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Collapse of Big Pharma Deal Involving California Stem Cell Agency

Posted: December 5, 2012 at 12:30 pm

A ballyhooed deal has blown apart that
would have hooked up – for the first time – Big Pharma and the $3
billion California stem cell agency.

The breakdown of the arrangement was
quietly disclosed yesterday in background material prepared for the
Dec. 12 meeting of the stem cell agency's governing board.

The deal was first announced Oct. 25
when Viacyte, Inc., of San Diego, received a $10.1 million award to
help finance a clinical trial for a diabetes treatment involving
Viacyte and GlaxoSmithKline.

The CIRM background memo said this week, however,

“We have recently been informed that
GSK was not able to obtain the final approval required due to
business reasons in the context of GSK's overall research and
development portfolio and investment needs and not as a result of any
scientific or technical assessment of ViaCyte's program.”

The memo gave no further details about
the Glaxo decision.

CIRM staff proposed that Viacyte, which
has received $36 million from CIRM, be given another $3 million
because Glaxo has exited the trial.

The arrangement involving Glaxo,
Viacyte and CIRM was trumpeted in October, when Viacyte was awarded
the $10 million. Officials of the stem cell agency said the award
was a “watershed” for CIRM. Jason Gardner, head of the Glaxo stem
cell unit and who attended the meeting, told the California Stem Cell
Report that the arrangement was a partnership and that the company
intended to develop a sustainable pipeline.

It was the second significant
business-connected deal that has collapsed for the $3 billion agency
within the last 13 months. In November 2011, Geron abandoned its
clinical trial for spinal injuries. CIRM had loaned Geron $25 million
for the trial just three months earlier. The company paid the money
back with interest.

CIRM staff said that advisors to the
agency remain “extremely positive” about the Viacyte research and
“strongly recommended” that the company receive the additional $3
million. The memo said that trial has a “strong potential” to be
commercialized.

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/p-E0ivzGfr0/collapse-of-big-pharma-deal-involving.html

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

Chemistry World Christmas quiz, day 3

Posted: December 5, 2012 at 8:58 am

The answer’s to these questions can be found here. Day 4 of the quiz can now be found here.

On the third day of Christmas… Well, you get the idea. It’s day 3 of the Chemistry World quiz.

Today’s first question is: Why was this (erroneous) structure of a chemical, isolated from fungi found on a dead log in Siberia, back in the news this year, after first causing controversy back in 2006?

What is this structure?

Who became president of the Royal Society of Chemistry in July?

And now the answers to yesterday’s quiz. The giant of organic synthesis who joined Rice University was none other than K C Nicolaou.

The nerve gas that researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory figured out how to destroy safely using computer simulations was VX. Nicholas Cage’s approach to dealing with VX in the film The Rock could be described as rather more hands on! Finally, for the bonus point, the chemical name of VX is (O-ethyl S-[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl] methylphosphonothioate). Very well done if you got that. You can read about the LANL scientists’ work here.

As always, don’t phone, it’s just for fun!

Source:
http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/cw/2012/12/05/chemistry-world-quiz-day-3/

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

Extra, Extra! CIRM Staffers Blog the World Stem Cell Summit

Posted: December 5, 2012 at 2:53 am

Years ago, I worked with an editor who
used to advise his lagging scribes to put their noses in their
typewriters and peck.

Well, the folks at the California stem cell agency have their
noses in what passes today for typewriters and are pecking away
furiously. Their subject is the World Stem Cell Summit, which has
received only slight coverage in the mainstream media.

Today, the stem “cellists” from San
Francisco's King Street filed -- on the agency's blog -- three fulsome
items on doings at the summit, which is taking place in West Palm
Beach, Fla. Yesterday they filed four. Photos and charts were
included. More coverage is expected tomorrow.

CIRM staffers blogging the World Stem Cell Summit
covered UC Davis researcher Paul Knoepfler discussing
patient advocacy and its role in funding stem cell research.

The CIRM writers are doing double-duty
in at least one case. Geoff Lomax, the agency's senior officer for
its standards group, is additionally speaking on a panel at the session. A
handful of other CIRM officials are also appearing at the conference,
which ends tomorrow.

The primary purpose, we presume, of
sending state employees across the country is to gather the latest
information on stem cell science and issues and to make contacts. It
is a bit of a bonus for the public to have the CIRM attendees also
file stories on the sessions.

A couple of the items caught my
attention. One dealt with patient advocates and their role in
energizing and helping to drive funding for research. Another item
discussed what appear to be growing issues with dubious stem cell treatments and the damage they can do to the field in general.

Lomax summarized the signs of a stem
cell scam like this:

“Claims of miracle cures for
diseases
“Single treatments or cells that
can treat any type of disease
“Lack of objective information,
evidence (such as published medical reports) that a treatment is
effective
“Treatment by a doctor who is
not trained or certified to treat the specific disease
“No system exists to collect
information and follow up with patients”

Source:
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/uqpFc/~3/usBXfuFwqy4/extra-extra-cirm-staffers-blog-world.html

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

Chemistry World Christmas quiz, day 2

Posted: December 4, 2012 at 11:57 am

The other turtle dove must have flown

The answers to today’s quiz can be found here. Day 3′s quiz can be found here.

And on the second day of the Christmas quiz my true love brought to me… the answers to yesterday’s posers (see below).

But first, it’s time for today’s questions: Which giant of total synthesis announced in September that he would be joining Rice University next year?

Richard Gee and his team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, US, used molecular dynamics simulations to work out a way to decontaminate a deadly nerve gas, made famous by the Nicolas Cage film The Rock. What was the nerve agent ? Give yourself a bonus point if you know the chemical name of the compound!

And now the answers to yesterday’s brainteasers:

The molecule that resembles the Olympic rings was, of course, dubbed Olympicene. You can read our story about it here and read about the synthesis at Chemspider.

Craig Hill, an inorganic chemist at Emory University, was the researcher who asked for several of his papers to be retracted because he hadn’t actually broken the ‘oxo wall’ (the wall is a metaphor for the impossibility of forming terminal oxo bonds in elements in group 9 and beyond) as he first thought. You can read about the controversy here.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more questions.

Source:
http://prospect.rsc.org/blogs/cw/2012/12/04/chemistry-world-quiz-day-2/

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

TEDxSalford – Sir Ian Wilmut – From Dolly to Curing Human Disease – Video

Posted: December 4, 2012 at 11:49 am

TEDxSalford - Sir Ian Wilmut - From Dolly to Curing Human Disease
Sir Ian Wilmut is a world-renowned embryologist and specialist in regenerative medicine. He is best known as the man who led the team that in 1996 first cloned a mammal, a Finn Dorset lamb named "Dolly". Dolly was the first ever clone derived from an adult cell. The research resulting in Dolly #39;s birth stemmed from efforts to genetically engineer sheep and cows in order that their milk would contain human proteins with medicinal properties, such as human antibodies. More recently he was the founding Director of the Centre for Regenerative Medicine in the University of Edinburgh. The Mission of this rapidly expanding Centre is to develop new treatments for human disease through innovative research with stem cells. The new Centre covers the full spectrum of research -- from basic mechanisms of stem cell biology, to clinical trials with stem cells and their derivatives. The aim of his own research is to be able to produce human cells for use in research and in future for treatment of diseases, such as motor Neuron Disease. In his talk he will describe the way in which the cloning research has provided revolutionary new opportunities in regenerative medicine. Credits: Camerawork: Nathan Rae Team - nathanrae.co.uk Post production: Elliott Wragg - twitter.com Audio restoration : Jorge Polvorinos - jorgepolvorinos.wordpress.com Heat of IT and Design Vlad Victor Jiman - twitter.comFrom:TEDxTalksViews:5 1ratingsTime:19:27More inNonprofits Activism

More here:
TEDxSalford - Sir Ian Wilmut - From Dolly to Curing Human Disease - Video

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith

Presentation- Mayo Clinic, Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome – Video

Posted: December 4, 2012 at 11:49 am

Presentation- Mayo Clinic, Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome
Nearly 2000 infants are born each year with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and require immediate surgical intervention -- these children remain at risk for a heart transplant throughout their lives. The Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) is a purpose-driven operation forged within an academic medical environment that is designed to accelerate idealism into practice. This entity emerged out of the innovative spirit of Mayo Clinic, dedicated participation of HLHS patients and families, and the focused milestone-based vision of its philanthropic partner. The principle objective of the program is to delay or prevent heart transplant by applying functional regenerative strategies for children with HLHS. Presented by: Timothy J. Nelson, MD, PhD Director of Regenerative Medicine Consult Service, Transplant Center, Director of the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, Mayo Clinic Mindy Rice Program Manager, Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, Mayo ClinicFrom:FasterCuresViews:4 0ratingsTime:28:28More inNonprofits Activism

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Presentation- Mayo Clinic, Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome - Video

Recommendation and review posted by G. Smith