Business

Toward Standardized Sample Collections: UK Government Seeks to Expand Cell and Gene Therapy Use

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The SAMPLE program — a Standard Approach to ATMP Tissue collection — is intended to help build capacity for the UK National Health System (NHS) to expand the use of next-generation cell and gene therapies for both cancer and noncancer illnesses. Now it has been given the green light by Innovate UK (IUK), the United Kingdom’s technology strategy agency. An award through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund is supporting the program for standardizing how cell and gene samples are collected…

September 21, 2019

Good Manufacturing Practice in China: Equipment Strategy and Quality Management to Compete with the West

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Although the concept of good manufacturing practice (GMP) was created about half a century ago in the United States, the history of GMP biomanufacturing is relatively short in China, with the first version of GMP rules issued by the Ministry of Health in 1998. In 2010, the ministry issued its fourth version of China’s GMP rules, which came into effect in March of 2011 (1). According to a recent report from BioPlan Associates, the 2010 version raised the standards to…

June 12, 2019

eBook: Vaccines – Industry Collaborations to Increase Uptake

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Vaccines save millions of lives every year, and the continuing increases in the number of administered doses and worldwide distribution of vaccines for long-standing diseases such as polio and malaria have contributed to the improvement in public health. Vaccine developers and manufacturers are partnering with private and government agencies to raise global vaccine uptake by addressing remaining challenges with production capacity, distribution, safety, and accessibility. And the implementation of new technologies such as virus-like particles and cell/DNA-based vaccines are helping…

June 10, 2019

Why Conducting Marketing Due Diligence Early in Product Development Is Important

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To be successful, a company needs two main ingredients: good science and good business/ marketing. Without good science, a product won’t work, and without a good marketing strategy, a product won’t sell. Two important questions should be addressed: When should marketing groups be involved in product development, and how important is that? The answer to the first is as early as basic research. Why? After a product is launched, a biomanufacturer doesn’t want to discover that its product applies only…

May 17, 2019

Breaking Through the Noise: An Approach to Differentiating Your Business

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When multiple businesses sell the same type of item, why do customers buy from one supplier rather than another? How are vendors able to break through the “white noise†of an industry to stand apart and get noticed? The current bioprocessing and cell therapy vendor markets, about 50,000 vendors are selling to biomanufacturers, universities, and research institutions (www.bioz.com). How do those suppliers get noticed? Market-leading suppliers have established brands that allow them to cross-sell, up-sell, and engage in deep selling.…

May 17, 2019

China Looks Inward and Outward: Investments in US and EU Biopharmaceutical Companies Are on the Rise

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The growth momentum of China’s biopharmaceutical industry continues, with the China Industry Research Institute projecting that the country’s biological therapeutics market could reach 300 billion Chinese yuan (~US$50 billion) in 2019. According to the second edition of our report on advances in Chinese biopharmaceutical technology, this robust growth is boosted by continuing investment into the sector (1). A clear strategic indicator of the country’s intentions in biotherapeutics and biologics has been government investment in bioindustrial hubs, which by next year…

May 17, 2019

Biologic Labels and Induced Patent Infringement: A Perspective on Evolving US Law

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The mechanism for proving patent infringement is changing for developers of both branded and follow-on biologics (either biosimilar or interchangeable). Here we examine how drug labeling can establish infringement, thus affecting follow-on manufacturers accused of inducing others to infringe patents on methods of treating medical conditions. Because precedent is paramount in the US legal system, judges look to small-molecule case history to help them understand alleged infringement by follow-on biologics. The classic approach to induced infringement of generic small-molecule drugs…

May 17, 2019

Cost of Goods Is Crucial for the Future of Regenerative Medicine: CAR-T Cell Therapy Provides a Case Study in Perspective

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In the history of regenerative medicine, 2017 was a critical year. With approvals for Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) from Novartis AG, Yescarta (axicabtagene ciloleucel) from Kite Pharma (a Gilead company), and Luxturna (voretigene neparvovec-rzyl) from Spark Therapeutics, cell and gene therapies finally made their mark on the regulatory landscape. Then in 2018, those products began both treating patients and bringing in revenues for their sponsor companies. “Patients are being treated, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are being paid for treating them,†said…

April 18, 2019

Innovation Leadership in Drug Development

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A “sea change†in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries is leading established players to recruit a new type of drug-development leader. Disruptive innovators such as LG Chem Life Sciences, Google, and Nestlé are challenging established life-science companies to be nimbler, more creative, and more adept at applying new and emerging technologies. To spur creativity and entrepreneurship in research and development, smaller companies and Big Pharma corporations alike are recruiting leaders from different fields both inside and outside the life sciences.…

April 18, 2019

Competing for Talent: Make Your Biotech Workplace a Powerful Asset

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Talent is the lifeblood of pharmaceutical innovation. But there’s more to winning top talent than simply recognizing the value of our “human resources.†It also takes putting that value into action by giving people a workplace that inspires and even delights. Today, forward-looking industry leaders are seeing competitive advantage in rethinking workplace strategy and the role it plays in attracting and retaining talent, according to a 2018 report (1). Once considered to be merely a passive background for discovery, a…

April 12, 2019