Biotech Blog

Biotech Blog Archives: October 2007

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29 October 2007

Happy 25th, Humulin

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the FDA’s approval of the first drug produced by biotechnology, Genentech’s Humulin. I often use Humulin as a case study for biotechnology, because Genentech’s bacterial-fermentation approach to making insulin was revolutionary compared to the previous methods of harvesting insulin from pig pancreas.
Thanks for OpenMarket for reminding me of this [...]

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25 October 2007

Exubera: The road to hell is paved with good intentions

I’ve been waiting to write up the Exubera story for the next edition of Building Biotechnology, and the story just keeps getting better.
Exubera is was Pfizer’s innovative answer to the diabetes drug market. The market is so saturated with competitive products, that the only way to capture significant market share is to innovate. Either produce [...]

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22 October 2007

Biotech for Turkey

I’ll be speaking at the Biotech for Turkey conference in Istanbul on November 7th. This conference, convened by Bosfor Biotech Partners, will cover global biotechnology strategies and developments in Turkey. For more details, contact Bosfor Biotech at the URL above or browse the conference schedule: Biotech for Turkey

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10 October 2007

Journal of Commercial Biotechnology

A new issue of the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology has just been posted. Drop me a line if you would like to make a submission.
Volume 13, Issue 4

Is ‘evergreening’ a cause for concern? A legal perspective
Scott Parker and Kevin Mooney
Exploiting the business opportunities in biotech connections: The power of social networks
Ian P McCarthy, Leyland Pitt, [...]

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8 October 2007

Pharma to support the international space station?

Wired has an article on the potential for the pharmaceutical industry to support the international space station, using the microgravity environment to grow better quality crystals than can be grown on earth, in less time.
Protein crystals can be used to improve drug discovery, but the distance from crystal to drug is very long. Much time [...]