• Ensemble, Genentech Development Collaboration

    May 31, 2012, 01:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Mass High Tech | Ensemble Therapeutics and Genentech are collaborating on macrocyclic drug candidates against targets identified by Genentech. The companies will use the Ensemblin collection of macrocycles and Ensemble's proprietary drug discovery platform. 
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  • GSK Steps Up Bid for Human Genome Sciences

    May 31, 2012, 00:00 AM by Michael Croft
    CNBC | GlaxoSmithKline is hoping to replace the board of Human Genome Sciences with its own representatives, reaching out to executives who could be nominated as "independent" directors. 
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  • Foundation Medicine Announces First Genomic Profile for Patient Treatment

    May 30, 2012, 04:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | Foundation Medicine has announced the commercial launch of FoundationOne, the first pan-cancer, fully informative genomic profile designed to help oncologists expand their patients’ treatment options. 
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  • Computer-Aided Drug Design

    May 30, 2012, 00:05 AM by Michael Croft
    Texas Advanced Computing Center | Drug discovery with 3D help may be a lot more efficient than traditional methods. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin's Computational Visualization Center have attacked each step of the drug discovery process. 
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  • Immunogenomics Conference

    May 30, 2012, 00:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Nature | The HudsonAlpha Institute in Huntsville, Ala. is hosting a conference covering immunology, genomics, bioinformatics, and clinical interactions. 
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  • PCORI’s Research Agenda is Broad, Cost-Neutral

    May 29, 2012, 05:00 AM by Michael Croft
    eCliniqua | The role of cost and patients in comparative effectiveness research (CER) were among the themes of a Post-Approval Summit held earlier this month at Harvard Medical School*. So, too, was the agenda and funding priorities of the latest actor in the CER arena: the independent, multi-stakeholder Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). 
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  • 23andMe Announces First Patent

    May 29, 2012, 03:00 AM by Michael Croft
    The Spittoon | 23andMe CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki has announced the company's first patent, expected today: “Polymorphisms Related to Parkinson’s Disease.” The patent relates to the company's discovery of a variant in the SGK1 gene that may be protective against individuals at high risk of Parkinson's thanks to the rare LRRK2 G2019S mutation. 
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  • Whole Genome Sequencing Sheds Light on Hepatitis Virus Integration in Cancer Genome

    May 29, 2012, 02:05 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | Researchers focusing on Asian cancers have used whole-genome sequencing to study the level of hepatitis B virus integration in the genomes of cancer patients and to discover three novel genes associated with recurrent hepatitis B virus integration in hepatocellular carcinoma. The study was published today in Nature Genetics. 
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  • May 2012 New Products

    May 29, 2012, 02:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | A summary of the new products in bio-IT released in the past month including NGS sample prep, cloud storage-as-a-service, clinical trial document management, and more. 
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  • Antipsychotic Shows Anticancer Activity

    May 25, 2012, 03:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Winnipeg Free Press | Canadian researchers screened about 3,000 compounds looking for those that would selectively inhibit cancer stem cells. Of the 20 promising results, one was the antipsychotic drug thioridazine. 
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  • Singapore Fellowship Offers Up To $2.4m to Individual Researcher

    May 24, 2012, 07:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | The Singapore National Research Foundation (NRF) Fellowship has released the call for applicants for the sixth annual Singapore NRF Fellowship. The fellowship consists of a five-year research grant of up to $2.4 million to an individual, for research undertaken in Singapore. Fellowship proposals are due by August 15, 2012. 
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  • Amgen Revives Drug Thanks to Biomarker Data

    May 24, 2012, 02:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bloomberg | In light of a small set of data, Amgen is reviving its gastric cancer drug rilotumumab that seems to show efficacy for patients with high levels of c-Met, a protein linked to cancer growth. The revival is a win for personalized medicine. 
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  • Personalized Genetic Testing Only for 'Clinical Trial Setting'

    May 24, 2012, 01:00 AM by Michael Croft
    CNN | The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released its recommendation this week that personalized genetic tests be only used in a clinical trial setting, saying the tests are not "ready for prime time." 
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  • Ra Pharmaceuticals Launches Protein-Like Drugs

    May 24, 2012, 01:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Xconomy | Ra Pharmaceuticals is announcing its technology platform to develop protein-like molecules that it calls Cyclomimetrics. The technology was licensed from Uppsala University in Sweden, and makes large molecules that can be made into pills. 
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  • Ring My BEL: Selventa Releases Biological Expression Language

    May 23, 2012, 18:00 PM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | With a recent rebranding and evolving business model, Selventa—the company formerly known as Genstruct—has decided to release a key knowledge engineering asset to the scientific community. 
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  • Big Trial Starting for Genentech's Alzheimer's Drug

    May 23, 2012, 04:00 AM by Michael Croft
    New York Times | Genentech's new Alzheimer's drug trial will test the drug on 200 patients with a genetic mutation for early-onset disease (with half receiving placebo) and another 100 family members without the mutation. 
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  • Spectra Logic Tape Storage Beefs Up NCSA Blue Waters Supercomputer

    May 22, 2012, 06:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) has selected T-Finity tape libraries from Boulder, CO-based Spectra Logic to provide hundreds of petabytes of data storage for its upcoming Blue Waters supercomputing system, one of the most powerful supercomputing systems in the world. 
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  • Building Electronic Clinical Trials is Grueling and Slow—Recent Survey

    May 22, 2012, 01:00 AM by Michael Croft
    eCliniqua | The tedious process of building an electronic clinical trial is a stubborn bottleneck requiring too much time and too many resources. Those are the topline results of a 2011 survey conducted at two annual meetings—the Drug Information Association (DIA) and the Society for Clinical Data Management (SCDM). Cmed Technology, a UK-based provider of eClinical solutions developed and administered the survey, which resulted in 87 respondents from 55 companies.
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  • Human Genome Exhibition Set to Mark Project’s 10th Anniversary

    May 21, 2012, 12:40 PM by Michael Croft
    Bio-IT World | The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is planning a “high-tech, high-intensity” museum exhibition next year to mark the 10th anniversary of the official completion of the Human Genome Project, with millions of dollars pledged already by the Life Technologies Foundation, the Brin Wojcicki Foundation, and other donors.   
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  • California Considers New Genetic Privacy Law

    May 21, 2012, 04:00 AM by Michael Croft
    Scientific American | First there was GINA, now GIPA? The Genetic Information Privacy Act, currently under consideration by California lawmakers, would require an individual's written consent for the collection, analysis, or sharing of any genetic information. 
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