Health & Medicine

Mary Dunkle, Vice President, National Organization for Rare Disorders

On Sunday, Feb. 28, millions of people around the world will observe “World Rare Disease Day”.  This is an annual event sponsored in the U.S. by the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) and in Europe by the European Rare Disease Organisation (EURORDIS). 

On February 4th, BIO hosted a media briefing on how efforts to restrict gene patenting and licensing would threaten advances in public health and harm the national economy. Participants included:

New vaccines employing biotech innovations are changing the way we prevent illness.  Dr. Targan explains how biotech researchers are discovering new ways to prevent illnesses such as HPV, hepatitis-B, meningitis, and even the flu through new and improved research, manufacturing, and delivery mechanisms.

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Danny Levine of the Burrill Report conducted a podcast with BIO President & CEO Jim Greenwood today on BIO's public priorities for 2010. Discussion topics include what happens next with national health care reform, biosimilars, patent reform, and biofuels. You can listen to the podcast on the Burrill Report website at http://www.burrillreport.com/article-2090.html.

Patient advocacy groups have many different roles.  They are educators, they provide a support system for individuals and families of people living with illness, they lobby for increased research, and are increasingly providing funding to biotech companies to encourage further research and development of promising, and potentially life-saving therapies.  At the 2009 BIO International Convention, we met with patients  and patient advocates to learn more about how advocacy groups are working together with biotech researchers to promote innovative research and creation of therapies that may one d

Biosimilars, also known as follow-on biologics, may eventually expand access and provide patients a more affordable alternative to innovative, lifesaving medicines. However, there are a few important safeguards that must be put into place before these “similar but not the same” versions of biologics can be safely introduced to the public.  Join Dr.

Bonnie Erbe's "To The Contrary" program on PBS will be airing a three-part series on genetic technologies and their impact in diagnosing rare disease, beginning this week. The series will describe the evolution of DNA sequencing and show how DNA may be an effective tool in understanding diseases. Part 1 of the series begins Jan. 22-24; Part 2, February 19-21; and Part 3, March 26-28.

The first segment is set at Baylor Medical School, and profiles Dr. James Lupski and Dr.

This week, IP Watchdog sets the story straight by writing a post, “Fact vs. Fiction: The Truth on Biologics and Biosimilars raising some important points,

“Did you know that on average, it takes an investment of more than $1 billion over 10 years to develop a biotech medicine.

Do you ever wonder if the medicine you're taking is really helping to make you feel better? What if your doctor had a way to tell you exactly which drug and what dosage would best treat your illness?  Dr.

See what strides are being made in the field of stem cell research at Geron - a Menlo Park, CA based company currently working on stem-cell based treatments for heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, liver disease, and cancer, as well as a treatment for spinal cord injuries.  Watch and learn how these cells work, and what their promise could hold for the future of medical treatment.