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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: biotechnology

biotechnology stories: 17 news summaries

 Rich May 
 Evolve Into 
 Own Species 

Wealthy winning huge edge with longer life, access to biotechnology

Oct 26, 09 4:41 AM CDT
(Newser) - The super wealthy will have such access to high levels of health care, biotechnology and robotics that they could develop into their own species of being, argues a Silicon Valley  futurist. The rich will be able to grow their own organs and manipulate genetics for superior abilities and freedom from... More »

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health care • biotechnology • organs • species • robotics • rich • wealthy • Paul Scoffo

Drug Makers' Big Spending Pays Off on Hill

Biologics debate shows how lobbyists shape health debate

Oct 22, 09 12:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Drugmakers could get quite a gift from the health care reform bill. Senate and House amendments passed this summer give the makers of biologics—next-generation wonder drugs derived from living matter—12 years of exclusivity on their hyperexpensive products. That’s 7 more years than normal drugs get, and critics... More »

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biotechnology • Senate Health Committee • lobbying • lobbyists • health care reform • House Energy and Commerce Committee • biotech companies • biologics

(Newser) - Swiss drug giant Roche has succeeded in its quest to own biotech firm Genentech outright, and will purchase the 44% of shares it does not already own for $95 each, the San Francisco Chronicle reports today. The $46.8 billion deal comes after months of haggling, wherein Roche offered as... More »

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California • San Francisco • pharmaceutical companies • hostile takeover • mergers and acquisitions • biotechnology • Genentech • Roche • biotech companies

New Robotic Arm Takes Cues From Brain

Improvements in field have given amputees dexterity, independence

Feb 11, 09 10:50 AM CST
(Newser) - Artificial limbs have come a long way from the wooden legs and plastic arms of old: Today's prosthetics take messages directly from the brain. Their performance far exceeds that of the previous generation of devices, which required concentrated effort to make ungainly motions. "You think, and then your muscles... More »

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medical breakthrough • biotechnology • prosthesis • robotic arm • amputees • prosthetics • artificial limb • biomedical engineering

FDA Approves Drug Made From Gene-Tweaked Goats

Landmark decision could signal start of large-scale 'pharming' for drugs

Feb 7, 09 7:07 AM CST
(Newser) - An FDA decision to approve a drug made from genetically engineered goats is being called a milestone decision likely to lead to many more "pharm animals," the Boston Globe reports. Biotech firm GTC says the milk from a single genetically modified goat can produce as much of the... More »

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genetic modification • livestock • biotechnology • prescription drugs • pharmaceutical • goats • pharmaceutical industry

FDA OKs Pioneering
Stem Cell Trial

First-ever test of therapy on spinal cord injuries hailed as milestone

Jan 23, 09 3:00 AM CST
(Newser) - The FDA has approved the world's first-ever human trial of a medical treatment using embryonic stem cells, the New York Times reports. The move is being hailed as a watershed moment for medical research. Biotech company Geron plans to inject the cells—which can turn into any type of cell... More »

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stem cell research • FDA • stem cells • biotechnology • clinical trials • spinal cord

Glossies

 Biotech Boom Finally Fizzles 

Riskiest sector hit by downturn

Jan 21, 09 7:00 AM CST
(Newser) - In the bullish market, biotechnology was flush with investment, even though one drug might take many as 15 years and as much as a billion dollars to produce—but those days are over for the riskiest technology sector. Portfolio reports that 45% of publicly traded biotech companies will run out... More »

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biotechnology • venture capital • investment • venture capitalists • JPMorgan Chase • economic downturn

Engineered Goats May
Usher In New Age of Drugs

Animals' bodies act as processors for key protein

Jan 10, 09 12:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Goats could be the pharma factories of tomorrow: Genetic engineering can prompt them to make a protein in their milk to fight excessive blood clotting. A medication culled from the process was greeted warmly yesterday by an expert panel, and now the FDA is looking into it. If approved, the... More »

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medicine • medical breakthrough • health • biotechnology • goats • pharmaceutical industry • animal

Ailing Biotech Firms Need
Shot in the Arm

Flatlining economy threatens breakthrough medical research

Nov 21, 08 1:05 PM CST
(Newser) - For the first time in years, the biotech industry is in desperate need of a lifeline, Bloomberg reports, as the economic crisis threatens to shove companies into bankruptcy and derail the development of potentially life-saving drugs. “I’m looking down the barrel of a gun,” admitted one CEO.... More »

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Wall Street • investors • pharmaceutical companies • GlaxoSmithKline • stocks • biotechnology • Parkinson's disease • IPO • multiple sclerosis • biotech companies • Alzheimer's Disease • financial crisis

OPINION

 Our Economic Cure? Innovation 

Innovation, and making it more efficient, can turn gray skies blue

Sep 14, 08 1:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - Democrats and Republicans do have something in common: Both parties are wrong on how to resuscitate the flat-lining US economy, Michael Mandel argues in BusinessWeek. Tax cuts or increased government spending aren’t the cure. “Innovation is the best—and maybe the only—way the US can get out... More »

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China • Democrats • Republican • India • trade • biotechnology • innovation • economist • nanotechnology • US productivity • tax cuts • research and development • information technology • foreign oil

Arabs Building First Green City

Run on solar power, Masdar City will cost $22 billion and take 8 years to construct

Feb 10, 08 5:14 PM CST
(Newser) - Earth's first carbon-free city is being built in the United Arab Emirates and will take 8 years and $22 billion to complete, the BBC reports. Called Masdar City, it will run on solar power and shuttle residents on travel pods via magnetic tracks. But critics say the $22 billion project,... More »

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biotechnology • Abu Dhabi • United Arab Emirates • clean energy • green • Masdar City • sustainability

10 Life-Changing Innovations

These technologies may ultimately transform human existence

Jan 20, 08 12:33 PM CST
(Newser) - From omnipresent Internet to cloned donor organs, LiveScience picks 10 new technologies that, when fully developed, will transform our lives.
  1. Digital libraries: When all of humanity's texts are digitized, any factual question will be answerable online.
  2. Gene therapy/stem cells: The key to curing some of our nastiest afflictions.
... More »

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list • biotechnology • cloning • WiFi • green technology • hydrogen fuel cells • WiMAX • Moore's Law • information technology • 3G

Street Yawns at Genentech Quarterlies

Despite beating analysts' revenue and profit forecast, biotech's share price drops

Jan 15, 08 11:09 AM CST
(Newser) - Drug maker Genentech – struggling with near-flat sales of its two premier drugs, Avastin and Rituxan – managed to outperform analyst’s fourth quarter expectations – barely, reports the Associated Press. The one-time biotech uber star, which recorded phenomenal growth in each of the two previous years, showed only a... More »

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earnings reports • biotechnology • Genentech • pharmaceutical • Avastin • Rituxan

Merck May Pay $700M
for Schizophrenia Drug

Pharma giant restocks pipeline by snapping up Swiss psychotherapy

Jan 3, 08 11:42 AM CST
(Newser) - Merck today finalized a deal worth as much as $700 million to license a schizophrenia drug from Swiss biotech firm Addex Pharmaceuticals. Addex will get $22 million up front, and qualify for another $680 million in milestone payments. Such licensing deals are growing commonplace, Reuters reports, as big pharma turns... More »

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Merck • schizophrenia • pharmaceutical companies • biotechnology • psychotherapy

Biotech Giant Slashes Jobs

World biggest biotech cuts 2,600 jobs in $2B restructuring

Aug 16, 07 1:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Biotech giant Amgen is slashing spending by $1.9 billion by cutting up to 14 percent of its workforce— 2,600 jobs—and closing some production facilities. The restructuring was triggered by plummeting sales of the company's anemia drug Aranesp. The shake up demonstrates that biotech operations are not immune... More »

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biotechnology • Amgen • Aranesp • Genentech • restructuring • Cera • Roche Holding • Kevin Sharer

10 Technologies on the Cusp

MIT experts look ahead at breakthroughs and brainstorms that may change the way we live

Aug 5, 07 2:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Technology Review presents 10 technologies you'll soon be hearing about.
  1. Peer-to-peer networking as a way for legitimate businesses to handle heavy data streaming.
  2. Nanocharging solar, which could make solar power cost-competitive.
  3. Artifically structured metamaterials.
  4. Personalized medical monitors.
  5. Single-cell analysis.
More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • medical breakthrough • science • list • biotechnology • solar energy

Scientists on
the Brink of
Artificial Life

Synthetic genomes close to creating
new bacteria

Jun 29, 07 7:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - The first artificial life could be created within months as researchers emboldened by "species transplant" experiments prepare to insert synthetic genomes into a host bacterium, the Daily Telegraph reports. Maryland scientists have been replacing one bacterium's DNA with another, transforming the host  into the invader, and now plan to... More »

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science • DNA • biofuel • biotechnology • bacteria

17 Stories


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