Bio Screening Industry News

INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON CHEMISTRY, BIOLOGY and MEDICINE
Organized on the Occasion of the 60th Birthday of Professor K. C. Nicolaou

CYPRUS / May 28 - June 01, 2006, Elysium Beach Resort, Paphos

Do not miss one of the key events of 2006 ! There are already more than 300 registered participants !

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION OPENED AGAIN UNTIL APRIL 14

A four-day international symposium organized in Cyprus in recognition of Professor K.C. Nicolaou’s 60th birthday. This event should afford the opportunity to recognize Professor Nicolaou for his career and the contributions he has made to Chemistry and Biology together with all the people involved in this scientific work.

Attendance will be limited to provide an environment that is conducive to scientific discussion and exchange. Scientists from industry and academic institutions throughout the world will have the opportunity to participate actively by means of submitting abstracts for poster presentation.

Registration will start on Sunday May 28. The scientific program of the ‘International Symposium on Chemistry, Biology and Medicine’ will begin on Monday May 29 with the opening lecture of Nobel Laureate Prof. E.J. Corey and will include a business mini symposium dedicated to ‘New Trends in Chemistry and Biology Outsourcing’.

New kits for rapid kinase assay development mark second product collaboration between the two companies

Dundee, UK and Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France, March 27, 2006 – Upstate USA, Inc., a subsidiary of Serologicals Corporation and the leader in innovative cell signaling products for life science research and drug discovery, and Cisbio international, a global developer of HTRF® technology and services used in assay development and drug screening, today announced the launch of exclusively co-developed HTRF® KinEASE™, a universal and sensitive assay for Serine/Threonine kinase screening. This new solution offers simplified kinase assay development, allowing for profiling and high-throughput screening (HTS) of a large range of Ser/Thr kinases, major targets in drug discovery.

HTRF® KinEASE™ combines KinEASE™ technology, proprietary antibody and kinase substrates developed by Upstate, with Cisbio’s proprietary homogeneous time resolved fluorescence (HTRF®) technology, a highly sensitive, robust technology for the detection of molecular interactions of proteins in vitro and widely used by the pharmaceutical industry for the HTS stage of drug development. The overall solution is monoclonal antibody based, and consists of three different kits which contain one antibody and one of three defined substrates, S1, S2 or S3. A fourth kit, HTRF® KinEASE™ Discovery, comprises one antibody and all three peptides, for any kinase assay development and optimization. Cisbio will be the exclusive provider of the HTRF® KinEASE™ platform worldwide.

Assay development with HTRF® KinEASE™ is straightforward and can be rapidly completed with results in less than two hours. The high sensitivity of HTRF® technology allows the assay to be performed with low consumption of kinase and substrates. Its common assay format is flexible and can be applied to a range of operating conditions. Over 70 different kinases provided by Upstate have already been validated with this new tool, and adaptation to any new kinase is extremely rapid. There is no limitation in ATP concentration, and it is easily miniaturizable to ≤10µL.

“HTRF® is one of the most widely used formats for HTS within the pharmaceutical industry due to its sensitivity and lack of compound interference,” said David Hayes, Director of R&D, Upstate. “Through our strong collaboration, what we have achieved with this product, HTRF® KinEASE™, is ease of use for our customers, one monoclonal antibody and 70 validated kinases with the potential to expand this product line beyond 100 kinases.”

“HTRF® KinEASE™ combines the performance of HTRF® technology with Upstate’s expertise in kinases and the reliability and precision of detection by a universal monoclonal antibody,” said François Degorce, head of HTRF® marketing and business development, Cisbio international. “When a customer buys one of the validated enzymes, he can be sure that the combination of this enzyme with HTRF® KinEASE™ works. This reliability reinforces our partnership with Upstate and benefits our customers, and is testimony to Cisbio’s dedication to both.”

The launch of HTRF® KinEASE™ marks the second product development collaboration between Upstate and Cisbio international, following the joint development of an HTRF® PI-3-kinase assay which is now marketed by Upstate. This collaboration also reinforces the position which Cisbio’s proprietary HTRF® technology holds in HTS and the drug discovery industry, specifically in the area of kinase activity, in addition to Cisbio’s strength in GPCR screening.

About Upstate: Upstate is a leading research discovery provider of the highest quality cell signaling products and services to the life science market. Its customers are biomedical researchers at drug discovery companies and academic institutions in the key disciplines of oncology, immunology, proteomics, cardiology and neurology. Known for its enabling, innovative solutions to help understand the biology of kinases, chromatin, g-proteins and cytokines, Upstate’s advanced cell biology tools - drug screening services, enzymes, state specific antibodies, siRNA kits, multiplex assays are used by thousands of customers worldwide, every day to accelerate improving human health. Upstate, a Serologicals company, is headquartered in Temecula, California, and has offices in Dundee, Scotland.

About Cisbio international: Cisbio international is a global developer of technologies that are used in assay development and drug screening procedures to enhance drug discovery, specifically in the areas of GPCR and kinase screening. Cisbio pioneered the field of homogenous fluorescence methodologies via its proprietary technology, HTRF®, a highly sensitive, robust technology for the detection of molecular interactions of proteins in vitro and widely used by the pharmaceutical industry for the high throughput screening stage of drug development. Committed to its customers and services, Cisbio offers a technical support staff that is highly involved in in vitro assay design and development, and contributes to in vitro assay adaptation and implementation on screening workstations. Cisbio is also R&D driven to continually meet the technical needs of customers, as well as the existing and future medical concerns of a global patient base. Cisbio international has facilities in France, Bedford, Massachusetts (USA), and Japan. For more information about Cisbio international and HTRF®, log onto www.htrf-assays.com.

KinEASE™ is a trademark of Upstate USA, Inc. HTRF® is a registered trademark of Cisbio international.

Sunnyvale, CA, March 21, 2006 – Richard Ellson, Chief Technical Officer for Labcyte Inc., has been awarded the 2006 SBS PolyPops Foundation Award by the Society for Biomolecular Sciences for his work developing acoustic dispensing technology. This technology, used in the Echo 550 and Echo 555 liquid handlers, enables users to move liquids with sound. In these systems, acoustic energy is focused through the bottom of a microplate well to eject a droplet of fluid and transfer it directly to a well in another microplate. This completely eliminates any physical contact with the material being moved leading to improved precision and accuracy, reduced costs and waste, and better qualitative results. The Society for Biomolecular Sciences presents the PolyPops Award annually to members of the scientific community who have shown true innovation in the area of Microplate Development and Design.

When informing Mr. Ellson of the award, the SBS noted that the technology “enhances the capability of transforming compound handling and high throughput screening into several drug discovery applications, and [that it] is rapidly being adopted into production systems throughout the drug discovery industry.”

The Society will officially present Mr. Ellson with the award at its 12th Annual SBS Conference and Exhibition in Seattle, WA, in September. The award includes recognition in The Journal of Biomolecular Screening as well as a $2500 honorarium.

Upon being informed of the award, Mr. Ellson said, “I am delighted that the Society for Biomolecular Screening has acknowledged the technology and what it can do for the pharmaceutical industry. This technology and its commercial manifestation in the Echo liquid handlers and Echo qualified microplates has been a group effort involving dozens of people. The hard work and innovative thinking of the team at Labcyte transformed the original ideas into a usable technology.”

Mr. Ellson, a founder of Labcyte Inc., previously held positions at Xerox PARC and Kodak where he worked in liquid handling, imaging and plastics manufacturing. Mr. Ellson holds a B.S. in Fluid and Thermal Science from Case Western Reserve University with a minor in life sciences, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering. His contributions were acknowledged by a Kodak Doctoral Award through which he took a two-year paid leave to study mathematics at the University of Illinois. He is an inventor on over 50 issued U.S. patents and has published numerous articles. Mr. Ellson is an active member of the screening community as a frequent conference speaker, a member of SBS, reviewer for The Journal of Biomolecular Screening and editor for The Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation.

The acoustic dispensing technology for which the award was given transfers compounds directly to assay plates eliminating intermediate dilutions and the concomitant loss of compounds by adsorption to tips and well surfaces. Pharmaceutical researchers have proved that these losses can lead to failure to identify potential drugs. Elimination of the consumables associated with intermediate dilutions also results in savings that approximate the cost of the instrument in one year. Labcyte Inc. provides two instruments that use ADE—the Echo™ 550 liquid handler, which is used in seven of the 10 top pharmaceutical companies, and the recently introduced Echo 555, which was designed for UHTS laboratories requiring very high throughput.

Labcyte Inc., headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, provides plastic laboratory supplies, as well as the new Echo 555 liquid handler and the award-winning Echo 550 liquid handler. The Labcyte acoustic liquid handling technology has broad applications in the life science including dispensing equipment, assay systems, particle manufacturing, reagent multispotting for MALDI imaging applications, and living-cell transfer devices. Labcyte has 25 issued U.S. patents, 1 issued European patent and additional international filings. For more information, visit the company’s website, www.labcyte.com.
The Society for Biomolecular Sciences’ mission is to advance the science of drug discovery and related disciplines by providing a forum for education and information exchange among professionals around the world. The Society offers its 2,000-plus members a variety of publications and programs, most notably the Journal of Biomolecular Screening, a highly regarded peer-reviewed resource for cutting edge research, and SBS News which delivers the latest Society happenings to every member.
The PolyPops Foundation has been setup to recognize innovation in the design and application of Plastics & Polymers in Microplates and other devices used in Healthcare worldwide. The “micro” Awards are given to Biologists, Chemists, Designers, Engineers and Researchers worldwide. Preference is given to individuals, with or without academic background, working in educational & government institutions.

Transdermal Delivery Companies Switch Focus to Pain Management, CNS Disorders for Growth
Amherst, NH - (March 23, 2006) – For more than a decade, transdermal drug delivery has been touted as being on the verge of explosive growth. But issues with consistency, topical side effects and bioavailability have slowed progress, and today the full potential of this technology is yet to be fulfilled. Developers of transdermal drug delivery systems have existed on a handful of proven applications such as hormone replacement, hypertension and, more recently, contraception. But companies in this sector have long realized that sustainable growth will require expanding transdermal technology into new therapeutic areas.
While a handful of mostly smaller companies are taking a homerun approach, investigating blockbuster applications such as transdermal insulin delivery, the ability to deliver large molecule drugs including proteins and peptides transdermally is now seen by many as a long-term strategy at best. To achieve growth in the near-term, several transdermal system developers are focusing on small molecule therapeutics for a short but attractive list of therapies.
“We’re seeing transdermal systems in late stage clinical development for a new set of diseases and conditions such as osteoarthritis, migraine, Alzheimer’s, depression and Parkinson’s disease that are expanding the reach of this technology,” explains George Perros, Greystone Associates Managing Director. Several of the promising new transdermal delivery applications are being led by next-generation transdermal technologies, such as iontophoresis and microporation, that incorporate sound or electrical energy or - in the case of microporation - microneedles, lasers or RF, to improve drug flux across the outer skin layer. “Extending the reach of transdermal delivery technologies into the realm of large-molecule biologics will require further improvements in the reliability, consistency, and packaging of these so-called active transdermal drug delivery systems,” adds Perros.
More information is available at www.greystoneassociates.org .
About Greystone
Greystone Associates is a medical and healthcare technology consulting firm providing services in strategic planning, venture development, product commercialization, and technology and market assessment.
Contact:

Mark Smith
Voice: 603-595-4340
Fax: 603-804-0466
www.greystoneassociates.org Source: Greystone Associates

As we enter our 7th year for Immunogenicity Studies for Biotherapeutics
conference, our faculty remains committed to bringing you the latest new
data and clarification on emerging regulatory guidances for assay
development and validation in immunogenicity studies.
This conference provides you leading-edge information on new
technologies to identify, characterize and reduce antibody and cell-based
responses during discovery, development, pre-clinical and clinical
studies. Case studies with new data on selection, development and
validation of screening, neutralizing, and confirmatory assays in
processes and techniques improvement strategies are featured over all
three days of the conference.
As IIR specializes in the development of Immunogenicity conferences,
we recognize the evolving challenges faced by scientists working on
immunogenicity studies and make it our top priority to be first at
providing new immunogenicity study data and solutions.
For registration information, early registration prices and group discounts
please see page seven. We look forward to welcoming you to the
conference in San Francisco.
Sincerely,
Anne Reel, Program Director, IIR Valerie Bowling, General Manager, IIR

The REMP Tube Technology offers researchers a unique and efficient solution for managing samples. The use of this technology virtually eliminates the risk of sample degradation arising from multiple freeze/thaw cycles by providing the flexibility of random and rapid individual tube selection.

No matter how small or large your sample collection is today, Tecan and REMP have solutions that fit your current needs, while offering flexible upgrade paths as your collection grows.

REMP Tube Technology™ Consumables

Variety of configurations are available to meet you specific needs:
384 Tube Technology Consumables
96 Tube Technology Consumables (300ul and 900ul sizes)
Consumables are manufactured of the highest quality, which is what your valuable samples deserve
Made of DMSO resistant, inert, medical grade polypropylene material and can be used at temperatures ranging from ambient to -80°C
Optional 2D DataMatrix™ code for redundant tube verification and tracking
Other consumables are also available; such as Piercing Lids, Thermo-Seals and Capmats, to further enhance sample protection and accessibility

REMP Tube Punching Module™

The REMP Tube Punching Module (TPM) enables small-scale automation of individual sample selection. It employs a unique ‘push-through’ technology, which greatly reduces handling errors while improving throughput and reliability as compared to conventional pick and place methods.

Higher sample integrity:
No carry-over effects
No dilution effects
No disposable tips or wash cycles
No unnecessary freeze/thaw cycles
Virtually no exposure to air
Virtually no water uptake

REMP Small-Size Store™

The REMP Small-Size Store (SSS) is a fully automated sample storage and retrieval system with a maximum storage capacity of up to 1,000 to 3,000 tube racks. It is an ideal entry-level storage solution, which includes the innovative REMP Tube Punching Module, enabling random access to any individual sample within the storage unit using the unique ‘push-through’ technology.

Storage Capacity:
384 Tube Technology - 1,060 racks
96 Tube Technology (300ul) - 860 racks
96 Tube Technology (900ul) - 500 racks
Storage Temperature Range: -20°C to ambient
System is upgradeable and scaleable to allow for future change and growth
Sample Administration Software - configurable software suite used to maintain and manage sample libraries ranging from manual stores to full automated sample storage systems

Together, Tecan and REMP can provide the necessary sample management solution for today’s sample collection and the scalability to fit your sample management needs of tomorrow.

Talk to Tecan
To learn more about REMP’s unique Tube Technology and scaleable storage solutions, register to win an iPod,

www.tecan.com

REMP Tube Technology™, REMP Tube Punching Module™ and REMP Small-Size Store™ are trademarks of REMP AG, Oberdiessbach, Switzerland. 2D DataMatrix™ is a trademark of RVSI Inspection LLC, Hauppauge, NY, USA
REMP Tube Technology, REMP Tube Punching Module and REMP Small-Size Store are instruments for research use only and not clinical use.
© 2006, Tecan Trading AG, Switzerland, all rights reserved. Release date: 2006-03-09

Greystone Associates Analyzes Technology and Therapeutic Factors
(Amherst, NH) – The convergence of socioeconomic and technology factors – the growing emphasis on drug self-administration for chronic conditions, the expected acceleration in protein- and peptide-based therapeutics, the availability of innovative inhaler device designs - is driving interest in pulmonary drug delivery technology and devices as an alternative to oral and parenteral routes of administration. While several approaches for delivering active substances to, and systematically via, the lungs compete in this space, a new survey reveals the emerging developments and market dynamics that have positioned dry powder inhalation as the technology of choice for an increasing number of therapeutic drugs.
The survey concludes that the rising potential of dry powder inhalation is being driven by escalating research activity in powder formulations, advances in particle engineering, and the development of novel device architectures. “The combination of improved particle properties and more efficient inhaler designs is creating new opportunities for dry powder inhalation and expanding the range of active compounds that can be effectively delivered via the lung”, explains George Perros, Greystone’s Managing Director. “We believe dry powder inhalation will become a major factor in the delivery of a number of emerging therapeutics.”
These findings are contained in a new and comprehensive report: Dry Powder Inhalation: Drugs, Devices, And Delivery Therapeutics. It includes comprehensive assessments of dry powder inhalation technology, profiles of dry powder inhalation market participants, industry data and forecasts, and detailed analysis of design and economic factors.
More information is available at www.greystoneassociates.org .
About Greystone
Greystone Associates is a medical and healthcare technology consulting firm providing services in strategic planning, venture development, product commercialization, and technology and market assessment.
Contact:

Mark Smith
Voice: 603-595-4340
Fax: 603-804-0466
www.greystoneassociates.org Source: Greystone Associates

The third annual PABORD (Pharmaceutical & Biotech Outsourcing, Research & Development) conference and trade show will be held September 13-14 at ExCel in London, UK . PABORD promotes the strategic and business advantages of outsourcing solutions for companies active in drug discovery and development. If you want to learn more about the European market and reach global customers, then PABORD is a must attend event for you.

The show consists of a world class conference on drug discovery and development plus an exhibition comprised of over 200 companies presenting their products and services. Around 2000 visitors representing over 30 countries are expected at the 2006 event.

The conference, which includes 30+ free sessions, will consist of 4 concurrent tracks covering the following topics:
Optimizing and manufacturing small molecules
Clinical Trials
Outsourcing - strategic analysis
Optimzing and manufacturing biologicals
You can expect to receive the very latest advice and information from the world’s leading suppliers, manufacturers, and scientific authorities at this world class technical conference.

Exhibiting at PABORD will enable you to reach a large number of potential UK and European customers in the pharma industry. If you are offering any of the following services, you will want to participate in this event:
Target indentification/validation
Lead generation/optimization screening
Medicinal Chemistry
Non-clinical pharmacology
Non-clinical safety testing
Clinical trials
Process development/manufacturing of either small molecules of biologicals
Analytical services
Regulatory services

BARCELONA, Spain | March 6, 2006 | The Business Intelligence firm La Merie S.L. reported today that antibodies are at the forefront of novel cancer therapeutics targeting the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R). Pfizer is leading the field with the fully human IgG2 antibody CP-751,871 under investigation for multiple myeloma and advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Five other companies are closely following with antibody projects. Only six companies are currently visible with small molecule inhibitors targeting the IGF-1R tyrosine kinase which are not always selective for IGF-1R. INSM-18 from Insmed and the University of California San Francisco is a dual inhibitor of IGF-1R and Her2/neu and is the only clinical stage IGF-1R small molecule antagonist (phase I/II in prostate cancer). These results and more were found in a search conducted by La Merie Business Intelligence published in the March 6 issue of R&D Pipeline News, edited by La Merie. The competitor analysis of CB1 antagonists can be acquired at www.pipelinereview.com, La Merie’s News Center and Online Store.

Although the IGF-1 receptor was first cloned in 1986, it was the success of targeted drugs such as trastuzumab and imatinib that tyrosine kinase inhibitors and growth factor receptor blockers became hot targets. Now companies are aggressively pursuing compounds that target IGF-1R. Other reasons for the long delay in bringing compounds against IGF-1R into the clinic may be: 1) the fear that blocking Igf-1R in cancer therapy would also block the insulin receptor and signaling (70 % homology with IGF-1R) and, thus might be diabetogenic; and 2) the expression of IGF-1R in normal tissue throughout the body. Aventis selected an antibody which does not bind to the closely related insulin receptor. However, preclinical data indicate a limited spectrum of tumor cell lines against which the antibody was effective.

While antibodies are exquisitely selective inhibitors of the IGF-1R function by inducing rapid internalization and down regulation of the receptor, small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors suffer from a lack of selectivity because of binding to a well conserved site. In fact, several of the IGF-1R tyrosine kinase inhibitors in development are dual inhibitors, and in general do not lead to internalization and downregulation. Nevertheless, small molecule IGF-1R inhibitors offer the advantage of the ability to control the duration of drug exposure in contrast to long-acting antibodies.

Apart from antibodies and small molecules, there are individual approaches using peptides, proteins or antisense oligonucleotides to antagonize IGF-1R. The latter one has been evaluated as a topical cream to treat patients with psoriasis, but needs further dose optimization.

About R&D Pipeline News

R&D Pipeline News is a premier information source about research and development projects in the pipeline of the biopharmaceutical industry. The periodical is directed to all stakeholders in R&D. The weekly publication comes in a rapid- and easy-to-screen tabular format and provides access to the original information source via hyperlinks. R&D Pipeline News covers all relevant treatment modalities and is directly delivered to the desktop via e-mail. More information about the journal, a free trial and subscriptions are available via La Merie’s Business Intelligence Center www.pipelinereview.com.

About PipelineReview.com

PipelineReview.com is the News Center and Online Store of La Merie Business Intelligence focused on R&D in the Biopharmaceutical Industry. Visitors of PipelineReview.com will find R&D relevant press releases and can receive selected R&D news from one or more of the site’s News Channels. A free R&D Newsletter conveniently brings via e-mail a daily selection of the most interesting news from biopharmaceutical R&D. For more information visit www.pipelinereview.com.

About La Merie

La Merie S.L. is a Business Intelligence enterprise fully dedicated to provide high quality R&D information to the biopharmaceutical industry. La Merie offers individual consultancy services and publishes reports and periodicals. For more information visit www.lamerie.com.

SOURCE: La Merie Business Intelligence