Tag Archives: Biotech

Exopharm: exosomes seen as an alternative to lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and adeno-associated viral vectors (#AAVs) for targeted multi-dose delivery of modern medicines and vaccines

MELBOURNE, Australia, 3-Feb-2022 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — Australian technologist Dr Ian Dixon founded Exopharm in 2013 with the vision to harness the unique properties of exosomes as a new class of medicine. Dixon’s decisive early entry into exosome therapeutics is now bearing fruits.

Less than 10 years after its founding, Exopharm possesses a granted US patent for its key exosome manufacturing technology, LEAP™, and has run successful first-in-human clinical trials demonstrating the safety of its exosome products.

Exosomes have the potential to revolutionise medicine in many areas, including delivery of gene therapies into cell nucleus for rare and common genetic disorders, improving therapeutic window of small and large molecules by cell targeting, and by selective cellular delivery of next-generation DNA/RNA products.

In 2022, excitement around exosomes has converged on exosomes as an alternative to lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) and adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs) for targeted multi-dose delivery of modern medicines and vaccines. Drug delivery accounts for a significant slice of the global pharmaceutical industry spend –around US$160b p.a. and growing strongly – and exosomes represent nature’s way to deliver a bioactive cargo into cells efficiently and safely.

Primed for growth

Dixon’s establishment of a specialist exosome medicines company has been followed by US based Codiak Biociences in 2015 (established by Arch Ventures) and Oxford based Evox Therapeutics in 2016. Today, only two dedicated exosome companies are listed on the public markets: Codiak (NASDAQ: CDAK) with a market cap of around US$200m; and Exopharm (ASX: EX1) with a market cap of around A$73m at the time of writing this article.

The field of exosome medicines is attracting the attention of financiers and pharmaceutical industry leaders. In late 2021, multinational pharmaceutical manufacturing services company Lonza jumped into exosome manufacture, a sign that they see big things over the horizon.

Over the past 9 years, Exopharm has grown and evolved but remains true to Dixon’s vision of exosome medicine development. The company now employs around 40 people most in its Melbourne, Australia, facility. Exopharm has built a toolbox of exosome technologies and knowhow which, in addition to the LEAP™ scalable exosome manufacturing platform, includes exosome analytical tools (Exoria) and technologies to load exosomes with a specific therapeutic cargo (LOAD) and target exosomes to select cells (EVPS).

Our business development team is attracting the attention of similar innovative biopharmaceutical and biomanufacturing companies, and validating the Exopharm technologies via collaboration research agreements.

Exopharm is not simply a technology company, however. Exopharm is pursuing a pipeline driven platform technology strategy, on the way to generating a revenue stream from technology out-licensing while developing its own exosome medicines for selected markets. More news on its pipeline products is expected to be ready for release later in CY ’22.

The Exopharm team has grown and changed to becoming more international in focus, improving on messaging and communications with the wider pharmaceutical industry. In 2021 Dr Jenn King joined the Board of Exopharm, bringing a wealth of big pharma and US biotech experience with her.

In 2022 we look to engage with more experts, as members of our advisory panels, as consultants, executives or Key Opinion Leaders. Please reach out to us if you want to be part of our vision.

At the company’s 10-year anniversary in late 2023, Exopharm will be a key part of the exosome medicines revolution.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

EU Patients as Partners in Medicines Development conference to be held virtually on Jan 24-25, 2022

(PRESS RELEASE) New York, NY, United States, 5-Jan-2021 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — The Conference Forum announced the launch of the 6th annual EU Patients as Partners in Medicines Development conference to take place virtually on January 24-25th, 2022 GMT time.

​​This annual event, the first of its kind in Europe, will feature successful collaborations between patients and pharma where patient input directly impacted aspects of how a pharmaceutical company either designed or conducted a clinical trial.

Of the 20 sessions, half include a patient or patient advocate. This two-day program will demonstrate how patient-led research can improve the way pharma conducts clinical trials.

Examples include UCB developing new assessment tools to measure the effectiveness of novel treatments for Parkinson’s disease, changes in the design and implementation of an MS trial for greater patient engagement, and the development of a new toolkit to change the way patients are compensated for their contributions in clinical research.

“Patients have become more empowered,” says co-chair Michaela Dinboeck, Head, Center of Excellence for Patient Engagement at Novartis. “So patient engagement must be integrated into the DNA of how medicines are developed, approved, and used. Patients as Partners Europe will provide Pharma with valuable insights on how to achieve this.”

Participating pharma companies include Novartis, Pfizer, Merck KGaA, EMD Serono, Janssen, Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Ipsen, UCB, Takeda, AbbVie, Noema Pharma, Gilead Sciences, Regeneron, and Pierre Fabre.

Other topics to be addressed include: Scaling patient engagement activities company-wide, engaging patients in early clinical development, leveraging social media to gain patient insights, diversity and inclusion in research and updates on patient engagement activities in Eastern Europe.

To learn more, please visit Patients as Partners Europe.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

University of Freiburg spin-off with strong preclinical evidence for significant breakthrough in curing prostate cancer

FREIBURG, Germany, 1-Jul-2021 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer. According to the American Cancer Association, 1 in every 8 men will be diagnosed with it in their lifetime. In 2018 around 1.2 million men were diagnosed and there were 360,000 deaths. In Europe alone, 450,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. But there could be a cure on the horizon.

B66, a new company in Germany and a spin-off from the University of Freiburg, Germany, has strong preclinical evidence that its research has made a significant breakthrough after 6 years of dedicated work. Professors Roland Schule, Manfred Jung and Dr Eric Metzger have pioneered research into inhibitors of the histone methyltransferase KMT9 that controls the growth of castration and enzalutamide resistant prostate tumours. These small molecular inhibitors are superior to current state-of-the-art Gold Standard drugs in preclinical models. This new treatment has the prospect of increasing survival in the normally fatal outcome of castration-resistant prostate cancer and becoming the universal therapeutic agent. In addition, the research team’s work shows that their new therapeutic agent has potentials in other cancers including colorectal, breast, bladder and the biggest of all killers, lung cancer.

Professor Roland Schule, one of the B66 founders, and a professor of Biochemistry in the University Medical Centre of Freiburg said “Our findings and approach to treatment is far in advance of anything that is going on in the world at the moment.”

Fellow founder, Professor Manfred Jung, added “many cancer treatments cause damage to the patient’s normal cells but the B66 inhibitor does not target normal cells indicating that our treatment will have minimum side effects”.

Although focused on prostate cancer right now, the B66 team’s long-term objective is to create a world-class development platform that will work on the defeat of many other types of cancer. The Freiburg region, thanks to the University, is a unique centre of leading medical knowledge. B66 will expand their work and draw in some of the skilled scientists from the area to help them work towards building a leading medical development hub.

The B66 team is already seeking commercial partners in order to forward their breakthrough work and advance as quickly as possible to defeat this major cancer.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

ShigETEC vaccine candidate has the potential to have a major impact on diarrheal diseases

VIENNA, 24-Sep-2020 — /EPR HEALTHCARE NEWS/ — Eveliqure Biotechnologies GmbH, an Austrian biotechnology company, today announces the initiation of clinical testing for its ShigETEC vaccine candidate, with the dosing of the first subject in a Phase 1 safety and immunogenicity study in Europe. ShigETEC is an orally administered vaccine candidate targeting Shigella and Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), two of the major pathogens responsible for diarrhoeal diseases in travelers to endemic countries, as well as a major threat to children living in low- and middle- income countries.

Currently no effective vaccines against these two pathogens exist and previous attempts to develop vaccines against Shigella and ETEC have failed. Eveliqure has employed a radically innovative approach based on a live attenuated Shigella vaccine strain rationally designed to provide broad, serotype independent protection against both Shigella and ETEC, and is developing the vaccine for both travelers to endemic countries and for children living in resource-poor countries. Following this initial Phase 1 study run in Hungary, further clinical development of ShigETEC will include Phase 1 testing in non-endemic adults, immune characterization of vaccine responses, vaccine formulation studies and clinical testing of ShigETEC in the pediatric population in resource poor-countries. These activities are supported by the EU-funded SHIGETECVAX international consortium of world-leading vaccine organizations – the European Vaccine Initiative, Eveliqure Biotechnologies, University of Gothenburg, icddr,b and PATH.

“Entering clinical development with ShigETEC marks a major milestone for Eveliqure, culminating from our extensive preclinical work performed over the past five years” – commented Gábor Somogyi, MD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer of Eveliqure. “We believe that ShigETEC has the potential to reduce the burden of diarrhoeal diseases for travellers, while also saving hundreds of thousands of children in endemic areas of the world”.

“Initiating the Phase 1 study for ShigETEC in adult volunteers is a crucial step towards establishing safety and immunogenicity of our vaccine candidate, and will help us define a well-tolerated, and effective schedule of dosing for our planned Phase 2 human challenge studies”. – commented Frank Malinoski MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer of Eveliqure.

Compared to single pathogen approaches, ShigETEC has the potential to have a major impact on diarrheal diseases, protecting both travelers to the developing world and children in endemic populations.

SOURCE: EuropaWire

Innovative Drug Discovery Business, Biosortia Pharmaceuticals, Lands Two Health Care Veterans

Kurt Dieck formerly SVP of Strategy and Business Execution at Cardinal Health, will lead early stage drug discovery business at Biosortia Pharmaceuticals. Dieck was named President and CEO in November 2012 and has quickly identified other key executives, including Dr. Guy Carter, former Natural Product head at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, as his Chief Science Officer. In conjunction, other collaboration partners have joined the team, including NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), NCI (National Cancer Institute) and key universities, to strategically accelerate the development of novel drug leads in the therapeutic areas of cancer, infectious diseases, inflammation and neurological disorders. Biosortia Pharmaceuticals has seen promising early results with dozens of novel compounds having already been requested, and are under evaluation with NCI and Eli Lilly.

Dieck has spent nearly 30 years in healthcare, including 18 years at Arthur Andersen as a global equity partner and then 10 years with Cardinal Health, a Fortune 20 public company, as a senior executive; there he worked with a broad spectrum of partners, including brand pharmaceutical manufacturers, throughout the supply chain. Dr. Guy Carter has over 30 years of experience working in pharmaceutical R&D, primarily in the discovery and development of microbial natural products. He previously was the leader of natural products drug discovery at Wyeth Research, as head of the Chemical Technologies Department.

“Kurt and Guy make a great team. Their complementary Pharma experiences and backgrounds create great opportunities to accelerate Biosortia’s objective to become the premier, aquatic natural products company with a primary focus in drug discovery,” says Ross Youngs, Biosortia’s Founder and Chairman. “Kurt and Guy bring a wealth of research and business experience along with deep industry relationships in building successful Pharma partnerships. Everyone involved with this young biotech is excited about the future.”

Industry observers have commented that late-stage R&D pipelines are not providing Pharma with the desired revenue growth the market is expecting. Therefore, large Pharma is evolving the way it performs R&D in order to optimize efficiency and to boost patent cliff defenses. These changes require shifting from relying solely on in-house chemistry-based R&D to acquiring and licensing external technologies and natural products based compounds in various stages of development. Biosortia’s ability to supply novel, highly active and potent compounds with drug-like characteristics will increase the productivity and success rate for Pharma as well as reduce the overall cost of the discovery process. The cost to discover, develop and launch a new drug is estimated to reach nearly $3B per drug by 2015. Biosortia’s business model is designed specifically to support Pharma’s needs.

“With nearly unlimited microorganisms (3.7 nonillion), the aquatic environment and its consortia represent an extraordinary opportunity…a new frontier, to access extremely potent and chemically diverse secondary metabolites with drug-like properties with unique mechanisms of action never researched before,” said Dieck. In describing the opportunity, Dieck goes on to say, “Biosortia is on the cutting edge of natural product discovery
and has the capabilities to deliver on its aspiration. Our powerful natural products research team, led by Dr. Guy Carter, in partnership with NOAA’s Dr. Peter Moeller, a leader in aquatic natural products research, has the experience and know-how to decipher the complex unexplored environment in a very efficient manner leveraging all the current state of the art instrumentation. The need for more efficient and effective approaches to drug discovery has never been more important. Biosortia’s innovative technologies, deep research skills and key relationships will efficiently provide thousands of unique natural products as candidates for drug discovery at a time when Pharma is in critical need for “high quality shots on goal.”

“Aquatic microbial consortia are a rich source of metabolically active organisms including microalgae, bacteria, fungi and their secondary metabolites,” states Carter. “Owing to the competitive nature of their habitat, chemical investigations of microbial consortia reveal unique structurally diversified natural products that are responsible for signaling and self-defense that have potential as therapeutics with novel mechanisms of action. Since they have been pre-optimized by nature, these compounds are typically closer to a drug candidate than a synthetic lead, thus requiring less optimization and shorter time when found as ‘hits’ in screening programs.”

The team has also focused on agreements with strategic collaboration partners as vital components to the strategy. Biosortia has recently entered into several collaboration agreements with NOAA, Analyticon and exclusive harvesting relationships, just to name a few. Several others will be advanced by the end of January. Biosortia’s cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) with NOAA’s Center for Human Health Risk at Hollings Marine Laboratory provides a 5-year framework for research and development regarding the analysis and purification of novel bioactive compounds. According to NOAA’s Technology Partnerships Office, “Success will result in the commercial development of new and unique chemical compounds from the sea which have benefits to human health, either through disease prevention or new treatments for disease.”

Dr. Peter Moeller, NOAA’s Research Scientist who leads the Toxins Natural Products Program stated after analyzing fractions of Biosortia’s biomass, “Coupling NOAA’s mission of characterizing toxins affecting environmental and/or human health with Biosortia’s drug discovery focus turns one man’s toxin into another’s chemotherapeutic. The microorganisms analyzed in the Biosortia biomass identified more unique activity than I have seen in my 30 year career. The volumes achieved from a single harvest delivered an equivalent of 30 years of accumulation. This could materially change the landscape for natural products drug discovery research.”

As of December 31, 2012, Biosortia has identified more than 30 bioactive candidate compounds (hits) from a fresh water eutrophic lake consortium. Therapeutic areas of focus include treatments for cancer, infectious diseases, inflammation and neurological disorders. In addition, more than a dozen of its patent protected compounds are in initial evaluation stage within Eli Lilly’s Open Innovation Drug Discovery Program.

Dieck states, “Looking forward, it is with great optimism. We have a great team built around mutual respect, deep experience, and a desire to succeed and make a difference. We are aligning with the right partners and collaborators to execute our strategy with speed and discipline to provide Pharma with much high quality & diverse compounds vs. “me-too” drugs than they have had in the past 10 years. We are excited about what this company can accomplish, not only for its shareholders but also for the millions of people who have been diagnosed with various forms of chronic diseases who are looking for Pharma to identify better ways to help them extend their lives or live a more productive life. Biosortia can play a big role in identifying compounds that can help Pharma achieve these goals. I am looking forward to the challenge and opportunity to build an industry leading drug discovery company.”

Via EPR Network
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Sprint Bioscience Strengthens Its Cancer Metabolism Portfolio

Sprint Bioscience, a Swedish company developing oncology therapeutics targeting cancer metabolism, announced today that it has raised money to strengthen its drug discovery portfolio.

The investment by Första Entreprenörsfonden and Almi Invest will enable the company to continue to build a pipeline of drug discovery projects within cancer metabolism.

“We are investing in Sprint Bioscience because we consider their entrepreneurial drive and their particular skills in drug development to be key success factors for the changing environment of the future pharmaceutical industry. Sprint Bioscience’s business strategy involves out-licensing or collaborating at an early stage of drug discovery to ensure that projects are developed with a focus on current and relevant market needs,” says Rune Nordlander, partner at Första Entreprenörsfonden.

Sprint Bioscience is a company founded by experienced drug hunters with an ambition to improve the drug discovery process. “We believe in small organisations with effective working procedures and collaborations throughout the sector,” says the company’s CEO and co-founder, Dr. Anders Åberg.

“Sprint Bioscience has developed an efficient, fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) platform that can take parallel projects from initial idea to active molecules tested in cell-based systems in a very short time” Anders Åberg continues. Our goal is to align the early phase in the laboratory with pharmaceutical companies’ needs.

Targeting the metabolism in tumours provides exciting opportunities to develop drug therapies with novel mechanisms of action. This could be used to overcome the resistance that many cancer cells develop to current treatments.

Via EPR Network
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Catalent Expands Capabilities In Testing For Melamine In Food And Medicinal Products

At a time when melamine-contamination has received global attention, Catalent Pharma Solutions continues its legacy of innovation by rapidly developing new FDA guidance-compliant tests for trace amounts of key contaminants in food and medicine. Incidents of melamine contamination in milk products, baby formula, dairy and non-dairy products manufactured in China have been widely reported, leading to product recalls and increased inspections by the FDA.

The current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) regulations require that all components (i.e. ingredients or raw materials) be tested before they are released for use in the manufacture or preparation of drug products (21 CFR 211.84). It is critical that all manufacturers determine whether they are using an at risk component for melamine contamination to manufacture or prepare a drug product.

In response to the FDA’s new guidance titled “Pharmaceutical Components at Risk for Melamine Contamination,” Catalent has successfully qualified a method for determining if suspect excipients are contamination-free to within 2.5 parts per million. The method is based on that provided by the FDA (Laboratory Information Bulletin No. 4423 “GC-MS Screen for the Presence of Melamine, Ammeline, Ammelide, and Cyanuric Acid”).

Catalent is now able to provide its customers successfully qualified and validated limits tests for trace levels of melamine, ammeline, ammelide, and cyanuric acid in lactose.

Melamine is a compound made of carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen and is typically combined with formaldehyde to produce a durable and moldable plastic that is fire and heat resistant. Trace amounts of melamine have recently been discovered to be toxic to dogs, cats, pigs, and chickens by veterinary scientists after kidney or renal failure occurred due to their food being contaminated with the chemical.

“Catalent is proud to have satisfied the demanding regulatory standards the US FDA has provided for detecting melamine,” said Kent Payne, Vice President and General Manager of Catalent’s Respiratory, Analytical and Biotechnology Services business. “Detecting trace levels of melamine in food and medicinal products at these levels is a challenging process, but is key to help avoid future public health crises. In order to support this critical public health need, Catalent can expedite this testing and provide results within 48 hours from receipt of samples

Fore more information on the US FDA guidelines, please visit:
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm176088.htm.

About Catalent
Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Catalent is one of the leading providers of advanced dose form and packaging technologies, and development, manufacturing, packaging and printing services for pharmaceuticalbiotechnology and consumer healthcare companies in nearly 100 countries. Catalent applies its local market expertise and technical creativity to advance treatments, change markets and enhance patient outcomes. Catalent employs approximately 9,500 at 30 facilities worldwide and in fiscal 2009 generated more than $1.6 billion of annual revenue. For more information, visit www.catalent.com.

Via EPR Network
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Catalent To Present Webinar On Stabilities Studies In Pharmaceutical Development

Catalent Pharma Solutions will host a free Webinar featuring Senior Manager, Wei Pan, Ph.D. RAC and Kathy Waddle, Director, Stability QC Biology. The one-hour Webinar will cover stability studies as a critical part of the drug development process and the vital role they play for drug product marketing approval. The Webinar, titled “Stability Studies in Pharmaceutical Development,” will be held on Friday, November 20, 2009 at 2 p.m. (EST). To register for the Webinar please visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/280747146.

The presentation will address the principles and practices of stability studies in the drug development process. Pan and Waddle will discuss the framework of the FDA cGMP guidelines as expressed in 21CFR211. Additionally, the Webinar will provide a comprehensive review of ICH and WHO stability guidelines by discussing the strategy used in stability protocols designed to support global registration.

Stability studies are conducted at all phases of the drug development cycle for different purposes with the ultimate goal of having a stable product on the market. During development, stability studies are conducted to support the formulation development and safety and efficacy claims of investigational new drugs. At registration, they are conducted to ascertain the quality and shelf-life of the drug product in their intended packaging configuration. After approval, the stability studies are conducted to ensure the quality of production and to support site or other changes to the product.

For more information on Catalent’s broad range of drug and biologic development services, go to www.catalent.com/development.

Via EPR Network
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Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent To Present Industry Conferences

Ana T. Menendez, Ph.D., Senior Director of Biotechnology at Catalent Pharma Solutions, will be delivering workshops this October at two industry conferences.

The first will be a pre-conference workshop at Cambridge Health Institute’s Immunogenicity Summit. The event will take place in Philadelphia on Monday, October 26, 2009. The interactive workshop, titled “Technical Advice on Assay Development,” will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will enable attendees to develop an immunogenicity pre-clinical and clinical testing protocol for a therapeutic protein.

The second presentation by Menendez will be a seminar at San Francisco’s Biologicals to Devices (B2G) conference on October 27. The workshop will be called “Effective transfer of Complex Biological Methods in the GMP Environment.”

As part of Catalent’s Development and Clinical Services Segment, Dr. Menendez is responsible for the release tests required to verify the functionality and purity of biotechnology products and the complex processes involved in their manufacture. Menendez implemented biotesting at Catalent and currently leads the following laboratories at the North Carolina Research Triangle Park facility: Cellular Technologies, Molecular Technologies, Virology and Analytical Biosafety. The expertise of the department ranges from proteins (i.e., monoclonal antibodies, enzymes, growth factors) to therapeutic viruses, bacterial vaccines and aptamers. Menenedez is an international instructor on bioassay development and validation and a frequent speaker at biopharmaceutical conferences.

For more information on Catalent`s broad range of drug and biologic development services, go to www.catalent.com/development.

Via EPR Network
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The World’s First Dry-On-Contact H1N1 Sanitising Spray

A sanitising spray that kills 99.99% of Viruses, Bacteria and Germs is now available for purchase in the UK. The SaniGuard wipes, spray and fogger products were invented by David Morgan, president of DEM Technology in the United States.. After patenting the product he was awarded EPA registration for its use on food contact surfaces in 1996.

The World's First Dry-On-Contact H1N1 Sanitising Spray

One benefit of the spray is that there is no “wet dwell” time, meaning that users don’t need to wipe the product away prior to it being effective. According to US laboratory reports, the product kills 99.99% of germs in 30-45 seconds. It also exceeds the requirements of EN1276 in Europe.

Jim Taylor, formerly president of Smith & Nephew and now CEO of Saniguard International, based in Chorley, Lancashire, said: “SaniGuard contains a unique configuration of quarternary ammonium compounds (QUATS) and other proprietary components, which allow for the elimination of microbes that regular QUATS alone cannot kill.”

The dry-on-contact spray can be used in between regular cleaning on “hot spot” areas such as telephones, computer keyboards, light switches, door knobs and other areas that are frequently used and rarely cleaned. SaniGuard leaves no film or moisture on surfaces.

The spray is effective against Swine Flu, MRSA, HIV-1, herpes, herpes simplex 1 and 2, salmonella typhi, staphylococcus aureus, streptococcus epidermidis and pseudomonas aerginosa and fungi such as trichophyton interdigitolo (Athlete’s foot).

MisterSterile.com also offers the Total Release Fogger in a single-release aerosol, which is claimed to sanitise an entire room with the press of a button within 15-20 minutes. The product is available in small room (155ft²) and large room (625ft²) sizes.

The company says this product is safe for all surfaces and helps to stop the transmission of germs in high traffic areas such as lobbies, waiting rooms, hospital wards, GP surgeries and patient care facilities.

Anti-Bacterial, Anti-Virus Swine Flu prevention products from MisterSterile.com ‘Mr Sterile.com’ is authorised by SaniGuard International and have launched their new website to service the explosive demand for anti-bacterial, anti-virus products.

Via EPR Network
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Three Alternative Scenarios of the Future In Vitro Diagnostics Market, 2009-2018

Venture Planning Group is pleased to announce completion of the new multiclient study, “Three Alternative Scenarios of the Future In Vitro Diagnostics Market, 2009-2018.” The report is designed to assist executives in the diagnostics industry in formulating policy alternatives that will provide the best choice among possible courses of action.

Venture Planning Group

The major thrust of the study is to clarify future consequences of the current developments in the absence of unforeseeable events, and expose the very different actions and policies that would be required by diagnostic product suppliers if the market moves in any of the three directions.

Each scenario is built around a specific theme with a particular set of assumptions. Business-As-Usual Scenario assumes that the current trends will continue without significant interruptions. Economic Austerity Scenario is predicated upon a significant rise in cost-containment pressures by all payers determined to drastically curtail not only the intensity of health care services, but the size of the industry as well. Technological Breakthroughs Scenario assumes a series of successful developments and commercialization of a number of diagnostic technologies and products occurring during 2009-2018.

This study will help diagnostics industry executives and companies planning to diversify into the diagnostics field to bring about more flexible planning, reduce surprises, and add to ways of improving the ability to cope with the future.

Please visit www.vpgcorp.com to review this and over 5,000 other innovative market research reports from VPG and other world’s leading publishing companies.

About VPG
VPG is an international market research, publishing and management consulting firm providing Market Intelligence Surveys, Opportunity Analyses, New Technology/Product Assessments, and Acquisition/Joint Venture Evaluations to corporate executives and key decision-makers in the healthcare, biotechnology, chemical, food and beverage, and electronics industries worldwide.

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Dr. Hans Westenburg, A Senior Scientist At Catalent Pharma Solutions, Will Present At The TIDES 2009 Conference

Dr. Hans Westenburg, a senior scientist of structural characterization and analysis at Catalent Pharma Solutions, will present this month at the TIDES 2009 Conference to be held in Las Vegas, NV, May 17-20, 2009. The conference agenda was put together by leaders in oligonucleotide and peptide development and manufacturing, and features a program full of novel, in-depth scientific presentations related to oligonucleotide and peptide drug development and manufacturing. The TIDES conference is produced by IBC Life Sciences.

Dr-Hans-WestenburgDr. Westenburg’s poster presentation is titled “Teriparatide Degradation Products Identified by Accurate Measured Mass LCMS.” Presentation abstract: The human parathyroid hormone (PTH) contains 84 amino acids. The biologically active region is 34 N-terminal amino acids (teriparatide) from the recombinant human PTH. Teriparatide is the first FDA approved agent for the treatment of osteoporosis that stimulates new bone formation. The safety of the drug product is dependent not only on the toxicological properties of the active drug substance, but also on the impurities that it contains. Therefore, identification of impurities in the drug product is an important part of drug development and regulatory assessment. Accurate measured mass liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LCMS) is a rapid technique to identify impurities at levels as low as 0.02% in the drug product. LCMS enabled the identification of fifteen low level impurities in teriparatide.

Based in Catalent’s Trade Place facility in San Diego, CA, part of the organization’s Respiratory, Analytical and Biotechnology group, Dr. Westenburg works to structurally identify impurities for virtual, generic, small-, and mid-size pharmaceutical companies. In his current capacity, he has been able to identify impurities belonging to a large number of structural classes. The identification of these impurities supports the client to enable greater reporting thresholds or, in some instances, identify an impurity causing discoloration of a drug substance or product. During the past two years, Dr. Westenburg has routinely monitored low level genotoxic impurities by QTOF LCMS in a drug product. Overall, the majority of his work is impurity identification for companies concerning impurities in drug substances [Q3A(R2)] and impurities in drug products [Q3B(R2)], in compliance with the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines.

About Catalent
Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Catalent Pharma Solutions is a leading provider of advanced dose form and packaging technologies, and development, manufacturing and packaging services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer healthcare companies in nearly 100 countries. Catalent applies catalentits local market expertise and technical creativity to advance treatments, change markets and enhance patient outcomes. Catalent employs approximately 9,100 at more than 30 facilities worldwide and in fiscal 2008 generated more than $1.8 billion of annual revenue. For more information, visit www.catalent.com.

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Jenken Biosciences Granted Key Patent for Compounds To Treat Chronic Liver and Kidney Diseases

Jenken Biosciences, Inc., an emerging specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted a patent on Jenken’s compounds for the treatment of diseases associated with kidney diseases and chronic liver diseases, such as hepatitis and fatty liver disease.

Jenken’s patented compounds are developed by “repurposing” FDA-approved off-patent drugs for new, first-in-class therapeutic uses.

The patent, US 7501433, “Opioid and opioid-like compounds and uses thereof,” with an anticipated term through 2022, will provide broad protection for the Company’s repurposed drugs’ new indications targeted at treating organ damage associated with chronic liver or kidney diseases.

The Company’s leading drug candidate has been approved by the FDA for a Phase II clinical study targeted at treating liver damage in Hepatitis patients. The endpoint of the study will be to restore normal liver function by reducing inflammation in Hepatitis C patients who do not respond to current interferon/anti-viral therapies.

Jenken’s second clinical candidate has exhibited efficacy in preclinical trials as an anti-fibrotic for treating fatty liver disease.

“The validation by the USPTO of the potential utility of our compounds is a significant step in making totally new therapeutic options available to the millions of patients around the world who suffer from chronic liver diseases, such as hepatic fibrosis, steatohepatitis (NASH) or fatty liver disease,” said Barry Buzogany, Jenken’s President and CEO.

“In the U.S. alone, approximately 25 million people are afflicted with some form of chronic liver disorder,” Buzogany explained. “Of these, there are about four million people infected with the Hepatitis C virus and another 12 million with fatty liver disease. Currently there are no therapies available to treat liver damage associated with either hepatitis or with fatty liver disease.”

According to Dr. Edwin Wu, Jenken’s Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, “Jenken’s proprietary technology for cytokine modulation, a specific therapy for diseases associated with chronic inflammation, offers the potential to restore normal liver or kidney function regardless of the cause of the damage or disease.”

Via EPR Network
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Catalent Analytical Team Member to be Published in Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Catalent Pharma Solutions, a worldwide leading provider of advanced technologies for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer health companies, will be featured in the upcoming April edition of Journal of Pharmaceutical Research. Stephen P. Mayock, a member of Catalent’s analytical team, was a major contributor to the article that conveys the present challenges and future relevance of the science of USP 1 and 2 dissolution.

The article begins with the scientific origins of the dissolution test and discusses the roles of dissolution in product development, consistent batch manufacture and stability testing. It also reviews the ultimate role of dissolution testing where the end results correlate to in vivo results. Other topics that are covered in the article include the mechanical calibration versus performance testing, variability and hydrodynamics of USP Apparatus 1 and 2 and new initiatives in the industry such as quality by design, process analytical technology and design of experiment.

Mayock is the senior manager in Catalent’s Stability and Analytical Services Group. Catalent’s analytical team is part of its Respiratory, Analytical and Biotechnology group, with sites in the Research Triangle Park, N.C., San Diego C.A., and Middleton, W.I. Mayock joins fellow authors Vivian Gray, Gregg Kelly, Min Xia, Chris Butler and Saji Thomas. The article has been available online to subscribers since Jan. 25, 2009, and the print version will be available in the April edition.

About the Journal of Pharmaceutical Research
Pharmaceutical Research, an official journal of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, presents papers that describe innovative research spanning the entire spectrum of drug discovery, development, evaluation, and regulatory approval. Small drug molecules, biotechnology products including genes, peptides, proteins and vaccines, and genetically engineered cells are an integral part of papers published.

About Catalent
Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, Catalent is one of the leading providers of advanced dose form and packaging technologies, and development, manufacturing and packaging services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and consumer health companies in nearly 100 countries. Catalent applies its local market expertise and technical creativity to advance treatments, change markets and enhance patient outcomes. Catalent employs approximately 9,500 at more than 30 facilities worldwide and generates more than $1.8 billion of annual revenue. For more information, visit www.catalent.com.

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