Euro Biotechnology

In real estate, location is key. The same holds true in the hunt for new drugs. HotSpot Therapeutics is trying to break new ground in drug discovery by hitting locations on a protein that aren’t the conventional targets of most medicines.

HotSpot is now emerging from stealth with preclinical compounds that could become new treatments for liver disease and autoimmune disorders. As the Cambridge, MA, biotech works to bring its lead drugs into human testing, the company is also unveiling $45 million to finance its efforts.

“We’re uncovering very new biological space and then marrying that with new chemistry,” says HotSpot… Read more »

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[Source: Research & Innovation] The 30th Symposium on Fusion Technology (SOFT 2018), the most important conference in this field will take place in Messina, Sicily, between 16 and 21 September 2018. The event brings together more than 800 scientists, engineers, industry representatives and exhibitors from all over the world and focuses on the latest developments on fusion experiments and activities. This year the organiser is the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, leading agency for fusion research and technology development in Italy. The programme of the conference includes the third edition of SOFT Innovation prize award ceremony on 16 September, when the three winners will receive prizes for excellence in innovation in fusion research.

Programming for the 15^th BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology kicked off on Tuesday, July 17 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

BIO’s President and CEO Jim Greenwood provided welcoming remarks ahead of the lunch plenary session, highlighting the growth of the biobased economy and BIO’s commitment to fostering innovation in industrial biotechnology.

“I’ve been BIO CEO for more than 13 years, and it has been amazing to see World Congress grow into the biggest showcase of industrial biotech in the world,” said Greenwood.

And the showcase began early, as breakout sessions started at 8:30 a.m. and ran throughout the day.

Breakout Sessions

The breakout sessions gave a glimpse into the not-so-often talked about intersection of biotechnology and industrial and environment. From advancements in the food industry, including flavors and fragrances, algae and enzymes, to industrial biotechnology investments in South America, to biobased products and renewable chemicals, Tuesday’s breakout sessions covered a range of new innovations.

During the “Bio-Industrial Investment in South America” breakout session, panelists looked at the investment climate and national support for bio-industrial solutions in Uruguay. Hank Krakowski with Agrisoma described his company’s work with carinata in the region, an oilseed crop grown to produce renewable, sustainable source of oil, which can be refined into diesel and jet fuel, and a high protein meal for animal feed.

At the “Renewable Chemicals Making Headway into New Materials and Consumer Biobased Products” breakout session, panelists showcased their companies work in developing renewable chemicals that can then be used in partnerships with companies making biobased consumer products. David Sudolsky of Annellotech touched on his companies four guiding principles in partnering on the development of biobased products, including that the product must result in a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, be accessible to large, global markets, and must be reliable and cost effective.

In the “Emergence & Commercialization of Next Generation Ingredients in F&F and other Markets” breakout session, representatives from biotech companies Amyris, Conagen Inc., DEINOVE and Evolva described how biotechnologies such as synthetic biology, advanced fermentation and bioconversion technologies are used by their companies in the development of unique products such as natural sweeteners, cosmetics and skin care – even pest control. And in each of the case studies, speakers emphasized the need to address consumers’ increasing demand for products that are natural and sustainably produced.

To provide for a growing population, “we will need 2.3 planet earths by 2050,” explained Kathy Oglesby of Amyris, which provides more than 2,000 brand products to 250 million consumers every day. “But we only have one planet Earth – biotechnology offers the solution.”

From flavors and fragrances, breakout sessions continued to focus on the trends in production of consumer products, including algae and enzymes for food.

In the “Advancements in Industrial Production of Food Enzymes and Ingredients from New Microbial Platforms” session, panelists examined the bio-processes involved in the manufacturing of novel food ingredients and flavorings.

Henrik Busch-Larsen, CEO of Danish biotechnology company Unibio, explained the conversion of methane and natural gas into protein-based feed additives for livestock. “We’re turning fuel into food, rather than food into fuel,” Busch-Larsen says.

Unibio’s Uniprotein® is produced in an eco-friendly way and is part of the company’s mission to supply the world with innovative, sustainable solutions to overcome the food challenge faced by a growing global population. Watch this video to learn more!

Matt Carr with the Algae Biomass Organization opened the “Algae: A Top Food Trend Today, Potential for Food Security for Tomorrow?” breakout session saying about the intersection of algae and food: “We’ll tell the story to anyone that will listen.” Carr and other panelists went on to highlight the various opportunities for algae in food production, a new trend for the plant that was previously only thought of to advance agriculture and fuel production.

Panelist Jill Kaufman Johnson with Corbion expanded, noting the increasing demand for plant-based protein and the role algae can have. Her lab developed an algae-based goldfish snack that resulted in 30 percent less sodium, 35% less flour and, because of the cell wall that encapsulates the protein, it prevents the cracker from becoming soggy and preserves its “crispiness”.

GreenTech Investor Sessions

Also taking place Tuesday at the BIO World Congress, were GreenTech Investor Sessions, where early stage industrial biotechnology companies had the opportunity to present in front of potential investors and strategists. Included in the GreenTech Investor Sessions were panel discussions in which expert investors and strategists discussed the opportunities and challenges of investing in the industry.

In summarizing the current investment climate, BIO Industrial and Environmental Board Member, and panel moderator, Roger Wyse with Spruce Capital Partners alluded to the challenges the industry has faced as promising technologies have come and gone: “The industry has been through a lot of trauma.”

Underlining previous challenges, Ganesh Kishore, also with Spruce Capital Partners, highlighted the desire of investors to fund companies that make products that are “adaptable” to ensure commercial success.

CRISPR and Gene Editing Tools to Advance Industrial Biotechnology Plenary

Roger Wyse also moderated the lunch plenary on “CRISPR and Gene Editing Tools to Advance Industrial Biotechnology,” featuring a collection of experts and company representatives discussing the future of gene editing technologies.

Most notably, panelists emphasized the need for customer acceptance to allow gene editing to continue progressing and continue to strengthen the biobased economy.

“It’s not rocket science, it’s social science,” said J.J. Jones of Roots & Legacies Consulting during the plenary panel discussion. “Don’t ask ‘what can we do?’ Ask ‘what should we do?”.

Panelist and SR Strategy’s President Sylvia Rowe added that transparency is key. “Transparency is the gateway to trust,” she said. “We’re talking about building a foundation of trust. I think there is a real opportunity to proactively take control of the dialogue.”

Company and Technical Presentations

And not to be missed in the flurry of breakout sessions, investor panels and plenary lunches were company and technical presentations. Several companies presented during Tuesday’s schedule, including Hideyuki Tsukii from Advanced Biochemical Co. in Thailand.

Tsukii presented on his company’s 100 percent bio-based epichlorohydrin (EPI), which when combined with a bio-based BPA will lead to bio-based epoxy resins. During his presentation, Tuskii outlined the benefits of bio-based EPI which is the most sustainable EPI in terms of CO₂ emissions and process environmental performance, and enables downstream industries to reduce its carbon footprint, while increasing the bio-content of finished products.

Read more about Thailand’s presence at the 2018 BIO World Congress here.

With day one in the books, attendees can look forward to even more programming on Wednesday, July 18, with sessions focused on biobased materials, biofuels and the announcement of the 2018 George Washington Carver and Rosalind Franklin Award recipients.

For those attending the 2018 BIO World Congress in Philadelphia, be sure to be on the lookout for the Iowa Biotechnology Association booth next to registration, where you can learn more about the 2019 BIO World Congress in Iowa. We look forward to seeing you in Des Moines!

Keep up with news from Wisconsin’s innovation community with these recent headlines:

-A team of students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has constructed a third prototype for a vehicle designed to zoom through an above-ground vacuum tube at speeds that can exceed 300 miles per hour, the school said. The “Badgerloop” team is one of 20 from around the world competing in the 2018 Hyperloop Pod Competition.

The competition, which will take place on July 22, is organized by the Elon Musk-run company SpaceX. (Musk introduced the Hyperloop concept in a white paper published in 2013.) The winning team… Read more »

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[Updated 7/16/18 4:00pm ET, see note below] As CRISPR-based therapeutics inch closer to human tests in the U.S., academic researchers have kept up a steady drum beat about potential risks of the gene editing technique. They recently published two separate papers warning about possible dangers of CRISPR therapies, namely an increased risk of cancer. Both sent shockwaves through the sector.

Today comes the latest warning sign. In a paper published in Nature Biotechnology, researchers in the U.K. show that in mouse and human cells, the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system can delete large chunks of DNA at and… Read more »

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[Source: Research & Innovation] An independent search committee, appointed by the European Research, Science and Innovation Commissioner Carlos Moedas, is inviting applications for the prestigious post of the President of the European Research Council (ERC).

More than a year after the FDA rejected Amgen’s experimental osteoporosis drug due to safety concerns, the Thousand Oaks, CA, company has teed up a new application.

The Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) drug, romosozumab (Evenity), is an antibody treatment meant to strengthen bones and reduce the chance that they could break. But while romosozumab did lower the risk of fractures in Phase 3 testing last year, it also led to more cardiovascular side effects. The FDA rejected Amgen’s drug as a result.

Amgen and Belgian partner UCB are trying again, however. They’ve filed a new approval application hoping… Read more »

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[Source: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ageing/innovation/index_en.htm] Identifier: JUST-AG-2017Pillar: Justice programme 2014-2020Opening Date: Deadline: Wed, 25 Oct 2017 17:00:00 (Brussels local time)Modification Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2018Latest information: The call results are published under section Topic conditions – Additional documents.

The facts continue to show that, when it comes to prescription drug costs, the country is heading in the right direction. But this doesn’t mean there aren’t patients who have a hard time affording the medicines they need. In fact, we know:

• Many patients with commercial insurance have experienced a 50% increase in out-of-pocket costs for brand name medicines since 2014;
• The growth in patients’ out-of-pocket costs generally has outpaced the growth in what insurers are spending on health care; and
• Health plans are adopting perverse policies that deliberately inflate patient costs and are discriminating against those with conditions that are more costly to treat.

The insurance industry often claims that these and other schemes are necessary to help keep premiums lower for everyone else. But a new analysis shows that is not the case.

Milliman released the results of a study – commissioned by BIO – that looks at the effects of a California law limiting how much insurers could require patients to pay out of pocket for prescription drugs. The law caps patients’ co-pays at $250 per month for each prescription. Milliman examined how the law impacted premiums for health plans offered through the state’s insurance marketplace.

In a piece published by Managed Care Magazine, the team at Milliman summarizes the results of the study, and they are encouraging to say the least:

• California insurers expected that the cap on co-pays would only increase premiums by 1%;
• The co-pay cap helps patients better manage their drug costs throughout the year, avoiding the financial shock many experience when a new benefit year begins;
• Insurers in California did not expect the utilization or use of prescription drugs to increase because of the co-pay law, which suggests total spending on medicines would remain stable; and
• These results should apply to employer-sponsored health plans offered through the workplace, which is where the vast majority of Americans receive their health care.

These findings show that instead of shifting more costs onto the sickest patients, insurers should be limiting what patients pay out of pocket for medicines and that they can do so without increasing health care costs for everyone else. We know there are positive steps insurers can take right now to do just that. Two insurance companies have promised to pass along to patients the rebates the companies receive from drugmakers to help lower the cost of medicines, and one insurer even stated this commonsense approach would have a “negligible” impact on premiums.

But more needs to be done and more insurance companies need to follow suit. If they won’t, then policymakers need to ask the insurance industry why people are paying more for less coverage, get some real answers and demand better.

Just weeks ago, the FDA approved the first ever medicine made from a derivative of marijuana, a drug from GW Pharmaceuticals for a rare form of epilepsy. Yet competition already looms from San Diego’s Zogenix, thanks to new data the Emeryville, CA, company reports this morning.

Zogenix (NASDAQ: ZGNX) said that its experimental drug ZX008 succeeded in the second of two Phase 3 trials in patients with Dravet Syndrome. The 43 patients on ZX008 had an average of 54.7 percent fewer convulsive seizures, per month, than the 44 on a placebo. The median reduction in seizures per month for ZX008… Read more »

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