Biotechnology news from around the world.
- Amgen posts profit rise
- Bayer to buy Visible Genetics
- Japan to create stem cell bank
- NIH budget increases 16 per cent
- Human trial ethics questioned
- Singapore approves new embryo cloning guidelines
Amgen posts profit rise
24 July – On the strength of sales of Neupogen, its new infection-fighting drug, Amgen has posted a quarterly profit rise of 28 per cent. The company, which recently acquired its smaller rival Immunex, exceeded analysts' expectations to report a net income of US$412m for the second quarter. The equivalent net income one year ago was US$322m. Full-year 2002 earnings are expected to grow by around 25 per cent.
[Source: Reuters]
Bayer to buy Visible Genetics
23 July – In a US$61.4m cash deal that will expand Bayer's presence in the diagnostics market, Bayer Diagnostics is to acquire Visible Genetics Inc. The sale, which is subject to the approval of Visible Genetics' shareholders and regulators, forms part of Bayer's strategy to expand its infectious disease portfolio. As part of the transaction, Bayer will acquire the Trugene HIV-1 genotyping assay, currently the only commercially available FDA-approved HIV sequencing resistance test.
[Source: Dow Jones]
Japan to create stem cell bank
28 July – Japan's Education, Science and Technology Ministry is to launch a five-year project to establish a human stem cell bank. The bank, part of the country's effort to create a foundation for regenerative medicine, will assist in the development of technologies to use cells and genes to repair or replace damaged human tissues. To mitigate ethical debate, the facility will utilise stem cells from donated umbilical cords. Stem cells obtained from the cord blood are to be donated to medical institutes.
[Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun]
NIH budget increases 16 per cent
25 July – A US Senate panel has added 16 per cent to the budget of the National Institutes of Health, doubling the organisation's total budget from four years ago. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a budget of US$27.2bn for the NIH for the year commencing 1 October, which is double the 1998 budget.
[Source: SPIN News]
Human trial ethics questioned
17 July – A paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association questions whether clinical trials that are too small to prove a treatment's efficacy should ever proceed. The paper's authors claim that most such studies are unethical, as they are insufficiently useful to justify exposing patients to the risks and burdens of research. They claim that such studies should only be conducted in special circumstances, such as when a disease is rare. The authors also call on ethics committees, funding agencies and journal editors to maintain a strict requirement for adequate research methodology when approving, funding or publishing any trial. As a minimum, the authors claim that all clinical trials should be large enough to indicate an 80 per cent likelihood of detecting a clinically significant effect.
[Source: Reuters Health - Merritt McKinney]
Singapore approves new embryo cloning guidelines
18 July – Singapore has joined the growing number of countries to develop guidelines for embryo research and cloning. Under the new recommendations, scientists will be able to clone 'spare' embryos from IVF treatment and keep resulting embryos for up to 14 days, to extract stem cells. Permission to undertake such research is proposed only for experiments with strong scientific merit or potential medical benefit.
[Source: BioExchange.com]