BioIT Top Headlines

Scripps, Navigenics, and Microsoft Sponsor Trial on Personal Genetic Testing

10/9/2008

Bio-IT World | Microsoft, Navigenics and Affymetrix are joining forces with the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) to launch a novel research study to assess the behavioral impact of personal genetic testing.

Complete Genomics Service Targets $1000 Genome by Spring 2009

10/10/2008

Bio-IT World | Complete Genomics emerged from stealth mode today brandishing an audacious service model for wholesale next-generation sequencing, with its first human genome already assembled and the CEO’s pledge to reach the magical “$1000 genome” price point as early as spring 2009.

DNA Nanoballs, Petabytes of Data Mark Complete Genomics Platform

10/6/2008

Bio-IT World | With the unveiling today of the next phase of the next-generation sequencing era by Complete Genomics comes intense scrutiny of the sequencing-by-hybridization strategy that the company says will deliver one million genome sequences in the next five years

Biochemist Robert Tjian Elected as New HHMI President

10/1/2008

HHMI News | The Trustees of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute announced the election of Robert Tjian of the University of California, Berkeley, as the Institute's new president.

Merck KGaA Open to Taking Part in ImClone Bid

10/1/2008

Reuters | Merck KGaA MRCD.DE would not bid for ImClone Systems Inc. on its own, but may consider taking part in a potential approach for the U.S. drugmaker, Merck's Chief Executive Karl-Ludwig Kley said.

FDA Awards $2.5 Billion to Modernize IT Infrastructure

10/1/2008

FDA News | The FDA announced the selection of 10 contractors to receive up to a total of $2.5 billion for information technology and data center management services over the next 10 years.

Cambridge Biotech Raises $40M to Test Alzheimer's Drug

9/30/2008

Boston Globe | Link Medicine Corp., a Cambridge biotech company, plans to say today that it raised $40 million in additional venture funding to help launch clinical trials for its lead drug, a pill designed to treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

BRIDG Moves Toward Double Layer of Semantics

9/30/2008

Bio-IT World | Subject matter experts and IT professionals involved in clinical trials should both be happier with the next release of BRIDG, the domain analysis model aimed at synchronizing semantics within the clinical research and healthcare enterprises.

Orchid Chem, US Merck in Drug Discovery Pact

9/30/2008

Reuters India | Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd and U.S.-based Merck & Co Inc will work together to develop new drugs to treat bacterial and fungal infections, the Indian firm said on Monday.

Pfizer Ends Heart Disease Research; Focuses on Cancer

9/30/2008

Bloomberg | Pfizer Inc. is ending early-stage development of treatments for a range of illnesses from obesity to heart disease to focus on more profitable diseases.

Launching Strategic Medicine Inc.

9/29/2008

Bio-IT World | SMI president and managing director Michael Liebman is trying to commercialize not one, but several technology-based initiatives at roughly the same time.

ImClone's New Erbitux Problem

9/29/2008

Forbes | ImClone seems to be knee-deep these days with complaints about its behavior toward its marketing partners for its blockbuster cancer drug, Erbitux.

Cantor: Genetically Engineered Humans Will Be Reality by 2028

9/29/2008

Hindu Business Line | HYDERABAD | Genetically engineered humans will be a reality, whether we like it or not or whether it is ethical or not, says Sequenom CEO Charles Cantor.

Cancer Studies Suggest Pathways Are Best Targets

9/26/2008

Bio-IT World | This month, two papers in Science described the integrated genomic analysis of pancreatic cancer and a form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme. They suggest that the pharmaceutical and health care industries must fight solid tumors differently—principally by aiming at pathways rather than individual targets and focusing on early detection rather late-stage cures.

New Way to Make Stem Cells Is Safer: U.S. Research

9/26/2008

Reuters | Researchers have developed a safer way to make powerful stem cells from ordinary skin cells, taking one more step toward so-called regenerative medicine.