Health & Medicine

From the Washington Post:   Following last week’s court ruling cutting-off federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, biotech companies are moving ahead with privately-funded landmark human trials for innovative stem cell therapies.

Learn more about Geron’s stem cell therapy for spinal cord injuries.

On August 23 issued a U.S. District Court issued a decision prohibiting the use of federal funds to support embryonic stem cell research. 

This decision got some attention in the blogosphere this week.

DarkSyde at DailyKos writes that because of this decision,

On August 10, 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee declared an end to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.   The committee reported that “out-of-season 2009 H1N1 outbreaks are no longer being observed, and that the intensity of 2009 H1N1 influenza virus transmission is lower than that reported during 2009 and early 2010 Season.”   This does not mean that the H1N1 has gone away but rather that the impact and effects will be similar to that of seasonal influenza.

BIO hosted a media briefing on Wednesday, June 30th, with Jim Greenwood and Rachel King, Co-Founder and CEO of GlycoMimetics, Inc. and member of BIO’s Executive Committee.

Last week the healthcare bill was big news.  For the biotech industry the news translates to, according to a recent blog post by Marc Iskowitz, that biosimilars mean competition, not marketing oblivion, for biologic brands.  .
Iskowitz writes that,

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.

Download to listen or view the podcast.

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