By SVM | Published:
July 1, 2009
We’ve seen a lot of ink dedicated to cloud computing in the life sciences press over the past six months, so it seems like it is past time to acknowledge the buzz and take a closer look at some of the issues surrounding this latest movement. Genome Technology’s overview of the trend, published today on GenomeWeb, offers a good overview for those new to the cloud game, and an insightful profile of the state of life science adoption.
The possibilities indeed appear to be endless: high-grade computing power for next-generation genome sequencing, simulation research, and other computations is often difficult – and expensive – to maintain, and capacity issues can be a problem for big projects. The value of cloud computing in bringing HPC power to every researcher on demand may indeed prove to be industry-changing for R&D.
Yet, for all the talking, so far there is not a whole lot of doing on the part of the big pharmas. While several software companies have developed cloud solutions in anticipation of their utilization in the life sciences, the pharma industry itself isn’t quite there yet. We’ve got a solid grip on the cloud computing world thanks to working with high-tech clients in other industries, and we know change is always slow to come in biopharm. The word is out, but it looks like it may be a while yet before bioinformatics and pharmaceuticals come together for real change.
http://www.genomeweb.com/informatics/cloudy-chance-hpc
By SVM | Published:
June 30, 2009
Network World yesterday broke some really fascinating news out of Japan: namely, that researchers at Toyota (yes, the car manufacturer) and others have developed a brain-machine interface (BMI) system that allows wheelchair-bound patients control of their transportation through their thoughts.
Researchers claim that the system processes brain thought patterns and can translate them into movement in a fraction of a second. (Right now, they say the delay is as short as one-thousandth of a second.) It uses electroencephalography data (extra points for anyone who knows what exactly that is!), gathered from sensors in the areas of the brain that handle motor movement, to measure the electrical activity and then interpret the measurements to control the chair. So cool!
Earlier this year, researchers at Honda also announced the successful development of a BMI system that allows a person to control a robot through thought alone, but so far most attempts around the world have been unable to progress much beyond the buzz. Are we to dare to dream these are for real?
Stay tuned:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/062909-toyota-research-achieves-brain-control.html?page=1
By SVM | Published:
June 29, 2009
FierceBiotech today released its annual Fierce 15 list of the top fifteen emerging biotech companies, and editor John Carroll’s commentary on this year’s selection process was a bit surprising. In contrast to his initial fear, he says it was unexpectedly easy to find the top outfits, even given the rather disheartening state of the industry as a whole.
Interestingly enough, this year’s list also includes a list of the venture organizations backing the candidates. Despite the downturn in investment in industries across the board, venture capital is still the primary source of funding for up-and-coming biotech firms, and every company on the list has received VC money.
Check out some of the cool companies on the list: everything from vaccine developer VaxInnate to San Francisco-based Achaogen, which is working on a new generation of antibiotics.
http://www.fiercebiotech.com/special-reports/fiercebiotechs-2009-fierce-15?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
By SVM | Published:
June 24, 2009
News about medical imaging seems to be on the rise. As noted in one of our posts last week, Congress recently sent a bipartisan letter to the president urging continued support for policies that promote medical imaging. And this week medical imaging is making headlines again with news of a new biomarker for predicting responses to brain tumor therapy. According to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), a phase II study was conducted to analyze responses to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy. Using MRI to scan the brains of patients with malignant brain tumors, researchers were able to identify the effectiveness of an experimental drug called Cediranib by measuring vascular normalization.
The results, which were published in Cancer Research, showed that people with a greater degree of vascular normalization had longer overall survival and longer progression-free survival.
“Combining MRI with blood biomarkers did an even better job of identifying patients who best responded to treatment,” said Dr. A. Gregory Sorensen, an associate professor of radiology and health sciences and technology at Harvard Medical School and MGH.
For more on this story, visit the American Association for Cancer Research.
By SVM | Published:
June 16, 2009
More imaging news today: as the Obama administration works toward revamping the healthcare system and momentum continues to build, a new bipartisan letter from 57 members of Congress today went to the President expounding on the benefits of medical imaging. Inside, they claimed that each $1 spent on imaging services correlates to approximately $3 in total healthcare savings, and urged the President to continue to support policies that promote imaging.
Our experience with clinical trial imaging has made its cost-effective and diagnostic value abundantly clear. In fact, it is rather difficult to argue otherwise when given all of the facts. And clinical outcomes aside, imaging can be a far less expensive means of patient diagnosis in instances where invasive surgery or other similar costly procedures were previously the only options. More sophisticated tools are helping improve reader accuracy and precision, and even though we know there must be plenty of lobbyists working around the clock to fill policymakers’ ears with a lot of trumped-up talk, this is at least one instance in which they should be listening.
Here’s to hoping Obama’s doing exactly that:
http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=17762
By SVM | Published:
June 15, 2009
The Wall Street Journal published an alternative view of the ramifications of the auto industry meltdown today with a look at suppliers diversifying into new markets in the hopes of maintaining revenue. And in some cases, this means medical devices. We’ve had the opportunity to get our hands on a few different research reports and industry economic analyses over the past few months, and medical devices and instrumentation are a consistent fixture on the small list of industries poised for continued growth (or at least steady survival) even though the current recession.
The WSJ highlights a few specific examples of these companies, most notably Michigan-based plastics company WJG Enterprise Co., which recently moved into making plastics for medical devices, including pieces used on X-ray machines and MRI equipment; and Abbott Workholding Products Inc., previous developer of industrial tools for the auto industry which now makes tools used to craft artificial knees and bone reinforcements.
To be sure, the WSJ notes that not all companies will be able to make the switch to a new market, and even fewer will have the infrastructure and agility to survive if they do. The medical device sector certainly isn’t immune to the economic downturn, even if it is one of the markets better insulated from recent events. But given both our expertise in high-tech and our increasing experience in the medical device industry, it seems like a really cool opportunity to have the chance to work for one of these reinventors at work. Re-branding an assembly line-efficiency as a “cost-saving quality measure” presents an interesting challenge, no?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124502111491313723.html
By SVM | Published:
June 9, 2009
Arizona-based MedApps late last week announced FDA approval of its HealthPAL wireless remote monitoring system. Designed to link patients with their doctors more efficiently through convenient and timely transmission of personal health data, HealthPAL is a portable personal health device that collects readings from glucose meters, blood pressure monitors, weight scales and pulse oximeters, and then transmits it over a secure server to an online electronic personal health record (Microsoft’s HealthVault, Google Health, etc.), physicians, or the patients themselves for viewing.
Only the size of a cell phone, the HealthPAL device is, according to MedApps, very easy to set up. And automated reading and data transmission functions require next to no effort on the part of the patient, which the company says should improve patient compliance. The idea is not only to offer healthcare professionals the opportunity to monitor patient conditions, but to allow patients themselves to take a more active role in their own health management. Plus, MedApps says it will help physicians manage diseases at an earlier stage when associated expenses are lower. And judging by the current state of our healthcare system, reduced costs are a benefit all the way around.
Another cool (and portable!) idea. Check out more from mobihealthnews here:
http://mobihealthnews.com/2564/fda-approves-medapps-wireless-remote-monitoring/#more-2564
By SVM | Published:
June 8, 2009
A Cambridge-based biopharma, developing a revolutionary class of drugs called Stapled Peptides, received some major backing from big pharma today. Fierce Biotech reported that Aileron Therapeutics landed $40 million in Series D funding from the venture arms of four of the world’s biggest pharma companies, including SR One (the corporate venture fund of GlaxoSmithKline), Novartis Venture Fund, Lilly Ventures, and Roche Venture Fund. This bring its total funding to date to $60 million, $10 million of which was just announced in April.
Aileron claims that its new class of drugs represents the first general solution for modulating intracellular protein-protein interactions, which have been identified as critical control points for most human diseases. Its “new therapeutic modality creates a unique opportunity to exploit potentially thousands of currently ‘undruggable’ targets with applications in all human diseases.”
Aileron CEO Joseph A. Yanchik states, “We have now demonstrated, in multiple pre-clinical studies, the powerful potential that Stapled Peptides represents in the treatment of cancer, and our progress highlighting the applicability of Stapled Peptides to a wide variety of diseases is what catalyzed the excitement and success of this financing round.”
According to the company press release, the new funds will be used to advance its Stapled Peptide program toward clinical trials in 2010 and to further advance the Stapled Peptide platform and programs in oncology, immune/inflammation, metabolic disease, and infectious disease.
For more, read http://www.aileronrx.com/index.php or http://www.fiercebiotech.com/story/big-pharma-venture-groups-join-40m-aileron-round/2009-06-08?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal.
By SVM | Published:
June 5, 2009
Newton, MA-based Life Image Inc. landed in the news this week for a $2.2 million round of funding as reported by Mass High Tech. The company calls itself the “Universal Imaging Inbox” on its website, and it certainly doesn’t look too hard to understand the value of its technology. The startup’s web-based applications and services designed to build an infrastructure for sharing medical imaging data make it easier to access patients’ medical imaging histories and help cut into the $10-15 billion wasted every year on redundant radiological exams.
Life Image intends to develop a universal inbox of sorts, which will house imaging data and can be accessed by physicians on their own networks, or in a cloud. Our experience with imaging in the clinical trial world has opened our eyes to the lack of sufficient data transmission systems for medical images in the pharma space, and it is interesting to see that the same problem lives on the diagnostic side of the fence, too. Not sure how far away from market this technology is, but $15 billion in healthcare savings can’t come soon enough…
Read more at www.lifeimage.com or http://www.masshightech.com/stories/2009/06/01/daily39-Life-Image-lands-2M-for-medical-imaging.html.
By SVM | Published:
June 4, 2009
Everyone likes a great idea, and some have more resources to foster them than others. In a move that pits big business against academia which he termed prone to “academic snobbery”, GlaxoSmithKline Chief Executive Andrew Witty said this week that the company is considering adding new facilities at its main research sites aimed at helping small biotechnology companies develop new drugs.
According to coverage by The News & Observer in Raleigh, NC, Witty spoke at the International Association of Science Parks conference (held there this week ) where he said that by connecting promising startup companies to GSK operations, the British drugmaker could lend its expertise, resources and lab space to “accelerate new technologies into a breakthrough.” In exchange, GSK would be able to bolster its business with new medicines. He went on to say “Startups could co-locate with us and create a new type of foundation for discovery” and (ostensibly) the environment will rival the academic institutions where many innovations are traditionally fostered. Add GSK’s deep pockets (even if self-serving) and we may see some acceleration in the advancement of new therapeutics emanating from these new collaborations – a result that benefits us all!