor of its Center for Research Innovation in Business:

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched a pilot program to help life science entrepreneurs commercialize their technology, based on a course developed by the University of California, San Francisco. The course was first taught last fall by the Entrepreneurship Center at UCSF and Steve Blank, architect of the Lean LaunchPad framework. UCSF and Blank adapted the Lean LaunchPad methodology to be applicable for life science and healthcare ventures.

Chairs: we sit in them, work in them, shop in them, eat in them and date in them. Americans sit for most of their waking hours, 13 hours every day on average. Yet chairs are lethal.

This grim conclusion may surprise you, but 18 studies reported during the past 16 years, covering 800,000 people overall, back it up. In 2010, for example, the journal Circulation published an investigation following 8,800 adults for seven years.

Synthetic Biologics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: SYN), a biotechnology company developing novel anti-infective biologic and drug programs targeting specific pathogens that cause serious infections and diseases, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Orphan Drug designation to the Company’s proprietary SYN-005 monoclonal antibody (mAb) combination for the treatment of Pertussis, more commonly known as whooping cough. In the U.S., Orphan Drug Designation provides a variety of incentives, including seven years of market exclusivity, should SYN-005 receive FDA approval for the treatment of Pertussis.

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is planning to acquire the over-the-counter arm of global healthcare group Novartis.

The Commerce Commission is currently considering GSK’s application, the commission says in a press release.

Ideas are the juice that powers our economy with innovation happening fast on multiple technology fronts. Rapid developments are in play in areas as diverse as 3D printing, Ultra HD, sensors, health care, automotive electronics, agriculture, transportation, biotech and genetic mapping.

The $211 billion consumer electronics (CE) industry is at the vanguard of innovation. Just last year, the U.S. Patent Office issued a record 277,835 patents. We are at the beginning of a surge of technology advances that we will all benefit from.

On a massive bus in the heart of America, a group of tech entrepreneurs and investors are spreading glad tidings about entrepreneurship and startups in cities that don’t exactly scream innovation. Many people have tried to jumpstart the innovation engine across the country, but few have as much experience and clout to pull it off as Steve Case, co-founder of AOL, and chairman of DC-based investment firm Revolution.

Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX) has acquired GenCell Biosystems, a privately-held Irish biotech company that has developed proprietary technologies that address key biological analysis protocols – from library preparation of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to genotyping for agricultural applications.

“We are excited with the GenCell Biosystems acquisition as it provides BD entry into the Next Generation Sequencing market, a fast-growing segment with the potential to have a significant impact on healthcare,” said Linda Tharby, Group President, BD. “The acquisition gives BD access to the NGS market with a differentiated platform that will provide a base to further grow our genomics offerings.”

Don’t miss the third annual full-day Innovation 2 Commercialization (I2C) conference featuring three informative plenary sessions to help launch, commercialize and fund YOUR technology to make your business venture profitable!

Hear panels on innovation, commercialization and financing featuring speakers from MedImmune, Brain Sentry, Naval Research Lab and more. Plus, learn about the “Amplimmune Story” and enjoy lunch as you discuss issues affecting your innovation or small business with a subject matter expert from a federal lab, university tech transfer office, venture capital firm, business service organization and others who serve as your table host.