Category Archives: BioEngineering

Remember a few years ago when biotech ETFs were the hottest ticket in town? ETFs like the iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF (IBB) and the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) would rally 75% or more in a given year.

We saw bubblelike rallies in the early 2000s. We saw them again in the mid-2010s.

Then, in the last few years, this health care segment all but lost the wind on its sails.

Biggest Biotech ETF

IBB, the biggest biotech ETF, with $7.4 billion in assets under management, hasnt retested record highs in five years, grinding sideways for much of the time.

Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com

What Gives?

As a segment, biotech seemed reenergized in the last quarter of 2019. Strong fundamentals, attractive prices following a prolonged decline, and plenty of capital going around to fund these growthy names all pushed the segment higher late last year.

Many analysts kicked off 2020 by calling for biotech stocks to shine this year, continuing 2019s late upward momentum.

The goodand sometimes badnews for biotech ETF investors is that it doesnt take much to see biotech stock prices move sharply.

Virus Outbreak Puts Funds In Spotlight

This week, weve witnessed exactly thata sudden turnaroundwith the outbreak of the coronavirus in Asia pushing vaccine and other biotech names sharply higher.

Vaccine developer Novavax (NVAX) was up almost 13% in early trade Thursday after earlier-week gains; Moderna (MRNA) was up nearly 10%. These stocks have been rallying as news of the spreading outbreak hits the market.

Novavax is a micro-cap stock thats nowhere to be found in the biggest biotech ETFs. The only allocation to that stock in this segmentand a very small one at that, at 0.01%is in the iShares Evolved U.S. Innovative Healthcare ETF (IEIH).

IEIH is part of iShares Evolved lineup of funds that relies on artificial intelligence to define sectors, and its not truly a biotech fund. With 233 stocks, IEIH offers exposure to pharmaceuticals and biotechnology companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer and Bristol-Myers.

(Use ourstock finder toolto find an ETFs allocation to a certain stock.)

Accessing Moderna is a little easier. The stock can be found in several biotech ETFs, including IBB and XBI (between 1-1.5%).

But the biggest allocation to this stock is in much smaller funds that have been gathering traction due to their strong focus on genetics and immunotherapy.

Smaller Genetics-Focused ETFs Standing Out

Among the funds to note here is the Loncar Cancer Immunotherapy ETF (CNCR), which has Moderna among its top five holdings, at 4.5% of the portfolio.

CNCR is a portfolio of companies that manufacture cancer immunotherapy drugs or that are in clinical trials for these drugs in the U.S. and in Europe. The mix is equal-weighted, offering more exposure to some smaller names in this segment.

The iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF (IDNA) is another ETF that has Moderna, at about 4.2% allocation. IDNA invests in companies involved in genomics, immunology and bioengineering across the globe. Stocks in this portfolio are scored based on revenue generated by these industries, looking for companies that would benefit the most from any innovation in these areas. IDNA launched last summer, and has $26.5 million in total assets.

Another small ETF that could emerge as a winner on the heels of this China-centered virus outbreak is a fund that focuses on Chinas biopharma segment, the Loncar China BioPharma ETF (CHNA). The fund invests in pharmaceutical and biotech companies, drug manufacturers and service providers, focusing on the biggest innovators in the space.

Its a tiny ETF, with under $12 million in assets, but, its also a young fund, having come to market in 2018.

Standout Favorite

One fund that has been emerging as a star in this segment, and becoming a favorite in this space, is the ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG).

ARKG is an actively managed fund that targets companies involved in the genomics industry. These are mostly small companiesthe average market cap of the portfolio is $20 billionand the fund relies on ARKs expertise to get in and out of positions as the market turns. Biotech represents about 75% of the funds segment breakdown, with names like Illumina, CRISPR Therapies and Invitae leading allocation.

ARKG is up 82.2% since its debut about five years ago, and currently sits near all-time highs. The fund has amassed more than $505 million in total assets under management along the way.

Whats Ahead?

At the end of day, it remains to be seen what happens next in biotech.

The question has lingered as to what drove the segment to have such lackluster performance in the past few years. This is a segment that sits on the edge of technological and scientific innovation, so has the poor performance (up until recently) been a reflection of a lack of new breakthroughs? Maybe.

And if so, it could be that 2020 changes that narrative as the market awaits what could potentially be the first Alzheimers drug to gain approval, according to reports.

It could also be that the recent track record on earnings and IPOs for this segment is mixed at bestthere have been success stories, but plenty of disappointment as well. Biotech companies are great at innovating, but they struggle to make a profit a lot of times.

In fact, most biotech ETFs have portfolios with negative price-to-earnings ratios, meaning these companies, which hold massive growth potential, often lose a lot of money along the way. Consider that XBI, for examplewhich holds more than 120 stockshas currently a weighted average P/E of -20, according to FactSet data. IBBs P/E is massively negative as well. CNCR and ARKG are in the same boat.

Perhaps its that biotech cant shake off the political overhang, with drug pricing at the forefront of political debates. And the ongoing opioid epidemic and subsequent lawsuits making for sensational headlines dont help.

Chances are, its a little bit of everything driving this segment up and down.

Contact Cinthia Murphy at [emailprotected]

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The Love & Hate Of Biotech ETFs - ETF.com

Back to the Future movies sparked Thomas D. Grants interest in science when he was growing up in Clarence.

The flux capacitor always fascinated me, said Grant, 34, who still lives in the town and got his college degrees at the University at Buffalo. I was into particle physics and cosmology, learning about the universe, things like that.

Grant spends these days on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus exploring ways to speed development of drugs that can save and sustain life, thanks in part to a new $1.33 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to better understand how drugs work and bring more advanced drug discovery processes to human clinical trials.

Grant holds a bachelors degree in mathematical physics. He pursued a doctorate in structural biology early last decade after his mother, Kathleen, then a Williamsville North High School science teacher, visited the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and suggested he could put his undergraduate background to work in medicine.

Grant two years ago became a research assistant professor in the Department of Structural Biology at the UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He also works at BioXFEL, a research center headquartered at UB and adjoined to the institute where he trained.

Just as the Human Genome Project now provides researchers with more ways to determine how genes impact human development, performance and illness, a similar collection of more than 150,000 known proteins called the Protein Data Bank also helps tell the story. That database serves as a cornerstone of Grants work.

Thomas D. Grant is combining two methods at the molecular level to find out how drugs in development react to proteins known to help cause disease. He is a research assistant professor in the Department of Structural Biology at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. (Photo by Sandra Kicman, courtesy of UB)

His research involves introducing drugs in development into proteins known to help cause disease. He then bombards them with high-intensity X-ray beams in a process called crystallography, and examines the X-ray patterns that develop to determine how the drugs change the shapes of those proteins.

These X-ray beams will scatter off the crystal in a very particular way, he said. We can take a picture of the way those X-rays scatter, and we can use physics and math and computers to back calculate what the structure of the protein is in the crystal. That's how we've determined the structures of proteins for the last 50 years or so.

The process, however, is arduous, time-consuming and successful only about 25% of the time, so Grant also is using solution scattering, mixing the drug-protein combinations with a mostly water solution and using high-intensity X-rays to study their structures.

You can do solution scattering much more quickly since it doesnt need a crystal, he said.

Grant is the only one in the world using this combination. He then feeds the results into a UB supercomputer that can analyze the results quickly.

He calls the method a rational drug design process that can study thousands of potential drugs more quickly to determine side effects, the most effective dosages and other benefits and maybe one day lower drug costs.

This is good, he said, because well have a lot more capability of curing diseases that haven't been cured, getting rid of side effects that we haven't been able to get rid of with the traditional ways.

Grant and his co-investigators Andrew Bruno, with the UB Center for Computational Research, and Lee Makowski, professor and chair of bioengineering at Northeastern University in Boston, an expert in solution scattering aim to perfect and streamline the process this decade.

That may seem like a long time, but many of todays popular drugs, particularly those that fight cancer, took at least twice as long.

Still, to be sure, the pace of drug development has quickened during the last half-century.

For thousands of years, it was traditional therapies, Grant said. People would find out that some flower in the Amazon made your headache go away, or something like that. As we got more technologically advanced, we realized that there were parts of the flowers that were causing this effect, so people would grind them up, and then they would try and identify what part was the key ingredient. Then they would figure out what the ingredient was, isolate it, and turn that into a pill.

Now that we have a lot more science behind it, we can do more rational drug discovery where we can say we have this library of compounds, potential drug molecules that we've developed, and we can screen them. And we can say, How do these interact with the proteins we know that are causing some problem or disease?' And we can computationally screen drugs, or do it in a lab, to find some effect.

Roswell researcher seeks cellular clues on his quest to halt cancer

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UB researcher's fascination with the universe focuses on finding better medications - Buffalo News

Biodecontamination market to register a CAGR of 6.1% from 2019 to 2024.The biodecontamination market is projected to reach USD 175 million by 2024 from USD 130 million in 2019, at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2019 to 2024. The growth of the market is largely driven by the rising incidence of hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), growth in the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industries, and increasing outsourcing of biodecontamination services. Emerging economies are expected to provide a wide range of growth opportunities for players in the market.

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05786257/?utm_source=PRN

Equipment accounted for the major share of the market in 2019.By product & service, the biodecontamination market is segmented into equipment, consumables, and services.In 2018, the equipment segment accounted for the largest share of the market.

Services form the fastest-growing segment due to the low cost of services and low capital expenditure required, as compared to purchasing equipment & consumables.

Hydrogen peroxide accounted for the largest share of the biodecontamination market in 2019.On the basis of agent type, the biodecontamination market is segmented into hydrogen peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, chlorine dioxide, and peracetic acid.In 2018, the hydrogen peroxide segment accounted for the largest share of the biodecontamination market.

This segment is also expected to grow at the highest CAGR. Its material compatibility and safety are the major factors contributing to its dominance in the biodecontamination market.

Chamber biodecontamination accounted for the largest share of the biodecontamination market in 2019On the basis of type, the biodecontamination market is segmented into room and chamber biodecontamination.Chamber biodecontamination accounted for the largest share of the market in 2018 and is expected to show the highest growth during the forecast period.

This can be attributed to the lower power consumption, smaller footprint, high adaptation capabilities, and cost-effectiveness of chamber decontamination.

North America dominated the biodecontamination market in 2019.North America, which includes the US, & Canada, accounted for the largest share of the biodecontamination market in 2018. The growth in this market is primarily driven by the growing demand for biodecontamination from the healthcare industry to minimize the occurrence of HAIs, increasing healthcare expenditure, improved healthcare infrastructure, and the presence of major players in the region.

Breakdown of supply-side primary interviews, by company type, designation, and region: By Company Type: Tier 1 (35%), Tier 2 (45%), and Tier 3 (20%) By Designation (Supply Side): C-level (35%), Director-level (45%), and Others (20%) By Region: North America (46%), Europe (28%), Asia (19%), and RoW (7%)

The major players operating in this market are STERIS (US), Ecolab, Inc. (US), TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc. (US), JCE Biotechnology (France), Fedegari Autoclavi SpA (Italy), Zhejiang Tailin Bioengineering Co., Ltd. (China), Noxilizer, Inc. (US), Howorth Air Technology Limited (UK), Wenzhou Weike Biological Laboratory Equipment Co., Ltd. (China), ClorDiSys Solutions Inc. (US), and Amira S.r.l. (Italy). Product launches, expansions, agreements, and acquisitions are the key growth strategies followed by most players in this market.

Research CoverageThis report studies the biodecontamination market based on product & service, agent type, end user, and region.The report also analyzes factors (such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities) affecting market growth.

It evaluates the opportunities and challenges in the market for stakeholders and provides details of the competitive landscape for market leaders.The report also studies micromarkets with respect to their growth trends, prospects, and contributions to the total biodecontamination market.

The report forecasts the revenue of the market segments with respect to four major regions.

Reasons to Buy the Report:

The report provides insights on the following pointers: Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on biodecontamination offered by the top 12 players in the biodecontamination market. The report analyzes the biodecontamination market by product & services, type, agent type, end user, and region. Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyzes the markets for biodecontamination across key geographic regions. Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, and recent developments Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares and strategies of the leading players in the biodecontamination market

Story continues

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Biodecontamination market to register a CAGR of 6.1% from 2019 to 2024 - Yahoo Finance

sourceBrendan McDermid/Reuters

Global stocks dropped on Tuesday as investors braced for a wider outbreak of the mysterious coronavirus as hundreds of millions of people travel across Asia to celebrate Chinese New Year this weekend.

Chinas National Health Commission confirmed cases of the SARS-like virus spreading between humans on Monday. The disease has already infected 224 people and killed four, according to the Financial Times. The World Health Organization will meet on Wednesday to discuss whether to declare the outbreak an international public health emergency.

Travel, retail, and luxury goods stocks fell sharply on concerns that the disease will hit demand. Airlines slumped on fears of crimped travel plans. Pharma stocks in China rose by their 10% daily limit. A maker of face masks in China surged.

Markets are worried about this spreading to more cities, said Neil Wilson at Markets.com.

Heres the market roundup as of 9:10 a.m. in London (4:10 a.m. ET):

The worry is this is another SARS, an outbreak that saw thousands infected and led to hundreds of deaths, said Wilson in a morning note. It also led to billions of dollars of losses and hit Chinese GDP growth by up to one percentage point.

We dont know how bad this will be, but with authorities confirming the disease can spread between humans, its wise to be on guard for this outbreak to get worse before it gets better, he added.

The rest is here:
Stocks are sinking on fears of the deadly virus in China Markets are worried about this spreading to more cities - Business Insider

Fumaric Acid Market 2020

Market OverviewA global market is a large sector with several regions competing against each other for a huge chunk of the market share. In a market that has been existing for several years and having several prominent players, new entrants entering the market must first understand whether they can survive there. An extensive study was conducted to understand the global Fumaric Acid market and where each key player stands. Several factors were taken into consideration before the study. The key players, investment, and their revenue share over the years were also considered for the study. More focus was given to product positioning, product sales, product revenue and product category to effectively understand the Fumaric Acid market.

The effectiveness of the marketing strategies adopted by key players were also considered for the study. The marketing strategies were considered to understand whether the changing market, fluctuation in demand and supply, introduction of technology and other factors had any effect on the marketing strategies. The forecast for the Fumaric Acid market shows a steady growth for the years to come.

The top players covered in report are: Yantai Hengyuan Bioengineering, Bartek Ingredients, Polynt, Thirumalai Chemical, Isegen, Fuso Chemicals, Jiangsu Jiecheng Bioengineering, Changzhou Yabang Chemical, NIPPON SHOKUBAI, Sealong Biotechnology, Changmao Biochemical Engineering, Suzhou Youhe Science and Technology, XST Biological

Market Segmentation:The global Fumaric Acid market was segmented into key players in the market, product type, materials used, end users, product application, and geography for the purpose of the study. The key players were further segmented into global, regional and country-level players, their revenue, and market share. It was important to segment the Fumaric Acid market based on their market share to understand the fluctuations that are affecting individual companies. It was found that there were several external factors that influenced a companys market share globally, and regionally.

Fumaric Acid Market Segment by Type: Food-Grade, Technical-Grade

Fumaric Acid Market Segment by Application: Food & Beverages, Rosin Paper Sizes, Unsaturated Polyester Resin, Alkyd Resinss

Regional Analysis:On the basis of region, the global Fumaric Acid market was segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. The Americas was once the market leader with a major share of the market. Owing to high demand for the products and services of Fumaric Acid market, the global Fumaric Acid market is presently dominated by UK, and France in Europe. Europe had the largest part of the market share followed by China, India, Japan and the rest of Asia Pacific. The study showed that the drastic change in the increased market share of Europe and Asia Pacific is due to the increased investment in technology and infrastructure.

Drivers and Risks:The increased cost of materials, lack of standardization, limitation of product size, limited process control, and government policies may hinder the growth of global Fumaric Acid market in the years to come. Thought competitive market offers a lot of scope for growth, increased cost of production is a factor that is driving away new entrants and investment. But as several key players are willing to invest in technology, the chances of loss are reduced drastically.

Research Methodology:For the purpose of the study, we used the BCG matrix to understand the market growth-share. The BC matrix helped to understand the growth opportunities for Fumaric Acid Market for the years to come. It also helped formulate strategic planning for the forecast period and showed where investment must be made. The study revealed that even with increase in production cost, there is a potential for growth in the market share even for new entrants who embrace technology.

Request For Customization @https://www.qyresearch.com/customize-request/form/718390/global-fumaric-acid-industry-research-report-growth-trends-and-competitive-analysis-2018-2025

Table of Contents Analysis of Key Points

1 Market Overview

2 Manufacturers Profiles

3 Global Fumaric Acid MarketSales, Revenue, Market Share and Competition by Manufacturer (2018-2019)

4 Global Fumaric Acid Market Analysis by Regions

5 North America Fumaric Acid Market by Country

6 Europe Fumaric Acid Market by Country

7 Asia-Pacific Fumaric AcidMarket by Country

8 South America Fumaric AcidMarket by Country

9 Middle East and Africa Fumaric AcidMarket by Countries

10 Fumaric Acid Market Forecast (2020-2026)

11 Sales Channel, Distributors, Traders and Dealers

12 Research Findings and Conclusion

13 Appendix

List of Tables and Figures

Continued..

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Fumaric Acid Market 2020 by Top Manufactures, Drivers, Challenges, Segment Applications, and Forecast 2026 - Bulletin 99

GlobalP / narvikk / Getty Images / WIRED

The new discipline of bioengineering is going to dramatically impact how we produce and consume our food. The petroleum era ushered in many of the marquee companies and manufacturing processes of our generation names such as IBM, BP and Texaco. But we are increasingly aware of the impact these processes have had on the environment. We know that we need to reinvent manufacturing to improve our planet and our health.

Bioengineering which uses a range of approaches from electrical and mechanical engineering, computer and material sciences and, of course, biology marks a shift in our ability to change nature itself. In 2020, we will see biology eat the manufacturing world. New companies will spring up to reinvent the processes by which our food is grown, made and distributed.

Biology is already being engineered to reinvent many of the food processes and products born out of the petroleum era. Take Apeel, which uses nanotechnology to apply natures own protective peel material to fruits and vegetables, allowing them to last up to three times longer without refrigeration. This isnt just about keeping your strawberries fresh; Apeel is revolutionising logistics, as in many cases a cold chain is no longer needed, greatly decreasing cost and increasing optionality and directly addressing worldwide food waste.

Other companies have engineered products such as non-browning apples, by editing the gene that causes the apple to brown. These kinds of products are better for consumers and help our global systems by extending global trade routes, opening up new markets and reducing food waste on a global scale.

And of course we are seeing a move into plant-based meat. Companies such as Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are already gaining traction with consumers. They have created an alternative to meat without the downsides of the traditional meat industry, such as methane production, consumption of grain, and E coli contamination. In 2020, we will see this industry shift further into bioengineered meat made directly from animal cells and requiring neither the birth nor slaughter of more animals.

This approach to manufacturing will spill over into many other food products. Dairy alternatives are already being produced in ways that dont involve cows, from new plant products such as oat milk to milk products that can be grown in plants instead of secreted by cows. Fish, too, will also increasingly be grown from these techniques, helping to address problems such as overfishing, environmental concerns and toxic materials in our aquatic ecosystems.

These products, designed by humans using natures own processes, will be revolutionary in the impact they have on our global economies and the worlds health. And the way they are produced will spill over into other sectors. As bioengineering eats our food system, the biology of our food will in turn eat more of our manufacturing. Companies such as Mycoworks and Bolt are already using materials such as mushrooms to create leather, and well see much more of that things like tree lights and houses that are grown instead of built. We are now seeing the first wave of a coming era in biological innovation, and companies in the sector will become as big as those that came before a bio Del Monte or Cargill for the 21st century.

In 2020, the advances in bioengineering in academia and in industry mean that we will finally have the capability and technology to replace the worlds faulty systems.

Vijay Pande is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz

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The worlds of technology and food have fully collided in a good way - Wired.co.uk