Biotech Strategy Blog

Commentary on Science, Innovation & New Products

Posts tagged ‘Biotech Strategy’

Blocking Sema4D may be a new osteoporosis target

By on November 10, 2011

Bone is a tissue in constant state of remodeling by osteoclasts (cells responsible for bone resorption) and osteoblasts (cells responsible for new bone formation).

Osteoporosis is a disease of progressive bone loss that is associated with increase risk of fractures.  Particularly debilitating are hip fractures in the elderly that are costly to treat and also lead to increased death and reduction in quality of life.  It’s estimated that osteoporosis affects 44 million people in the United States over the age of 50.

Most treatments for osteoporosis inhibit bone resorption e.g. bisphosphonates (alendronate, risedronate, ibandronate, zoledronic acid).  By inhibiting or reducing bone resorption, there is a lower amount of bone loss.

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A year in review on Biotech Strategy Blog

By on October 26, 2011

Biotech Strategy Blog is 1 today!  I can’t believe that a year has gone by so quickly!  Before moving on to year 2, I thought a brief review might be interesting.

What have been the top posts on Biotech Strategy Blog this past year?

In terms of total visitors per post:

  1. Results from NEJM Lucentis v Avastin AMD CATT clinical trial
  2. AUA Results from PIVOT study show no benefit from radical prostatectomy in low risk early stage patients
  3. ASCO 2011 Cabozantinib (XL184) may be an exciting new prostate cancer drug
  4. Merck’s capthepsin-K inhibitor odanacatib in osteoporosis
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Innovation in combination trials of cancer targeted therapies

By on October 12, 2011

Academic institutions are now bringing pharma/biotech companies together and facilitating rational combination trials that make solid scientific sense.

Combining at least two targeted drugs looks to be increasingly necessary in order to develop innovative new cancer treatments, where turning off one target may stimulate another, thus both need to be targeted for there to be an overall effect.

However, one company may not have all the pathways and drug targets covered by their portfolio.  The result is that companies may have to work together in combination trials with each providing one drug from their portfolio.

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Discovering the cause of Lou Gehrig’s disease

By on August 31, 2011

Yankee Lou Gehrig scores head first in 1925 300x240 Discovering the cause of Lou Gehrig’s disease

In a letter to the science journal Nature, published online on August 21, 2011, scientists from Northwestern University in Chicago report findings that could help develop drugs for patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

ALS is a progressive, fatal, degenerative motor neurone disease, which results in the inability to walk, get out of bed, move arms, hands, swallow or chew. Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive functions are not usually impaired, making it a particularly nasty disease when faced with awareness of disease progression.

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A new blog offers how to analyze a confidentiality agreement

By on August 5, 2011

Richard Hsu (@hsutubeesq), a Silicon Vally technology lawyer and partner at King & Spalding has a new blog that I’d like to recommend.

Named “The One Page Blog”, it aims to showcase Richard’s knowledge of IP and technology law using one page posts. Most of the posts have a downloadable PDF with a useful framework or summary. A picture tells a thousand words.

I particularly like Richard’s recent post on how to analyze a confidentiality agreement. The model Richard proposes will be useful to lawyers who are not IP-experts or those who need to talk to their lawyers about some of the issues that should be considered.

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Letter from Boston

By on August 1, 2011

I recently returned from a few days in Boston & Cambridge, so today, in memory of the late Alastair Cooke and his Letter from America, broadcast for 58 years from 1946 to 2004, I wanted to share with you my “Letter from Boston”.

New England is the No 1 biotechnology region on the East Coast of the United States and the Boston/Cambridge area of Massachusetts is the hub.

What makes Boston/Cambridge so attractive as a biotech region?  Amongst many, I’d suggest 3 factors stand out to me:

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BIO 2011 International Convention Video Review #BIO2011

By on July 1, 2011

Although I had to leave BIO 2011 early due to illness, I did shoot some video during the time I was at the meeting, and have now put this together into a short 2 minute video that you can watch below.

This post wraps up my coverage of the 2011 BIO international convention in Washington DC. Next week, I’ll be writing more about innovative science and new products in the pipeline that have caught my attention.

A happy holiday weekend to everyone in North America.

Permanent link to this post (86 words, estimated 21 secs reading time)
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BIO 2011 What is the future for innovative medicines in our industry’s pipeline?

By on June 28, 2011

What is innovation? Like “strategy” and “leadership” it’s a term we frequently use, something we all seek in the biotech/pharma industry, yet it’s hard to define, even harder to develop or predict.

What is the future for innovative medicines in our industry’s pipeline? was the title of a session that I attended yesterday afternoon at BIO 2011, the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Association (BIO) in Washington DC.

BIO 2011 Innovation Pipeline Session 300x168 BIO 2011 What is the future for innovative medicines in our industry’s pipeline?Moderated by John Mendlein, the panel contained some R&D heavy weights:

  • Tom Daniel, President of Research & Early Development, Celgene
  • Charles Homcy, Venture Partner, Third Rock Ventures
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BIO 2011: Ernst & Young Global Biotechnology Report 2011

By on June 20, 2011

One of the “Super Sessions” at the forthcoming 2011 Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) international convention is a presentation of the highlights of Ernst & Young’s 25th Annual Biotechnology Industry Report.

The 97 page report, available online, offers a useful summary of metrics around financing, deals and sector performance.

As the report notes, one of the key issues that biotech companies continue to face is access to funding in order to sustain innovation.  Many biotechnology executives I spoke to at the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago confirmed how difficult access to capital remained.

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