Biotech Strategy Blog

Commentary on Science, Innovation & New Products

Posts tagged ‘Innovation’

Today is Innovation Day at Childrens Hospital Boston #iDay

By on February 14, 2012

Today is the first “Innovation Day” at Children’s Hospital Boston. For those, like me, who can’t be in Boston for it, you can follow on Twitter using the hashtag #iday or watch online via live streaming.

Innovation Acceleration Program Logo Today is Innovation Day at Childrens Hospital Boston #iDayI’m impressed that the hospital has an Innovation Acceleration Program focused on supporting “clinical care that impacts patients around the world.”

I think this event is a really great way to showcase some of the interesting research and collaboration that is taking place in the hospital in the field of device development, healthcare IT and process innovation.

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Science Translational Medicine on Innovation – part 1

By on July 7, 2011

F1.medium 235x300 Science Translational Medicine on Innovation part 1With an image of Rodin’s bronze “The Thinker” on its cover suggesting deep thought and insight, Science Translational Medicine (STM) analyzes the state of innovation in its June 29 issue.

STM states (without any authority) that “A powerful perception that innovation has stagnated persists in the biomedical research community.” STM asks, “Why have remarkable advances in basic biological science been so slow to be translated to improvements in clinical medicine?”

Unfortunately there is no identification of any “remarkable advances” that have been slow in being translated into clinical practice.

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Artificial Retina Project shows power of collaboration to bring new products to market

By on March 14, 2011

I wrote last week about Second Sight’s European Marketing Approval for the Argus II “artificial retina”.  What this news also stands for is the success of collaboration as a route to innovation.

The Artificial Retina Project (“Restoring Sight through Science”) through which Argus II was developed is a collaborative effort between six United States Department of Energy (DOE) research institutions, 4 universities and private industry.

Each offers unique scientific knowledge and specialist expertise, without which it is unlikely the project (that is continuing with the development of a more advanced Argus III artificial retina) would have been successful.

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Is Orlando a future biotechnology region?

By on February 16, 2011

I’m off to a conference in Orlando today, so thought it might be interesting to follow-up on my previous post about the emerging medical device/biotechnology cluster around Austin, Texas to think about what’s happening in Central Florida.

Orlando is most well-known for Disney and theme parks, and major conferences (see my post on attending the ASH annual meeting in Orlando last year). However, the opening of a new medical school, children’s hospital and medical research institute will undoubtedly lead to biotechnology and biomedical companies considering start-ups in the surrounding area.

Florida, like Texas, offers no personal taxation and Orlando is also well connected for flight connections throughout the country.

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Should companies be able to patent human genes?

By on February 14, 2011

That is the interesting question that struck me after reading Sam Kean’s informative article in the February 4 edition of Science.  Ten years on from the sequencing of the Human Genome, the patenting of human genetic information presents unique challenges at the interface of science, law and innovation.

Researchers have obtained patents for isolating different sections of DNA that occur naturally in our bodies.  Whether this should be permitted is still open to debate. Currently, diagnostic companies who want to launch a new cancer test face the challenge that patents now cover many genes.

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MIM Software receives FDA approval for iPhone and iPad Imaging App

By on February 7, 2011

Screen shot 2011 02 07 at 1.55.57 PM 300x224 MIM Software receives FDA approval for iPhone and iPad Imaging App

Following on from my blog post last week that discussed the use of iPads and other tablet computers in clinical trials, MIM Software have just received FDA 510(k) clearance to market their iPhone and iPad medical imaging app in the United States. This is the first such approval by the FDA, and the app will be sold in Apple’s itunes store.

This new mobile radiology application will allow physicians to review medical images on their iPhone and iPad.  The FDA in their press release indicate that it is not intended to replace full work stations, but to provide the ability to view images and make diagnoses when a workstation is not readily available.

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Austin’s growing and emerging biotechnology cluster

By on February 7, 2011

Texas State Capitol Austin Feb 2011 300x225 Austin’s growing and emerging biotechnology cluster I was in Austin last week for a business meeting (spot the snow around the State Capitol) and was interested to learn that Austin, TX is an emerging and growing biotechnology cluster.

Michael Porter in the Harvard Business Review has written about the importance of clusters of interconnected companies, universities, suppliers and service providers and how these drive increased productivity, innovation and stimulate further new businesses.  An important contributor of growth and economic development is the pool of talented workers that develops and is attracted to the local area around the cluster.

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Do you have a policy for the handling of incidental findings in clinical trial medical images?

By on February 1, 2011

I was supposed to be at the Innovation in Healthcare Symposium today at MIT in Cambridge, MA, but the winter ice storm that’s set to hit the North East has forced me to change my plans and return early from Boston to New Jersey. I am hoping to outrun the storm this morning (unlikely I know).

Hopefully, the presentations will be videoed and uploaded to You Tube or Webcast. Having traveled to Boston specially, I’m disappointed not to be able to write about the Symposium as planned.

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How will innovation change the clinical trials process?

By on January 31, 2011

The theme for the biotech strategy blog this week is innovation in bringing new drugs and devices to market.  Innovation is the lifeblood of the biotechnology industry and what drives the acquisition of companies for their pipeline by large pharma companies.

Tomorrow I will be at the Innovation in Healthcare Symposium at MIT in Cambridge, MA. See my earlier blog post for further information. I look forward to writing about the Symposium later this week.

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Innovation in Healthcare Symposium

By on January 12, 2011

A conference on Innovation in Healthcare is being held in Cambridge, MA on Tuesday, February 1, 2011.

The speaker list is impressive and includes Michael Porter (Porter’s 5 forces model is well known to all MBA students), John Mendelsohn (President of MD Anderson), Janet Woodcock (Director of Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at FDA) and Peter Senge (author of the Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization).

The symposium, whose lead sponsor is Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, will discuss how to to improve the system for delivering healthcare services, and how to increase the productivity of translating biomedical research into medical innovation.  The conference certainly has ambitious goals in the topics it plans to cover!

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