The Life Sciences in New York State

Report from The Summit

I attended the Summit in Tech Valley today. A few quick comments:

1. The three finalists in the business plan competition were all excellent. BullEx won, but the consensus around our table at lunch was that Celery was the winner. It was a tough call.

2. The entire program was quite interesting. All the speakers were very good. It's rare to attend a conference where every single speaker is interesting, but that was the case here.

3. I thought Walt Robb was going to cry during his acceptance speech.

4. I think the Summit has 2 flaws:

a. The term "tech" conjures up images of the internet, computers, etc. I saw very little on nanotech, and nothing on biotech. Their own copy says "Our economy is strong and thriving and our momentum in high tech fields – such as nanotechnology, semiconductor and biotech – is pushing it even further." The most interesting technologies being developed in Tech Valley, in my view, are in nanotech and biotech. I think the organizers need to think more broadly, and organize their summit accordingly.

b. "Tech Valley" is supposed to encompass 18 counties from Rockland County all the way up to the Canadian border. Yet there is a definite Albany-centric focus at the Summit. I think the Summit should rotate to different locations every year. Yes, the Desmond is a nice hotel, and the attendance may be lower if this were held in Poughkeepsie, for instance. Regardless, there has to be more outreach, in my view. Maybe the organizers can have mini-conferences throughout the region.

Overall, I think it was a good conference. I'm glad I went.

OTC Xenical

I find it both amusing and disturbing that anyone, especially a sophisticated company like Glaxo, would make this argument.

Hoping for a Blockbuster

But Glaxo, which paid Roche $100 million and an undisclosed share of future revenue for over-the-counter rights to Xenical, is betting that Mr. Burton and his team can make a consumer version an attractive option for many of the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight. At stake is a piece of the estimated $15 billion annual market for weight-loss drugs and products. "Even a small percentage of that market is going to be a significant commercial opportunity," said Mr. Burton, who is vice president for weight-control products in the consumer health care unit.

Summit in Tech Valley

I'll be at the annual Tech Valley Summit in Albany tomorrow. If you're there, please track me down and say hello.

Summit in Tech Valley

Merck in worse shape than tobacco companies

Can you imagine someone claiming that they developed lung cancer due to smoking for 7 days? What if that person had an occupation where they inhaled polluted air on a regular basis? Would the tobacco company still be sued? Would they lose?

In general, I have no problem with a drug company being sued. But to claim that Vioxx caused a heart attack after 7 [sic.] days of use, even in someone with an already weakened heart, is a bit far fetched, in my view. According to the article in the WSJ last week, Garza had a 20+ year history of heart disease!

For Merck, First Drops Of A Hard Rain

In a note to investors, Prudential Equity Group pharmaceutical analyst Timothy Anderson said that the trial "should have been a slam dunk of a case" for Merck. Garza, he wrote, had high blood pressure and high cholesterol, was a smoker, had had open-heart surgery, and only took Vioxx for seven days.

Very creative financing approach

Symphony Capital has a model whereby they form and capitalize new companies around technologies from companies like Dynavax. Dynavax then retains the right to reacquire them in the future. Clever, creative, and a win win for both.

Dynavax to Advance Cancer, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Therapy Programs With $50 Million Funding

Symphony Capital, a private equity fund, has established Symphony Dynamo, Inc., which will be capitalized initially with $20 million and an additional $30 million within one year following closing to fund Dynavax's identified development programs in cancer and hepatitis therapeutics. Dynavax has granted a license to the intellectual property for the ISS compounds selected for the Symphony Dynamo programs. Through a purchase option, Dynavax retains the exclusive right, but not the obligation, to acquire certain of the programs at specified points in time, or the entire set of funded programs at specified prices during the term of the development period.

Aurangabad, we have a problem

There are those on the marketing side of the pharmaceutical industry who say that you are not really pushing the marketing envelope until you start receiving warnings from the FDA. From a manufacturing perspective, however, the last thing you want is a warning from the FDA...

WARNING LETTER CITES WOCKHARDT FOR CGMP VIOLATIONS

Documentation of environmental monitoring was also delayed for eight months, and when provided it consisted of an employee preparing a drawing from memory for the investigator, the letter said.

Can bloggers make money?

I agree with Paul that the debate is indeed silly. Of course bloggers can make money! There are three ways a blog can make money.

Subscription - Someone pays to read your blog

Ads and Affiliates - Sharing in the revenue from having ads and links to affiliated products

Marketing - Blogs serving as ways to promote a product or service.

I fall into the third bucket. My blog has paid for itself because it has helped me start conversations with prospective clients. Can I make a living exclusively by marketing my practice via a blog? I doubt it.

Business is a contact sport. It requires contact via email, telephone, and face to face. Blogging is just another dimension for conducting conversations with friends, colleagues, and clients.

OK, back to work...

Can Bloggers Make Money?

Yahoo Mail complaint

When composing an email with Yahoo Mail, you have a tiny window to use. Over half of the space to the right of this window is wide open and empty. No ads. No functionality. Nothing.

Why?

Not worth the cost, according to NICE

Not terribly surprising. NICE says:

NICE - whose function is to assess whether treatments are cost effective for the National Health Service - said it does not offer sufficient benefits over conventional insulin injections to be worth the money.

Pfizer offers the logical counterargument:

It [Pfizer] argues Exubera offers clinicians the opportunity to benefit patients by starting insulin much earlier, thereby cutting future costs of treating diabetes and its complications, such as heart disease, amputation, blindness and kidney failure.

I've picked on Pfizer in the past on Exubera, questioning the safety and efficacy of the product over the long term. However, I fully agree with Pfizer's point that earlier insulin (earlier glucose control, is what they should really say) can result in fewer problems down the road.


UK watchdog rules against Pfizer inhaled insulin

Yet another reason why I Love New York

Extraordinarily pessimistic picture being painted here.

100 Years Later: Is S.F. Prepared?

Over the next 30 years, the USGS estimates that the chances of a major quake hitting the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California are 67% and 60%, respectively.