The nonprofit Center of Research Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange (CORTEX) was formed to facilitate development of two redevelopment areas in St. Louis, MO. Last month, I explained their vision and introduced the participants, along with highlighting an example development on the campus of St. Louis University. This month, I conclude with several more examples. Center For Emerging Technologies The Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis is ranked a top-10 business incubation facilities in the United States. In under nine…
Economics
Managing the Product Pipeline
In 2007, the biopharmaceutical market represented ~$71 billion: 10% of the entire pharmaceutical market. Therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) account for 98% of all biotherapeutics in development, the rest being blood proteins and enzymes — all the products of recombinant DNA technology. Before the recession hit full on, growth of this market was estimated by some at ~15%. (Now it’s hard to predict at all.) Making biotech drugs consumes huge amounts of time and money, but they…
Delivering Affordable Biologics from Gene to Vial
In launching this new series of articles under the theme of delivering affordable biologics, from gene to vial, we intend to examine some of the challenges the bioprocess industry faces. We will discuss the implications of key cost challenges facing the industry, develop an understanding of the economics underlying development and manufacturing, and explore options for driving out cost. We wish to encourage dialogue and debate, so in addition to the articles we will also use webcast interviews…
The Business of Biotechnology
All companies — large and small, biotech included — have felt the pinch of the current (or recent, depending on your point of view) recession. From huge multinational companies to virtual start-ups, all are taking a good hard look at the way they do business. And as it does every year, the 2010 BIO International Convention will offer something for every company and every situation. Business-oriented sessions range from hard-earned experience to provocative new ideas. On the BioProcess…
Growing the Future
The 2010 BIO International Convention isn’t just about biotechnology-derived drugs and vaccines. The biotechnology industry as a whole seeks to address current global needs in other areas as well in light of diminishing resources and other environmental concerns. Biofuels development is entering its second wave. Agricultural researchers are finding ways to improve global access to both food and energy. And health-care policy is taking ethics and environmental sustainability into account while looking for new models that can help…
Rethinking Efficiency
Public and private healthcare providers are under increasing pressure with the demand for better quality drugs and cheaper healthcare on the rise. However, rising costs and time scales for bringing new drugs to market suggest that challenging times are ahead for many pharmaceutical companies. Current trends in US healthcare indicate that almost half of the hospitals across the country have seen a >20% drop in income. With an additional drop in financial donations, many hospital staff budgets are being cut,…
Making a Positive Urban Impact
Like so many other midwestern industrial cities, St. Louis, MO, saw its manufacturing base decline over the past 40 years. Led by the automobile, shoe manufacturing, and defense industries, that decline was coupled with a notable decrease in the city population. From 1950’s high of 850,000 people, the city dwindled to ~350,000 by the 1990s, although its metropolitan area grew to >2,000,000. Accelerating growth of high technology in the 1990s had minimal impact on St. Louis the “old industry” the…
The Time Has Come for Automation in Bioprocessing
As early as 1997, automation was ready to offer potential benefits to the bioprocess industry (1). Professor Bernhard Sonnleitner of the Zürich University of Applied Sciences’ Institute for Chemistry and Biological Chemistry suggested a “standard operating procedure†and pointed to the opportunities, requirements, and potential pitfalls of applying the principles of automation to bioprocess development and operations. If “boring and less interesting routine tasks†could “more efficiently and reliably be handed down to machines,†he explained, then personnel…
Embracing Biotechnology
If you have ever gotten frustrated trying to explain what you do at work to friends and family, we can relate. One of the greatest challenges perennially facing the biotech industry is the lack of public understanding of what biotechnology is and the many ways it contributes to a better world. A lack of solid public acceptance and support can make it all the more difficult to advance our advocacy efforts in the United States Congress and in state legislatures…
50 Years of Sephadex Media
It has been 50 years since the first Sephadex paper was published (1). Readers of BioProcess International work in a field that was fundamentally affected by what happened after that paper appeared in 1959. So this anniversary is certainly worthy of a party and a few speeches. But there are lessons to be learned, too. Here we take a look at threads connecting events before and after the discovery of gel filtration chromatography and introduction of the Sephadex product. Interdisciplinary…