Biotech Leads VC Investments in 1st Q

Biotech leads but overall investments down so far in 2008.

1Q venture capital investments dip 5 percent to $7.1B

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE – 2 days ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Venture capital investments in the United States dipped 5 percent to $7.1 billion during the first quarter compared to 2007, signaling the financing climate may be turning frostier for entrepreneurs as the slumping economy makes it more difficult for startups to go public or sell to a larger company.

This was the first year-over-year decline in the venture capital industry's quarterly investments since the end of 2005, based on data to be released Monday by the National Venture Capital Association, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Thomson Reuters.

In last year's first quarter, venture capitalists invested $7.5 billion.

Despite the decline, the $7.1 billion invested during this year's first quarter was the fifth-largest amount in a single quarter since 2001.

Although there were fewer dollars disbursed by venture capitalists, more deals got done in this year's first quarter than last year's — a total of 922 compared with 861 last year.

The first quarter's smaller average deal size — $7.7 million, down from $8.8 million — could mean the entrepreneurs whose ideas were funded didn't need as much money or it could reflect greater caution among venture capitalists.

For now, industry officials are confident investment will pick up in the months ahead. The January-March period usually is the slowest time of the year for venture capital deals.

"We do not expect to see significant declines in investment levels in the coming year," said Mark Heesen, president of the National Venture Capital Association.

Because they expect to have to nurture startups for three to five years, venture capitalists generally aren't as worried about short-term economic turbulence as many other classes of investors are, said Nina Saberi, managing general partner of Castile Ventures in Waltham, Mass.

"The effect (of a poor economy) is milder than you might imagine," she said.

But the enthusiasm of venture capitalists could still be dampened, especially if they continue to have as much trouble cashing out of their investments as they did in the first quarter this year.

Only 56 venture-backed startups were sold during the first three months of the year, the lowest volume in a decade.

Making an initial public offering of stock proved to be even more daunting than selling a startup, with just five venture-backed companies making their market debuts in the quarter.

That's a potential problem because venture capitalists count on IPOs and buyouts to make money off their investments. If those exits remain closed, venture capitalists may become more likely to hold off on locking up more of their funds until they see signs of a turnaround.

"We are not completely immune from the rest of the world," said venture capitalist James Thomas of Thomas, McNerney & Partners in Stamford, Conn.

For now, venture capitalists still have plenty of money to throw around, having raised $6.3 billion for future investments in the first quarter. They hauled in nearly $68 billion during 2006 and 2007 combined.

As usual, in the first quarter, venture capitalists put most of their money into the technology sector. Internet companies attracted $1.31 billion, an uptick from $1.29 billion in the same period last year. Venture capitalists have invested at least $1 billion in Internet startups in six of the last seven quarters.

Biotechnology picked up $1.27 billion in venture capital in the first quarter, a 17 percent declined from $1.53 billion last year. Venture capitalists have invested at least $1 billion in the biotech sector for eight consecutive quarters.

Kansas to Cut Life Science Funding

From the Kansas City paper:

Posted on Mon, Apr. 14, 2008
State funding for life sciences could be cut
By JASON GERTZEN
The Kansas City Star
Missouri’s life sciences community took a step forward last year, but now leaders fear it is about to retreat.
State lawmakers a few years ago agreed to set aside up to tens of millions of dollars annually for life sciences from Missouri’s share of a nationwide settlement with tobacco companies.

Last year Missouri distributed about $13 million to a variety of research projects, including several in the Kansas City area.

The latest word from Jefferson City is that the amount could be cut almost in half this year. The Missouri Senate is to consider, possibly as soon as this week, a budget committee recommendation to provide only $7.6 million for the program, said Kelly Gillespie, executive director of the Missouri Biotechnology Association.

“To get it done in the first place was a fight,” Gillespie said. “Now our fight is about the money. Why would they be cutting life sciences funding after the first year’s program went so well?”

Biotechnology leaders, including dozens of CEOs and leading scientists who visited the statehouse to meet with Missouri General Assembly members last week, were told that a tight state budget was one reason for the possible funding decline, Gillespie said.

Missouri’s perennial conflict over embryonic stem cell research also appears to be playing a role. Missouri Right to Life has been raising questions about whether the program could be “opening the door” to state funding of embryonic stem cell research, which the organization opposes.

When state officials created the Missouri Life Sciences Research Trust Fund, the idea was to expand research and reinforce the state’s status as a hub producing medical advances and scientific breakthroughs.

Devoting the full amount of funding initially proposed would pump more than $30 million into the program.

That falls short of the annual investment coming from other states. In Kansas, nearly $600 million could be pumped into life sciences over a decade.

Although $13 million a year falls short of the investment seen in other states, it is enough to make a notable difference over time, Gillespie said.

“If you add up 10 years of investments, it does get to a substantial amount of money in building the state’s research capacity,” Gillespie said.

The proposed drop to $7.6 million is even more troubling to Missouri biotechnology executives because the House proposed funding the program with $25 million, said Bill Duncan, president of the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute.

“That would allow us to start building infrastructure around the state so we could compete nationally and internationally,” Duncan said.

In the last round of the program, Kansas City received nearly $3 million, which went to projects such as those at the University of Missouri–Kansas City to address livestock diseases, the development of a new cement for fractured bones and a new eye treatment.

Duncan and others are optimistic that state officials eventually will direct the $25 million to the program recommended by the House. The emergence of the much lower $7 million proposal, however, is hindering those trying to persuade executives, scientists and others in the biotechnology industry that Missouri is a good place to pursue their vocation, Duncan said.

“That doesn’t send a strong signal to the life science industry statewide that the state is really serious about this,” Duncan said.

Biogen-Idec Faces off Against Icahn

From FierceBiotech and the WSJ:

The war between Biogen Idec and Wall Street raider Carl Icahn is heating up. The Boston-based biotech has rejected Icahn's nominees for the board of directors and is putting up a slate of its own candidates. And a spokesperson says it all comes down to Icahn's tunnel vision on selling the company.

"In the end," she tells the Wall Street Journal, "the board decided that Mr. Icahn's slate is pledged to a single-minded agenda to sell the company. Such a singular focus represents a risk to driving future value that would not be in the interest of all shareholders."

Last fall Biogen Idec put itself up on the auction block, only to step back down after failing to get an offer acceptable to the CEO and the board. Icahn isn't having any of that, though. He's already filed suit over the failed sale and has been hammering Biogen Idec to get back on the sales block.

- read the article in the Wall Street Journal

Virginia Biotech Association Awards at 2008 Science Fair

 
The Virginia Biotechnology Association presented awards at the 2008 Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair on Saturday, April 12, 2008, at George Mason University in Fairfax. The volunteer judges studied the abstracts prior to their arrival at the Fair and then voted on the top six projects to interview one-on-one.

After talking with each of the students, the judges made their final selections:

First Place: Erin Kim, 11th Grade
“Engineering of Stayphylococcus aureus Sortase A to improve protein detection and localization” (13005)
Category: Biochemistry
Region: Mathematics and Science High School, Clover Hill, Richmond

Erin also won second place overall for biochemistry.

Second Place: Hannah Meredith, 12th Grade
“A Wound with no Scar: Perfecting the Wound Healing Process” (19004)
Category: Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering
Region: Mathematics and Science High School, Clover Hill, Richmond

Hannah also won first place overall for engineering and biomaterials plus awards from the U.S. Army and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Third Place: Arun Dutta, 9th Grade
“An Inhibitor for Cells' Response To DNA Damage” (14001)
Category: Cellular and Molecular Biology
Region: Western Albemarle High School, Charlottesville

Arun also won second place overall for cellular and microbiology.

Thank you to our VaBIO Judges:
J. Patrick Vandersluis (chair), CEO, HealthRX
Jeff Conroy, CEO, Adjuvant
Matt Latimer, Partner, Latimer, Mayberry & Matthews IP Law, LLP
Mark Herzog, Executive Director, Virginia Biotechnology Association
Marshall Ferrin, Director, International Business Development, George Mason University
Nasir U. Ahmed, EE Technologist, Janelia Campus, HHMI
Gary Fletcher, Executive Director, Chesapeake Bioscience Education Foundation

Slide Show:

08 Science Fair: 1st Place for Biotechnology

 
First Place: Erin Kim, 11th Grade
“Engineering of Stayphylococcus aureus Sortase A to improve protein detection and localization” (13005)
Category: Biochemistry
Region: Mathematics and Science High School, Clover Hill, Richmond

Abstract: Proteins serve as catalysts that maintain metabolic processes in the cell. Because of its important roles, new methods to characterize protein localization and trafficking are required to better understand the many complex regulatory pathways. Current technologies rely heavily upon Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), a bulky fluorescent protein with a propensity to polymerize within a cell, and a chemical coloring method which chemically dyes the proteins. However, these two primary methods have problems: GFP is limited in its utility because of its size, which interferes with proteins’ regular movement or pathways, and the chemical coloring method lacks specificity because it labels all proteins. In this experiment, the researcher alternatively combined a fluorescent substrate with Staphylococcus aureus Sortase A (Srt A) to create a better tool for protein detection and localization. The results showed that Srt A with fluorescent substrate could be used as a protein marker. However, in vitro studies using the preferred fluorescent substrate have verified limited use of Srt A. To increase Srt A’s efficiency, it was put into successful rounds of mutagenesis. Error prone PCR was used to create random mutagenesis and it will allow the researcher to screen for active mutated enzyme with the researcher’s desired specificity and properties. The result from the experiment will provide researchers with a better tool in which to study any protein of interest when tagged with the specificity marker.

08 Science Fair: 2nd Place for Biotechnology

 
Second Place: Hannah Meredith, 12th Grade
“A Wound with no Scar: Perfecting the Wound Healing Process” (19004)
Category: Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering
Region: Mathematics and Science High School, Clover Hill, Richmond

Abstract: The formation of a scar following tissue damage may not only be unsightly, but may also result in tissue that is limited in structure and function. Consequently, a number of studies have been aimed at developing a tissue-engineered scaffold using synthetic and/or natural polymers that would aid wound healing and prevent scar tissue formation. However, scaffolds constructed from synthetic polymers (such as polydioxane) tended to be strong, but not biocompatible, whereas a scaffold constructed from natural polymers (such as gelatin) tended to be biocompatible, but not as strong. The present study tested the performance of a novel material, placental extract, which is notoriously rich in extracellular matrix components (which provide strength) and nutrients (which promote cell growth and biocompatibility). It was hypothesized that a scaffold containing placental extract would withstand normal physical manipulation and would function as a highly efficient platform for cell growth. In this experiment, three different scaffolds (placenta, gelatin or polydioxane) were electrospun. The physical properties of each scaffold were tested, and results showed the placental extract scaffold could withstand normal physical manipulation as well as the other scaffolds. The scaffolds were tested to determine how each would perform as a platform for cell growth by observing the reaction of cardiac fibroblasts on the scaffolds. The placental extract scaffold supported cell growth the best, as indicated by the extent of cell migration. The results suggest that placental extract is a potential material for constructing the ideal engineered tissue to promote wound healing and prevent scar tissue formation.

08 Science Fair: 3rd Place for Biotechnology

 
Third Place: Arun Dutta, 9th Grade
“An Inhibitor for Cells' Response To DNA Damage” (14001)
Category: Cellular and Molecular Biology
Region: Western Albemarle High School, Charlottesville

Abstract: When a cancer is treated with radiation, the radiation cuts through the cell’s DNA. The desired result is that the cell will replicate the damaged DNA and thus hurt the cancer. But a cellular complex called Tip60 helps repair the damage. Thus the cancer cells are not damaged. So, we must find some way to stop Tip60 from doing its job. This experiment tests two chemicals to see how well they inhibit Tip60 activity: anacardic acid and garcinol. These two chemicals are known to inhibit other Histone Acetyl Transferases (HATs), and we will first test if they inhibit Tip60 acetyl transferase activity. If they do so, then we will test whether together they inhibit Tip60 even more.
To measure Tip60 activity, we used an ELISA HAT assay. We chose this procedure because of its brief completion time (4-5 hours) and its ability to give results in numbers. First, histone peptide H4 in the wells was briefly acetylated with Tip60 enzyme with or without the chemicals. Acetylation was measured by the addition of anti-acetyl-Lysine and Goat Anti-Rabbit IgG-HRP conjugate. TMB substrate mixture was next added to the wells. After the reaction was stopped, absorbance was measured at 450 nm with a spectophotometer.

After testing, it was clear that anacardic acid and garcinol inhibit Tip60 with anacardic acid inhbiting more than garcinol does. Anacardic acid decreases Tip60 activity to 50% at a much lower concentration than garcinol. Both these chemicals have enormous potential for use in treating cancer with radiation.

VaBIO at BioEurope 08 in Madrid

 
About 1200 attendees participated at the 2008 BioEurope Spring meeting April 7-9 in Madrid, Spain. At least three Virginia companies were in attendance: Luna Innovations, Oxford Finance and the Virginia Biotechnology Association. VaBIO joined forces with our colleagues from Maryland to promote the 2008 Mid-Atlantic Bio event. About 20 convention attendees joined us for a reception at the Hotel Sofitel across the street from the Madrid Convention Center.

Plan to lure animal testing firm Covance has PETA growling

From the WBJ: Plan to lure animal testing firm Covance has PETA growling

In its plans to take over part of a plot vacated by Eli Lilly & Co. last year, Covance Inc. is bringing to Prince William County 450 jobs, $175 million in investments -- and the wrath of the country's leading animal activist group.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has been sending letters in recent weeks urging county and state officials to rescind the combined $3.7 million in incentives for Princeton, N.J.-based Covance, which plans to consolidate its Northern Virginia operations on 47 acres inside Innovation@Prince William Technology Park.

Norfolk, Va.-based PETA charges that Covance, a $1.5 billion research contractor whose work includes using animals to test potential drugs for biotech and pharmaceutical clients, is cruel to animals in its care. Covance counters that PETA's claims are part of a "campaign of distortion of facts."

PETA said if it does not get the response it is seeking, starting with a meeting with county and state officials, it plans to rally local supporters and protest the planned facility in full force.

"At that point, we'll think about mobilizing activists," said Alka Chandna, a senior researcher at PETA who penned the letters. "We think there are a lot of issues residents can get behind in going against Covance."

That may well be the outcome. County officials said they planned to respond this week with a single letter from the Board of Supervisors chairman, restating their support of Covance as a new entry to help fill out the area's life sciences community and repeating the company's claims that any prior citations regarding animal care have been resolved.

"These allegations have already been fully investigated by the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Food and Drug Administration, as [being] well addressed by Covance," said Mona Terrell, a spokeswoman for Covance, which describes the animal rights group as "extremists." "PETA's agenda is not solely against Covance, but against the use of animals in biomedical research and the development of life-saving and life-enhancing medicines generally."

But PETA, which fights the FDA on issues of animal testing separately, said its concerns are directed at Covance's treatment of animals in its lab.

In a packet of materials PETA said it sent to the county Economic Development Department, each supervisor and Gov. Tim Kaine's office, the group included video footage that a PETA member took after getting a job at Covance's facility in Vienna, which will shut down when the company moves its operations to Manassas.

The video was a result of the PETA investigator's work as a lab technician from April 2004 to March 2005.

"Employees habitually slapped monkeys, choked them, threw them against cages and shook them violently," wrote Chandna in one letter to Kaine that also alleged poor animal importing practices by Covance. "Many animals exhibited signs of severe psychological trauma -- circling frantically in their cages, pulling out their hair and biting their own flesh."

PETA turned over its findings in 2005 to the Agriculture Department, which began its second investigation in recent years of Covance that June. The first investigation, which was started in August 1999 after some rabbits died in transit to the company's labs, did not turn up any violations.

In March 2006, however, the Agriculture Department found enough evidence for a potential court case against Covance but offered the company a chance to pay $8,720 to settle and fix any rule violations, said Jim Rogers, a department spokesman. Covance paid the fine, and the department has not investigated since.

The Agriculture Department's annual inspections since 2001 have resulted in four raised flags, mostly in the company's Wisconsin location. Two, in 2003 and 2004, described damaged areas along the walls, peeling and chipped paint on support beams and the floor base in a room that housed monkeys, and a large hole in the floor in a room that housed dogs.

Those issues were corrected by April 2005. A 2006 inspection, the most recent available, asked for more detail about a company committee that oversees animal care in research institutions, information the Agriculture Department received by June 2006. Also that year, in the Vienna lab on Leesburg Pike, inspectors found wooden boards, which dogs used for resting, with chewed edges, causing sharp points. The company fixed the boards a month later in June 2006.

"We don't have any reason to not support their relocation to Prince William," said Liz Bahrns, a county government spokeswoman. "Covance has corrected its issues. It has paid its fines. It is in good standing with the federal government at this time."

The company arrived at the county as an economic development saviour of sorts, setting its flag down on a plot abandoned for 10 months after it was reserved for Eli Lilly.

After trumpeting plans in 2002 to build a manufacturing plant for 700 workers and make $450 million in investments, Eli Lilly abruptly canceled even scaled-down plans in January 2007. The remaining 73 acres of its former plot are still on the market, but this past November Covance took a large chunk that included the metal shell of the plant.

"Having them here substantiates our position as a life sciences community," said Jason Grant, a spokesman for the county's Economic Development Department.

In addition to adding new jobs and construction, Covance is estimated to ultimately bring $1.2 million annually to the county's coffers in property taxes. County officials forecast that in its first 10 years in operation, Covance will pay $8 million in taxes, minus the county's own $1 million incentive investment.

With Prince William County getting the brunt of the region's housing slump -- it saw a 30 percent drop in total dollar volume in housing sales in March compared with the previous year -- the county could use the boost in property taxes that Covance would deliver on otherwise unused land today.

But Chandna said that is a short-term view that ignores broader ethical concerns.

Bahrns said the county expected Covance's move to come with costs.

In November, Bahrns was in talks with her counterpart in Chandler, Ariz., where packed hearing rooms, picketing protesters, a lawsuit and up to 1,000 angry e-mails a week illustrated the opposition by some in the community to a Covance research facility announced in 2005.

The facility is now under construction at a second location that needed rezoning -- not an issue for Prince William County, which is already zoned for this type of building. But the Chandler lab stands at the center of an attorney general's investigation into whether local legislators failed to inform members of the public about that change in location.

With PETA's former home base in Rockville and current base 180 miles south of Manassas, the organization expects to play a more vocal role in battling the company here, attending Board of Supervisor meetings and staging press conferences and rallies -- prospects that Bahrns said the county is prepared to face.

Not that Chandna thinks its journey will be any easier, though.

"Covance can outspend PETA," she said. "They can outspend us by multiple factors to one. We expect that as with Chandler, it's going to be a difficult road."

BIO Welcomes Two New State Organizations Aboard Industry Council

BIO Welcomes Two New State Organizations Aboard Industry Council

Oklahoma and Nevada Join Coalition Promoting Growth and Understanding of the Biotechnology Industry

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) announced that newly-formed bioscience organizations in Oklahoma and Nevada have agreed to join the Council of State Bioscience Associations (CSBA), an autonomous council operating within BIO.

“We are very pleased to welcome the Nevada Biotechnology and Biosciences Consortium and the Oklahoma BioScience Association as members of the CSBA," said Patrick Kelly, Vice President of State Government Relations and Alliance Development at BIO. "The CSBA is an integral part of BIO's advocacy infrastructure. We work closely CSBA member organizations to improve understanding of the bioscience industry and advocate for policies that help promote industry development throughout the United States. With the addition of Nevada and Oklahoma, the CSBA grows to 47 organizations in 42 states."

“As members of the CSBA, these new biotechnology associations will be able to draw upon the support of their colleagues in the other state capitals across the country,” said Mark Herzog, chairman of the CSBA and executive director of the Virginia Biotechnology Association. “That network has been essential over the last several years as state legislatures weigh the risks of not adequately investing in the growth of this life saving industry.”

About BIO

BIO represents more than 1,200 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products. BIO also produces the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest gathering of the biotechnology industry, along with industry-leading investor and partnering meetings held around the world.

Georgia Program Encourages Biotech Careers

Another great program from our friends at Georgia Bio!

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/032608/met_192294.shtml

Group urges students to biotech industry
By Tom Corwin | Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Ashleigh Gardner has seen the change in her classmates at A.R. Johnson Health Science & Engineering Magnet High School after they visited the laboratories and clinics at Medical College of Georgia.

"It's allowed us to see many different career fields that I know a lot of people weren't thinking about before, and it's opened up a lot of options for us," the 18-year-old senior said. "And that's a really good thing."

Georgia thinks so, too. Through a group called Georgia Bio, the state is working to encourage more students to think about going into the biomedical field. The group is helping to push for approval of a high school biotechnology curriculum by the State Board of Education this summer. It has started a pilot project in four counties that link high school programs with technical schools to produce biotechnology-related degrees, said Cinda Herndon-King, the director of education programs for Georgia Bio.

"We're trying to make sure there's a pipeline of workers (for biotech companies)," she said.

Dr. Herndon-King was in Augusta on Tuesday to look at the MCG-A.R. Johnson partnership and talk about how the school can take advantage of an educational mission that teacher Carl Hammond-Beyer will make in June to a biotechnology education program and the 2008 Biotechnology Industry Organization's international convention in San Diego.

The convention is an annual highlight for the industry and brings together thousands of biotechnology companies. The state is keen to make a bigger splash in biotechnology, particularly with Atlanta playing host to that convention next year, Dr. Herndon-King said.

"Industry isn't just in Atlanta. Industry is all over the state," she said.

The state ranks seventh in terms of publicly traded biotechnology companies, Dr. Herndon-King said.

"We have the ability to do much better," she said.

Mr. Hammond-Beyer is expected to conduct some training for his fellow teachers when he returns, and he is eager to do more with his students in biotechnology, such as study DNA fragmentation and "some of the stuff that CSI does," he joked. Now is the time for education to step up to biotech, although Assistant Principal Tim Parker said the biotechnology curriculum could probably not begin until the 2009-10 school year.

"You can't sit on the sidelines too long and wait," Mr. Hammond-Beyer said. "You have to jump in the game. Our students have science aptitude. They just eat that stuff up."

VCU Massey Cancer Center to partner with Israeli biotech firm

The Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center will open a Phase I pancreatic cancer study later this year in conjunction with leading researchers from Israel, marking the first time cancer researchers at VCU have partnered with their counterparts in Israel.

The study is supported by a $950,000 grant from the U.S.-Israel Bi-National Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRDF). Leaders from the Virginia Israel Bioscience Commercialization Center (VIBCC) helped to foster Israeli interest in research at VCU.

The clinical trial, designed by Massey principal investigator Ray Lee, M.D., Ph.D., involves a novel targeted therapeutic agent developed by BioCancell of Jerusalem and will offer new hope for one of the most difficult-to-treat cancers.

This collaboration is a tangible outcome of the initiative launched by the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park more than a year ago to recruit Israeli life science companies with innovative products and technologies to Virginia and the Research Park, said Robert T. Skunda, President and CEO of the research park.

The world, indeed, is getting flatter, said Donna Edmonds, executive director of the Virginia Israel Bioscience Commercialization Center. By importing and exporting high-quality medical research and building collaborative clinical studies such as this, we can work toward saving more lives of people with cancer in Virginia and across the globe.

Gordon D. Ginder, M.D., director of the VCU Massey Cancer Center, said, Having an organization dedicated to promoting Virginias academic, clinical and biotechnological expertise is a boon to the Commonwealth. As federal funding for cancer research in the United States has shrunken in the face of expanding scientific opportunities for better treatment and prevention, its vital that we explore international collaborations and funding sources, too. We are grateful to the VIBCC for serving as a beacon to guide international funding and research opportunities to us.

About Pancreatic Cancer

About 30,000 people die from pancreatic cancer each year. It has a high mortality rate and ranks as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death as its symptoms often do not present until the disease is in a late stage. Fewer than 5 percent of patients survive for more than five years, giving pancreatic cancer the lowest survival rate of any common cancer type.

Currently the best treatment option for pancreatic cancer is through high-risk surgical removal of part of the pancreas. However, if the cancer affects surrounding vessels and lymph nodes, surgery often is not an option. Chemotherapy and radiation provide alternative treatment options, however, the median survival rate on those protocols is just one year.

About the Clinical Trial

This study involves a novel, gene-based therapy for pancreatic cancer developed by BioCancell. Its new therapeutic agent links a DNA fragment that is responsible for tumor-specific expression of a gene, with a suicidal toxin gene. When the agent is injected directly into the tumor, the DNA fragment will induce the expression of the suicidal toxin in the cancer cells but not in normal tissue. The researchers expect to avoid damaging normal tissue while killing tumor cells.

Candidates for the study are adults with locally advanced pancreatic cancer who are not candidates for immediate surgical resection. Researchers will inject the new agent into cancer directly through a laparoscopic procedure.

Using this approach in pancreatic cancer, they hope that tumors could be down-staged from unresectable status, or inoperable, to resectable, giving patients a better chance of remission.

This agent has been tested and shown to be effective in animal models and anecdotally in two metastatic cancer patients in Israel. The liver lesions of those two patients showed success in shrinkage.

Beginning in the summer of 2008, Massey expects to begin enrolling patients. Lee is the principal investigator, and Brian Kaplan, M.D., a surgical oncologist at Massey, will be the co-principal investigator performing the laparoscopic surgery. Abraham Czerniak, M.D., Ph.D., of Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel, will be responsible for the Israeli arm of the study, which expects to enroll one-third of the total patient base.

Virginia Science Fair: April 12

 

The Virginia State Science Fair is coming up on April 12 at George Mason University in Fairfax. VaBIO will once again send judges to select and present awards for the best in biotechnology. Those interested in serving as a judge should contact VaBIO at 804-643-6360.

Pictures from the SWVA Science Forum

More than 100 people attended the VaBIO and NCTC "Southwest Virginia Science Forum last Thursday at the Fralin Biotechnology Center at Virginia Tech. Check out the pictures...

Check out the VaBIO gallery here: http://picasaweb.google.com/VaBiotechnologyAssn

A big thanks to our sponsors Matt Latimer and Aric Bopp.

Jerry Nadler to Leave UVA for EVMS

Published on HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com (http://hamptonroads.com)
U.Va. researcher is EVMS' first catch in new initiative

NORFOlK

In renowned diabetes researcher Dr. Jerry Nadler, Eastern Virginia Medical School has landed its $8 million man in the hope that he'll pay off big in more medical research dollars and better health care for Hampton Roads.

"He serves as the epitome of the kind of people we need," said Gerald Pepe, EVMS' dean, who hired Nadler away from the University of Virginia's medical school to head its internal medicine department.

Nadler is the first big recruit for a research initiative Pepe announced in the summer of 2006.

At the time, he envisioned increased study of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and women's and infant health issues. Established researchers would mentor promising beginners. And coveted National Institutes of Health grant money would roll in.

Nadler has all of those areas covered, Pepe said.

Nadler is chairman of the endocrinology and metabolism department at U.Va. that in 2007 was ranked eighth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

His research focuses on the cardiovascular effects of diabetes and how heart disease - and its treatments - differ between men and women. He also has served as a mentor, helping promising researchers get NIH grants.

With financial help from Sentara Healthcare, Nadler was lured to EVMS in part by an $8 million package that will pay for him to "recruit a cadre of top-notch faculty and provide each with nationally competitive research development packages," Pepe said. The result will be an expanded diabetes center and a new cardiovascular research center.

While $8 million may sound like a lot of money, Pepe characterized the package as "modest" for "highly recruited leaders like Nadler" who typically could ask a school to invest as much as $40 million in a new research team.

When Pepe began his initiative, he intended to recruit established research stars rather than people just starting out in their careers.

"It's less expensive to do it the other way," said Nadler, who will be replacing the retiring Dr. Leon-Paul Georges at EVMS in July. "But it doesn't work."

Nadler said he will be bringing about $1 million in NIH grants to EVMS, which in 2007 had about $3.5 million. His move to Norfolk also means that an NIH-funded research program from the U.Va. endocrinology department will be jointly run at EVMS.

But beyond the immediate research dollars, Pepe said that NIH is increasingly looking for research that takes an interdisciplinary team approach and can demonstrate the possible health benefits down the line. That's the centerpiece of his research initiative and something Nadler is especially good at, Pepe said.

Pepe said he has gotten calls from researchers saying, " 'I hear Dr. Nadler is coming.' It's an opportunity to bring in the rising stars."

EVMS has traditionally had strength in its clinical and teaching aspects, but has been less successful in attracting NIH grants, considered the gold standard for medical research.

The school's amount of NIH funding was ranked 115th out of 123 medical schools in 2005, the latest year NIH ranked the schools. U.Va.'s medical school was ranked 33rd.

But what EVMS does have, Nadler said, is a dean who is an NIH-funded researcher himself - referring to Pepe, a scientist who studies the effects of estrogen on pregnancy.

Nadler said he was drawn to EVMS, in part, by the prospect of "working for someone who understands what you want to do.... A dean who understands research. That's very exciting for me."

What EVMS also has is a much larger patient base than U.Va. in Charlottesville. That area had a significantly smaller population and lower rates of diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure in 2005 than all of the cities in Hampton Roads, according to the Virginia Atlas of Community Health.

"It's a big moment for the dean and the faculty, and it's also good for what ails us in our community. We've got another star working on diabetes" and cardiovascular disease, said EVMS President Harry Lester. "He's working on things that can translate for better health care in Hampton Roads."

Nadler said EVMS has the facilities now for him and his team to get started but "in two years, that's going to be saturated." A new building to house classrooms and labs is critical and would attract more researchers to EVMS, Nadler and Pepe said.

School officials are advocating for the $59 million cost of the building to be included in a higher education bond package now before the General Assembly.

"Everything is here to make it work," Nadler said. "I bring another component to foster what's already here."

Bob Eaton Merges Two Biotech Associations in AZ

Former MdBio President, Bob Eaton, has succeeded in merging two competing biotech associations in Arizona! Great job, Bob!

PHOENIX - (Business Wire) The Arizona BioIndustry Association (AZBio) has restructured its operations, in order to better support the growth and success of its member companies and to unify, empower and advance the bioscience industry throughout Arizona. AZBio has integrated with the Bioindustry Organization of Southern Arizona (BIO-SA), and a new Board of Directors has been selected to lead the association.

"One of the key actions recommended in Arizona's Bioscience Roadmap is to strengthen the state's industry representation by creating a true statewide organization," said Saundra Johnson, executive vice president of the Flinn Foundation, which commissioned the 2002 Roadmap study by Battelle. "The new statewide structure for AZBio addresses this gap. It will help provide greater support and services for Arizona's bioscience companies and enable the state's industry to speak with a unified voice."

The new AZBio structure will allow the organization to balance its statewide programs and activities with a strong regional presence in the Tucson, Phoenix and Flagstaff areas. The association’s annual calendar will feature two major statewide anchor events, complemented by a variety of regional events throughout the year. AZBio’s public policy advocacy, business development and workforce development efforts will likewise have both statewide and regional components. The association’s annual conference, renamed BIOZONA 2008, will take place April 8 in Tucson.

The following individuals comprise AZBio’s new Board of Directors:

Rob Ashley, Ashley BioPharm, LLC, Tucson

David Cohen, Can-Am Pharmaceutical Services, LLC, Tucson

Michael Cusanovich, Arizona Research Labs, University of Arizona, Tucson

Gordon Goodyear, 3d Biosurfaces, Tucson

Saundra Johnson, The Flinn Foundation, Phoenix

Rob Kennedy, Apthera, Inc., Scottsdale

Edward Koeneman, Kinetic Muscles, Inc., Tempe

Loretta Mayer, Senestech, Inc., Flagstaff

Christine McAuliffe, Jennings Strouss & Salmon, Phoenix

Jon McGarity, InSys Therapeutics, Inc., Phoenix

Michael Mobley, Biodesign Institute at ASU, Tempe

Jacqueline Nicol, BioVigilant, Inc., Tucson

Nina Ossanna, BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson

Thomas Rainey, Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies, Flagstaff

Debbie Snyder, TGen Drug Development Services, Scottsdale

Diane Williamson, Earth Friendly Fuels, Inc., Flagstaff

The Arizona BioIndustry Association is a not-for-profit, 501 (c) (6) trade association that promotes the growth of the bioscience industry in Arizona through member services, educational programs, business networking, public policy and entrepreneurial endeavors. The staff includes Robert Eaton, who serves as the organization’s President & CEO, and Natascha Hebell Fernando, the Chief Operating Officer. AZBio is the state affiliate in Arizona for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the preeminent trade association for the biotechnology industry in the United States.

Arizona BioIndustry Association, Phoenix
Robert Eaton, 602-495-2937

Bill Gates to Congress: Invest More in Science!

Bill Gates argues that we need to invest more in science-- otherwise we will not be competitive...

Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates told the House Science Committee Wednesday that America's "position as the global leader in innovation is at risk."

To keep its edge, the U.S. must improve math and science education, change immigration policies to allow more skilled foreigners to work here, increase federal funding for basic research, and make the research and development tax credit permanent, Gates said.

The committee invited Gates to testify to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding. Congress created the panel in March 1958 after the Soviet Union beat the United States into space by launching the Sputnik satellite.

"Today, with the rapid economic and technological advances of other countries, I fear we are now on the cusp of another Sputnik moment," said committee Chairman Bart Gordon, D-Tenn. "I fear that our country has coasted on the investments we made 50 years ago."

Fifty years from now, Gates said, "the U.S. may not have the same relative share of innovation" compared with the rest of the world, "but with the right policies, we can have the leading share."

Other countries are working to duplicate America's "magic formula" -- an entrepreneurial culture combined with great universities, he said.

"We're still the envy of the world," he said.

U.S. companies, however, face a shortage of scientists and engineers, and not enough American students are prepared for, or interested in, careers in these fields, he said. The U.S. should insist on higher standards in K-12 education and require three to four years of math in high schools, he said.

Enrollment by U.S. students in science and engineering programs increased in the late 1990s during the Internet boom, but has declined since then.

Now that the credit bubble has burst, "maybe some of the bright minds going into finance will go into science and engineering," Gates said.

House Republicans Drop Stem Cell Language from Budget

According to the Washington Post, House Republican Conferees agreed in a compromise to drop language that would ban the use of state funds for embryonic stem cell research. The language had stated the following:

Item 4-0.01 #1h

General Provisions
Operating Policies Language

Language:
Page 496, after line 9, insert:
"d. No funding in this budget, or matching funds related to funding included in this budget, may be provided for human stem cell research from stem cells obtained from human embryos; however, research conducted using stem cells other than embryonic stem cells may be funded.
e. No funding in this budget, or matching funds related to funding included in this budget, may be provided for research on cells or tissues derived from induced abortions on humans."

Explanation:
(This amendment would prohibit state funding of embryonic stem cell research itself, but it would also permit entities that conduct such research (without using state money) to receive state funding. Entities that receive funding for embryonic stem cell research from federal and private sources may also receive state dollars for purposes other than embryonic stem research. State funding of research on aborted fetuses would be prohibited.)

The same confrontation occurred two years ago but the language was slightly different in that it would have cut off all state funding to any entity that conducted human embryonic stem cell research, regardless of where the funding came from. Had such language survived that year, all state funds would have been cut off to Virginia's major research universities such as VCU and UVA.

This year, the language made it clear that the ban would only apply to state funds being used for such research. According to the WP article, the GOP dropped this language in return for the Democrats agreeing to strike amendments that were perceived to help collective bargaining efforts by unions.

MiddleBrook Considers its Future...

What is next for MiddleBrook? Another great story by the WBJ staff.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 - 10:42 AM EST
MiddleBrook narrows loss, considers future
Washington Business Journal - by Tucker Echols Staff Reporter

MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals Inc. narrowed its loss in the fourth quarter and continues to explore all options for the company's future.

The Germantown company, which won Food and Drug Administration approval for its first developed drug in January, reported a net loss of $9.1 million, 19 cents per share, for the quarter ending Dec. 31, in a statement released Tuesday. That compares with a loss of $13.8 million, 44 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2006.

Revenue in the quarter more than doubled to $2.9 million compared with $1.2 million a year ago.

For the year, MiddleBrook reported a loss of net loss of $42.2 million, 96 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $42 million, $1.38 per share, for the full year of 2006. Revenue in 2007 more than doubled to $10.5 million.

Revenue in 2007 was generated by sales of Keflex, a drug whose rights MiddleBrook purchased.

Moxatag is the first drug MiddleBrook has developed. It was approved by the FDA on Jan. 23, and the company's future may well rest on it. Edward M. Rudnic, president and chief executive officer of MiddleBrook, said in the statement, "having received FDA approval for Moxatag and raising more than $20 million in the first quarter of 2008, we believe we are now in a very favorable position to be considering strategic alternatives for the company."

Alternatives under consideration include the sale of some or all of the company's assets.

Shares of MiddleBrook (NASDAQ: MBRK), which have more than tripled since the approval of Moxatag, were down 9 cents to $4.25 in early morning trading.

WBJ: Celera Leaving Maryland?

Celera moving to SF? This is from the WBJ...

Montgomery County fears Celera Group may move west
Washington Business Journal - by Vandana Sinha Staff Reporter

The once-behemoth Celera Group is preparing to split from its parent company and decide whether to shift its headquarters from Rockville to California. That has Montgomery County officials scrambling to keep the biotech company's address local.

By the end of March, Celera will choose Rockville or Alameda, Calif., for its corporate headquarters, announcing the decision in a registration statement it will file to sever the business from Norwalk, Conn.-based Applera Corp. and become a stand-alone public company.

Rockville's prospects, however, do not look good.

Celera mentioned Alameda as its headquarters in its latest quarterly and annual financial reports, printed on corporate letterhead with Alameda's Harbor Bay Parkway address because most corporate activities stem from there, said David Speechly, a Celera spokesman.

But he added that the company has yet to decide which coast it will call home.

Moving west makes sense: Head count in Rockville has dwindled from more than 550 in 2001 to roughly 25 people today, including only one senior executive who is one of the founders.

After owning 220,000 square feet on West Gude Drive in its heyday, the company now subleases 64,000 square feet and is marketing an additional 51,000 square feet of sublet space.

Meanwhile, Celera made two acquisitions last year that bumped up its San Francisco Bay Area presence to three locations and roughly 525 employees.

"It makes sense for [a California move] to occur given where management is and where a majority of employees are," Speechly said.

Montgomery County officials said they are pursuing agreements with Celera to keep the headquarters nestled in Maryland's Interstate 270 corridor. The county has "discretionary income" it can use for potential incentive packages, but only if Celera increases its presence there.

"We are going to see if there is anything we can do to persuade them to stay," said Bernadette Musselwhite, a business development specialist with the county's Department of Economic Development.

Even if Celera keeps a Rockville office open, the headquarters departure would be a psychological blow. A homegrown company founded 10 years ago by bioscience maverick Craig Venter, Celera made global headlines when it mapped the human genome in 2000 and its stock price soared to nearly $250 a share.

"That does take away a keystone company," said Ric Zakour, executive director of MdBio, a division of the Tech Council of Maryland. "It would be unfortunate if they left, but I don't know that they have really deep ties to this area [now] other than historical ones."

A change in Celera's business model has restricted its Rockville reach. Although the company became famous as a genomics leader, that success brought few sales. Celera turned to drug development, then switched in 2006 to the more revenue-friendly molecular diagnostics field, halting drug discovery programs based mostly in Rockville.

Since August, two rounds of layoffs have deflated the Rockville team from 100 in 2006 to roughly 25. The company's lease of its 115,000-square-foot building, one of two that had made up its campus before both were sold in 2005 to Columbia-based Corporate Office Properties Trust, expires in 2010.

Celera is growing in revenue and narrowing its losses, expecting to approach break-even status by the end of June, Speechly said.