Category Archives: Biotechnology

Prana Biotechnology ( PRAN ) shares surged 18.7% after the company announced that the FDA has granted orphan drug designation to its Huntington disease candidate, PBT2. We note that the FDA grants orphan drug designation to candidates being developed to treat rare diseases that affect less than 200,000 people in the U.S. The status makes the candidate eligible for seven years of marketing exclusivity in the U.S. following approval. This designation also makes Prana Biotechnology eligible for certain other incentives (including tax credits for qualified clinical testing) for developing PBT2. The company plans to apply for orphan drug designation for PBT2 in other regions as well including Europe. Earlier this year, Prana Biotechnology had announced encouraging results from a phase II study evaluating the use of PBT2 in patients with Huntington disease. The company intends to submit a post phase II study dossier to the FDA and discuss the development path. Huntington disease is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder which affects more than 30,000 people in the U.S. Currently available drugs for Huntington disease include H. Lundbeck's ( HLUYY ) Xenazine, which is indicated only for involuntary movements associated with Huntington's disease. As per the company's press release, there are no … Continue reading →

Biotechnology and Genomics, part 1 Introduction By: Rene Fester Kratz … Continue reading →

Novartis International Biotechnology Leadership Camp 2014 Novartis International Biotechnology Leadership Camp (BioCamp) is a pioneering three-day seminar that offers top university students the opportunity to apply their knowledge to current trends... By: Novartis … Continue reading →

By John Glidden jglidden@timesheraldonline.com @glid24 on Twitter Jim DeKloe couldn't contain his excitement Wednesday morning as he stood smiling next to "Thelma," explaining the work that "she" does in room 1852 on the main Solano Community College campus. "Thelma" stands around 6 feet tall, with various tubbing and hoses sprouting from all over "her" stainless steel body, making her unique to the college. DeKloe, a biotechnology professor at SCC, had another reason to smile one that will keep "Thelma" working for a while. Recently, SCC was awarded a National Science Foundation Advanced Technology Education grant in the amount of $199,960. The grant will be used to fund SCC's Single-Use Bioreactor Systems Education and Training Program, or "SUBSET." "We are the first college, two-year or four-year, to focus on biotechnology manufacturing," DeKloe said to assembled dignitaries, who were on hand to hear about the biotechnology program at SCC. "The program focuses on the business and science of biotechnology." DeKloe said that the SCC biotechnology program is training students to get jobs in the biotechnology world, with many finding jobs at Genentech. "Around 100 (SCC) students have gone on to Genentech," he said. "15,000 jobs in the life sciences will be open … Continue reading →

Markets will have a shortened week to digest new data as a result of the Labor Day weekend holiday. Here are the key ETFs to watch for the week of Monday, September 1, 2014: iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF (NASDAQ: IBB ) Biotech stocks have regained their leadership status and broke out to new all-time highs last week. After a brief bout of volatility in the second quarter, these favored momentum stocks are soaring once again and topped their prior February highs. IBB is the largest ETF in this space, with $5.5 billion in total assets. This fund tracks 121 companies engaged in technology research and development for the medical field. The largest holdings in this market cap weighted vehicle include Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD ) and Celgene Corp (NASDAQ: CELG ). Related Link: Best And Worst ETFs Of The Week Amid Summer Send Off So far this year, IBB has gained nearly 22 percent and will look to add to those gains if the health care rally continues. United States Oil Fund (NYSE: USO ) Crude oil futures closed at their highest level in weeks after a multi-month sell off that included a break below $95 per barrel. USO tracks … Continue reading →

Rio Conferences 2014 - Healthcare Conference - 3 - Biotechnology By: Rio Negcios … Continue reading →

Biotechnology in Germany By: Kathleen Renish … Continue reading →

Nigeria Biotechnology Development Agency Workshop on diagnosis and treatment options of Ebola Salihu Abdullahi Nigerian scientists have been challenged to come up with treatment options against the Ebola virus disease. The Minister of Science and Technology Dr. Abdul Bulama gave the... By: NTANews … Continue reading →

National Biotech Talent Devt Centre to be set up in Johor Johor: The National Biotechnology Talent Development Centre will be set up in Johor to address competency gaps in human capital requirement for the biotechnology industry. Established through collaboration between the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation's (BiotechCorp) Industry Centre of Excellence for Biotechnology, Johor Biotechnology and Biodiversity Corporation (J-Biotech), and Universiti Malaysia Pahang, the centre is set to begin operation early next year. Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the centre would help produce competent human capital for the biotechnology industry and woo foreign companies to invest in the sector in the state. Companies could provide opportunities to students to undergo industrial internship to prepare them for the biotechnology industry, he told a news conference after opening the Johor Bio Conference & Exhibition 2014 here Monday. J-Biotech's Chief Executive Officer Wan Amir Jeffery Wan Abdul Majid said the centre would be located at the J-Biotech premise at the outset. "We are not going to build big buildings or infrastructure. We will coordinate with the industry and use their equipment or premise to provide training to students," he said. BiotechCorp Chief Executive Office Datuk Dr. Mohd Nazlee Kamal said the … Continue reading →

biotechnology,the use of biology to solve problems and make useful products. The most prominent area of biotechnology is the production of therapeutic proteins and other drugs through genetic engineering. People have been harnessing biological processes to improve their quality of life for some 10,000 years, beginning with the first agricultural communities. Approximately 6,000 years ago, humans began to tap the biological processes of microorganisms in order to make bread, alcoholic beverages, and cheese and to preserve dairy products. But such processes are not what is meant today by biotechnology, a term first widely applied to the molecular and cellular technologies that began to emerge in the 1960s and 70s. A fledgling biotech industry began to coalesce in the mid- to late 1970s, led by Genentech, a pharmaceutical company established in 1976 by Robert A. Swanson and Herbert W. Boyer to commercialize the recombinant DNA technology pioneered by Boyer and Stanley N. Cohen. Early companies such as Genentech, Amgen, Biogen, Cetus, and Genex began by manufacturing genetically engineered substances primarily for medical and environmental uses. For more than a decade, the biotechnology industry was dominated by recombinant DNA technology, or genetic engineering. This technique consists of splicing the gene for a … Continue reading →