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Sunday, September 21, 2008

E.D. Drugs Causing Amnesia?

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) has received a contract from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for over $24.3 million to fund the further development of Emergent’s anthrax monoclonal antibody AVP-21D9.

This contract will be jointly administered through the Office of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (part of the National Institutes of Health).

The life of this contracts is four years and is to provide funding for scale-up of the manufacturing process, for non-clinical studies, and for a Phase I clinical trial.

Emergent noted in the release that it anticipates that it will receive approximately $20 million over the first two contract years in support of the scale-up of the manufacturing process and the completion of a Phase I clinical trial. The company also expects to focus on completing certain non-clinical studies during the final two years of the contract.

For a drug company or biotech stock, this one is still rather small with a $405 million market cap. At $13.60, the stock is toward the higher end of the $4.40 to $14.39 trading range of the last year.

Jon C. Ogg
September 3, 2008

Small Player Joins Government Anthrax Fight (EBS)

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE:EBS) has received a contract from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for over $24.3 million to fund the further development of Emergent’s anthrax monoclonal antibody AVP-21D9.

This contract will be jointly administered through the Office of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (part of the National Institutes of Health).

The life of this contracts is four years and is to provide funding for scale-up of the manufacturing process, for non-clinical studies, and for a Phase I clinical trial.

Emergent noted in the release that it anticipates that it will receive approximately $20 million over the first two contract years in support of the scale-up of the manufacturing process and the completion of a Phase I clinical trial. The company also expects to focus on completing certain non-clinical studies during the final two years of the contract.

For a drug company or biotech stock, this one is still rather small with a $405 million market cap. At $13.60, the stock is toward the higher end of the $4.40 to $14.39 trading range of the last year.

Jon C. Ogg
September 3, 2008

The Future Of Biotechnology Jobs In The UK

Science and technology have become fused in many ways throughout the United Kingdom. Medical technology has advanced immeasurably, applying electronics and computing to assist in many forms of diagnostic equipment and tests. Pharmaceutical companies facilitate their ability to compete in a difficult global marketplace by investing in mobile computers and PDAs for personnel in order to enable them to carry full information and present their product lines. Chemical engineering departments throughout the UK are utilising highly advanced equipment, often linked to computer technology, in the course of their work. One result of this growth in the application of technology , in particular for medical science, is the creation of a vibrant biotechnology job market in the UK.

Biotechnology may be regarded as the combination of technology and living organisms in the interest of scientific endeavour and advancement. The efforts mentioned above are only a few examples of the jobs available to graduates interested in this burgeoning field. The biotechnology job market, however, is a difficult one to assess for young professionals since it is a relatively new field in the private sector. However, an astute biotechnology engineer or consultant may appraise job prospects by looking at three key branches of this scientific field.

Red biotechnological endeavours are those that involve the medical profession. These scientific efforts have produced amazing results, including advancement in the use of living organisms to create antibodies and the generation of new vaccines. The medical profession is grappling with the ethics of certain aspects of biotechnology, including manipulation of genes by powerful computer-aided operations. However, professionals with a medical background and an understanding of information technology will be able to take advantage of the fact that red biotechnology will expand further in the future.

Many manufacturers and industrial facilities are beginning to utilise gray biotechnology in order to cut overhead costs and improve environmental protection. Gray biotechnological professionals, like chemical and production engineers, look to the enhanced use of living organisms to make processes easier and more acceptable. Facilities that treat sewage and water, for example, can use certain bacteria in the filtration process to eliminate harmful organisms before they reach the public. These positions are perhaps the most prevalent in the United Kingdom and biotech professionals interested in this field may benefit accordingly.

Green biotechnology, which provides assistance to farms and agricultural businesses, is a specific aspect of this scientific field. Biotechnology used on the farm includes the creation of plants that can endure a variety of meteorological conditions and the use of treatment options on products to be sold for public consumption. Agricultural jobs are at a premium in the United Kingdom but biotech professionals with a background in agriculture are usually assured of long term career success. Leading stores and other food providers rely on green biotechnology for the consistency of many of their food products

Private-Public Sector Partnership Necessary in Biotechnology Research

There are very interesting developments in the field of agricultural biotechnology currently taking place in India.

The Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (Mahyco) has offered to transfer the technology and basic breeding material of Bt Brinjal, a low calorie vegetable widely grown in India, to two public sector institutions; The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore (TNAU) and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (UASD).

The public sector institutions will not pay any royalty as long as they don’t commercialize the genetically modified Brinjal. This is a very unusual, but highly significant gesture.

Private seed companies, especially in the field of biotechnology, are not known to freely share innovational information with public organizations. They keep such information under a lock and key for fear of patent infringement. While this is understandable, it has fueled animosity and suspicions among scientists working in public institutions, especially in developing countries.

Obviously, no company would be willing to invest billions of dollars to develop new seed varieties only for an armchair scientist to copy cat them. But the need to safeguard proprietary information shouldn’t override the desire for seed companies to partner with public institutions. Doing so will deny the anti-biotech crowd a chance to characterize biotech companies as selfish and secretive.

Mahyco has set a good example that all biotechnology seed companies should follow. Biotech companies stand to benefit if they open their doors wider to public institutions. This is especially critical in Africa where genetically modified crops are yet to make major inroads.

It can’t be gainsaid that there is already such partnership going on in Africa. In Kenya, for example, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) is working closely with biotech seed companies in the development of genetically modified maize resistant to stem borers. But more such partnership is needed to accelerate the adoption of genetically modified crops in developing countries.

Biotech Industry

The UN convention on Biological Diversity has defined Biotechnology as "'Biotechnology' means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use".

Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary subject. The European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB) considers biotechnology as 'the integration of natural sciences and organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services.' As we have seen from the definition of Biotechnology, it spreads over a wide spectrum of technologies. The key constituents of Biotechnology are: Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Genetics, Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular and cell Biology, Human, Animal and Plant Physiology. Biotech industry now has almost captured every sphere of human life. The industry segment is vast. To find the key trends of the industry and the market segment it covers, I will give a broad spectrum of applications of Biotechnology and its market segment. Bioprocess Technology: Better know as fermentation technology. Traditional forms of bioprocess technology related to food and beverages, but new products are increasingly being derived from microbial and mammalian fermentations. Bioprocess technology is increasingly using cells derived from higher plants and animals to produce many important products, foods and beverages. Enzyme Technology: Food production and preservation, improvement of the environment, and other medical sectors. Waste Technology: Biotechnologyis used to produce Single cell protein (SCP) from organic wastes. SCP is used as protein supplement for animals and human. The waste technology is also supplementary to Environmental and Energy Technology, giving rapid progress in these two segments. Environmental Technology; Waste water and sewerage treatment, Landfill technologies, composting, bioremediation, Detection and monitoring pollutants, microbes and geological environment, environmental sustainability and clean technology. Resources Technology: The use of biomass as a source of energy supplements the use of fossil fuel. Plant, animal, agriculture: Plant Biotechnology, Improved varieties of agricultural products using tissue culture, improved resistance to specific herbicides, improved resistance to insects, pests and microbial diseases, improved post harvest characteristics, production of high values oil products, forest biotechnology, biological control, animal biotechnology, genetic engineering for transgenic animals, genetically engineered hormones and vaccines, animal organs for human patients, diagnostic in agriculture, genetically developed seeds, Health care: New products based on biotechnology are appearing almost daily in the market place, These includes therapeutic products, pre-natal diagnosis of genetic diseases, vaccines, immunodiagnostic and DNA probe of disease identification, and genetic therapy. The use of Antibiotics, Vaccines and monoclonal antibodies, Biopharmaceuticals, insulin, somatostain, interferons, lympokines, Gene therapy are giving new impetus to fight the diseases like AIDS, cancer etc. This is one of the most important segments of market, where Biotechnology is going to take over completely. Crime detection and identity verification: This segment deals with use of genetics for crime detection. Metal recovery; Genetically designed microbes are used in the process of extracting oil from ground and metals from factory waste. Today Biotech industry has penetrated in every sphere of human life. While looking into the market segment and key trend in Biotech industry, we need to consider another factor of the use of Biotechnology, which is gaining momentum over the years, i.e. ethical questions arising out of use of Biotechnology. There is a group of population, who are against use of genetically developed fruits and vegetables. There is going to be an influence of this sentiment in deriving the market segment of Biotech industry. However the positive use of Biotechnology too great, and we can look forward for new additions of Products and Services using Biotechnology.

BioTechnology

RNA genes (sometimes referred to as non-coding RNA or small RNA) are genes that encode RNA that is not translated into a protein. The most prominent examples of RNA genes are transfer RNA (tRNA) and ribosomal RNA (rRNA), both of which are involved in the process of translation. However, since the late 1990s, many new RNA genes have been found, and thus RNA genes may play a much more significant role than previously thought. In the late 1990s and early 2000, there has been persistent evidence of more complex transcription occurring in mammalian cells (and possibly others). This could point towards a more widespread use of RNA in biology, particularly in gene regulation. A particular class of non-coding RNA, micro RNA, has been found in many metazoans (from Caenorhabditis elegans to Homo sapiens) and clearly plays an important role in regulating other genes. First proposed in 2004 by Rassoulzadegan and published in Nature 2006,[2] RNA is implicated as being part of the germline. If confirmed, this result would significantly alter the present understanding of genetics and lead to many question on DNA-RNA roles and interactions.RNA Deatiles,ScienceRibonucleic acid (RNA) is a nucleic acid polymer consisting of nucleotide monomers, that acts as a messenger between DNA and ribosomes, and that is also responsible for making proteins out of amino acids. RNA polynucleotides contain ribose sugars and predominantly uracil unlike deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which contains deoxyribose and predominantly thymine. It is transcribed (synthesized) from DNA by enzymes called RNA polymerases and further processed by other enzymes. RNA serves as the template for translation of genes into proteins, transferring amino acids to the ribosome to form proteins, and also translating the transcript into proteins. Nucleic acids were discovered in 1868 (some sources indicate 1869) by Johann Friedrich Miescher (1844-1895), who called the material 'nuclein' since it was found in the nucleus. It was later discovered that prokaryotic cells, which do not have a nucleus, also contain nucleic acids. The role of RNA in protein synthesis had been suspected since 1939, based on experiments carried out by Torbjörn Caspersson, Jean Brachet and Jack Schultz. Hubert Chantrenne elucidated the messenger role played by RNA in the synthesis of proteins in ribosome. The sequence of the 77 nucleotides of a yeast RNA was found by Robert W. Holley in 1964, winning Holley the 1968 Nobel Prize for Medicine. In 1976, Walter Fiers and his team at the University of Ghent determined the complete nucleotide sequenceDNA Bases Bio TechnologyDeoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA is a nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all living organisms. The main role of DNA is the long-term storage of information and it is often compared to a set of blueprints, since DNA contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information. Chemically, DNA is a long polymer of simple units called nucleotides, which are held together by a backbone made of alternating sugars and phosphate groups. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription. Most of these RNA molecules are used to synthesize proteins, but others are used directly in structures such as ribosomes and spliceosomes. Within cells, DNA is organized into structures called chromosomes and the set of chromosomes within a cell make up a genome. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms such as animals, plants, and fungi store their DNA inside the cell nucleus, while in prokaryotes such as bacteria it is found in the cell's cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA, which helps control its interactions with other proteins and thereby control which genes are transcribedBiotechnology IndroductionThe convention recognized for the first time in international law that the conservation of biological diversity is "a common concern of humankind" and is an integral part of the development process. The agreement covers all ecosystems, species, and genetic resources. It links traditional conservation efforts to the economic goal of using biological resources sustainably. It sets principles for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, notably those destined for commercial use. It also covers the rapidly expanding field of biotechnology through its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, addressing technology development and transfer, benefit-sharing and biosafety issues. Importantly, the Convention is legally binding; countries that join it('Parties') are obliged to implement its provisions.Apply Bio Technology,ScienceThe convention reminds decision-makers that natural resources are not infinite and sets out a philosophy of sustainable use. While past conservation efforts were aimed at protecting particular species and habitats, the Convention recognizes that ecosystems, species and genes must be used for the benefit of humans. However, this should be done in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity The convention also offers decision-makers guidance based on the precautionary principle that where there is a threat of significant reduction or loss of biological diversity, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to avoid or minimize such a threat. The Convention acknowledges that substantial investments are required to conserve biological diversity. It argues, however, that conservation will bring us significant environmental, economic and social benefits in return.In this situation, your range of choices is very broad and many packages will meet these limited