Source: CBC NEws

Biotechnology will be a critical tool in addressing the global demand for food in the year 2050, when the world's population reaches 9 billion, according to a new study. The production of artificial or "in vitro" animal meat and the use of DNA testing to predict the quality of meat or the level of disease risk in livestock are among the technologies that will revolutionize agriculture and bring about global food security and well-being "in the face of enormous technological, climatic and social challenges," researchers reported. Read more here. 

Source: NYT

The European Commission on Wednesday approved six genetically modified corn varieties for import to the bloc, another sign of its desire to speed decision-making on the controversial technology.

The commission, the executive arm of the European Union, granted the approvals unilaterally after E.U. farm ministers failed to reach a decision on the applications in June. The approvals, which are valid for 10 years, cover imports for food and animal feed, not for cultivation.

“The six adoptions of today are the result of a usual and standard procedure concerning the authorization” of genetically modified crops, the commission said. Read more here. 

SynDevRx is developing novel polymer-fumagillin drug conjugates to treat metastatic cancer. Fumagillin analogs are clinically proven anti-tumor agents, but suffer poor physical properties and toxicities, which prevent their clinical development as small molecules. Our conjugates demonstrate significantly improved physical and anti-tumor properties with minimal signs of toxicity in animal testing.

SynDevRx polymer drugs connect poly (hydroxymethacrylamide) (HPMA) to novel fumagillol analogs via proprietary chemistries providing the solubility and pharmacokinetics of the HPMA polymer and enhancing the activity of the fumagillol analogs.

SyndevRx's technology provides a new paradigm for the design and development of polymer drugs. While conventional polymer therapeutics produce drugs with improved physical properties and, in some cases, safety, conventional polymers effectively dilute (i.e. reduce) drug activity thus requiring high polymer-drug doses.  SynDevRx polymer drugs improve the physical properties of the conjugated small molecules and enhance (increase) the activity of the released drug through novel linker chemistries thereby significantly reducing the polymer-drug dose.

SynDevRx polymer drugs were compared to the small molecule fumagillol derivative, TNP-470, in vitro and in vivo. In metastases models, three different conjugates were identified that show comparable activity to TNP-470 at less than 10% of the TNP-470 dose (relative molar dosing). In an A549 lung cancer xenograft model, the same three conjugates showed better activity than TNP-470 at less than 10% of the TNP-470 dose (relative molar dosing) without any observed toxicities at these efficacious doses.  This demonstration of SynDevRx technology not only provides new, effective cancer therapeutics, but also exemplifies a better approach to polymer drug design.

Source: Xconomy

I’m extremely pleased to report that selected articles from Xconomy San Francisco are now appearing at The Bay Citizen, San Francisco’s nonprofit online news source. Under a partnership agreement worked out this month, The Bay Citizen will republish several Xconomy stories every week, bringing additional technology and business perspectives to to the startup publication’s already strong focus on local politics, arts, culture, and community.

Everyone knows that the news business is changing fast in the Internet age, and that journalists are having to adapt to find new ways to reach readers. But that doesn’t change the definition of good journalism, which you will find in abundance at The Bay Citizen. Through their coverage of pressing stories like the state budget crisis, the San Francisco mayor’s race, medical marijuana, and the Mehserle case, the publication’s lean and mean staff of 15 editors, writers, reporters, and interns are showing why journalism still matters to local communities. The team is loaded with people who have deep institutional knowledge of California and of journalism, learned at places like The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, NPR, and Salon. Read more here. 

Source: Technology Review

Adding carbon-capture technology to a conventional coal plant can nearly double the price of the electricity it produces. This fact represents one of the big obstacles to passing legislation to regulate carbon-dioxide emissions. Now researchers at Codexis, based in Redwood City, CA, are using genetically engineered enzymes to make carbon-dioxide capture less expensive--their method could increase electricity costs by less than a third. Read more here. 

Source:Bloomberg Businessweek

Research organisations, universities, and industry will receive a sum of €6.4 billion next year in the European Commission's largest ever allocation for research and innovation.

Research commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said on Monday (19 July) when presenting the plan that around 16,000 participants, including about 3,000 small and medium businesses, will receive funding.

"The investment I am announcing today will create 165,000 jobs over the relatively short term and potentially many, many more over the long term," the commissioner told reporters. Read more here. 

Source: Bio International Convention

The 2010 BIO International Convention was a huge success - hosting a record-number of partnering meetings and highlighting a broad array of top-level speakers addressing critical global challenges and the top issues in biotech. The event drew 15,322 industry leaders from 49 states and 65 countries.

The full Convention program featured more than 125 breakout sessions across 17 tracks, addressing the latest scientific, policy and business opportunities and challenges facing the biotechnology industry today. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, former Vice President Al Gore and BIO President and CEO Jim Greenwood gave insightful keynote addresses. Other high-level speakers included Margaret Hamburg, MD, FDA Commissioner; Roger Beachy, Chief Scientist for the US Department of Agriculture and Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United State Patent and Trademark Office. Read more here. 

Source: MHT

When Ron Rieder heard this week that his five-person biotech company would get just under $2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he was elated and relieved. “We were stuck. I hate to use this term, but we were really in the valley of death,” said Rieder, the founder of Woburn-based BioSense Technologies. “The viability of the company was in question.” Read more here. 

Source: Xconomy

For startup biotech companies, there are many benefits to licensing drug candidates to major drug developers. Partners can be an excellent source of non-dilutive financing, provide the company with validation, and ensure that the drug candidate will have the support it needs to reach the marketplace. However, it is important for biotech entrepreneurs to avoid getting so focused on partnerships that they fail to fully develop a drug that’s wholly-owned. Read more here. 

Source: Xconomy

Not everyone understands the way that new medical treatments, diagnostics, medicines, therapies and the like are created. It’s a long, expensive process, mostly the realm of scientists and engineers. But anyone who’s ever been concerned about a sick family member, or a loved one succumbing to disease, can appreciate what these scientists and their discoveries have done to improve health prospects for all of us. Read more here.