創源 成為GVK Biosciences經銷商

GVK Biosciences Pvt. Ltd. Announces New Distributor in Taiwan HYDERABAD, India, Feb 25, 2013 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- GVK Biosciences Pvt. Ltd., a leading provider of databases and services to the Life Sciences industry, has selected GGA as its distributor for its Informatics Database products and services in Taiwan. "Genesis Genetics Asia Corp. is recognized as the premier distributor in the Life Sciences industry in Taiwan and we are pleased to work with a high caliber sales team that will help expand our customer base in the region," said Sreeni Devidas, Vice President, Business Development, Informatics, GVK Biosciences Pvt. Ltd. "GGA will be responsible for distribution of the SAR, Biomarker and Clinical Outcomes databases and would also promote the BioIT and Data Curation services offered by GVK BIO.""GVK BIO's comprehensive products and superior BioIT services are powerful additions to GGA's portfolio in informatics business. We are pleased to become GVK BIO's distribution partner as it will enable our company to provide researchers in the Taiwanese pharma-biotech industries with such great tools," said Dr. Pei-Li Li, Vice President, Molecular Science Center, Genesis Genetics Asia Corp. "The ability to search for the desired biomarkers; make queries and compare drug structures and activities; analyze, design and predict the successful outcome in clinical trials will give impetus to Taiwan's pharmaceutical industry in progressing ahead."

About GVK Biosciences Pvt Ltd GVK Biosciences (GVK BIO) is Asia's leading Discovery, Research and Development organization. GVK BIO provides a broad spectrum of services, stand-alone and integrated, across the R&D value chain. Our discovery services comprise of Chemistry, Biology and Informatics; the development services include Clinical Research, Clinical Pharmacology and Process R&D. GVK BIO's diverse portfolio and prestigious clientele comprising of more than 200 customers includes some of the world's largest pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agro, life-sciences companies and leading academic institutions. Please visit us at www.gvkbio.com to know more.

About GGA Genesis Genetics Asia Corp. (GGA) (tpo:4160) is one of the premier genetic diagnosis and research hubs in Asia and a leading scientific informatics solution provider in Taiwan. Armed with cutting-edge diagnostic technologies, GGA's genetics lab has helped free many new-born babies from incurable genetic disorder diseases. GGA's informatics business arm, Molecular Science Center (MSC), has been progressing further in pharma-biotech research using advanced scientific informatics technologies and premium contents in Taiwan as well as in other Asia Pacific countries since 2004. Together GGA's wet and dry labs aim to help discover the causes and the relevant solutions for improving the quality of life.

 

依凡．麥可羅: 生技產業三大優勢 !

併購熱點燃生技股 投信：鎖定中小型企業、孤兒藥與C肝議題2013/2/26鉅亨網提供併購熱潮果真燒熱生技股價，讓美國那斯達克生技指數去(2012)年飆漲逾3成。 德盛全球生技大壩基金經理人傅子平認為，今(2013)年生技併購火種仍不熄滅，還是有機會推升生技指數走揚，建議可鎖定中小型企業、孤兒藥與C肝議題加以布局。近期包括生技大廠Biogen Iden宣布以32.5億美元買下與生技公司Elan合作開發多發性硬化症藥品Tysabri藥品所有權利，而Tysabri去年銷售達16億美元，市場評估此次交易將有助於擴大Biogen Idec在多發性硬化症領域的藥品影響能力。此外，小型孤兒藥生技廠商Protalix傳出將可能被全球製藥大廠Pfizer大幅溢價併購，顯示併購不僅持續增溫，更已將孤兒藥領域納入併購範圍內。百達投顧指出，目前全球共有高達5408種生技新藥正在臨床研發中，以目前全球高達833藥品位於第三期臨床實驗來看，估計今年可望持續傳出新藥進入審核階段甚至獲得核准的利多。富蘭克林坦伯頓生技領航基金經理人依凡．麥可羅分析，生技產業更具「新藥多」、「題材多」與「商機多」等三多優勢，尤其全球高齡化已成態勢，加上新興市場醫療需求不減，長線趨勢正面。另外，中小型生技股後市也不容忽視，依凡．麥可羅指出，中小型生技股可望在併購題材、第三階段測試及審核加速，以及資本市場環境有利等因素支持下，讓企業不斷創新，自然有助於股價走揚。投資佈局方面，傅子平則認為，考量近期中小型生技公司仍是被併購的主角，因此可多加著墨相關題材。此外，去年極熱門的C肝議題、孤兒藥也可留意的方向。富蘭克林華美坦伯頓全球股票組合基金經理人陳韻如強調，生技產業具有較高的盈餘成長水準，且走勢也不向一般成長型股價格波動大，適合透過長線布局以掌握人口老化與新興國家醫療需求成長的投資契機。

 

TCM grower takes a greener approach

Updated: 2013-02-22 08:43By Wang Chao (China Daily) With traditional Chinese medicine experiencing a revival, herbal flowers have become hot commodities on the market.A particular plant, known as dendrobium officinale, is believed to have cancer-fighting powers and is gaining in popularity among consumers in China, Southeast Asia, South Korea and Japan. Commonly grown in greenhouses, the plant is a daily ingredient at dinner tables in Guangdong province.One businessman, however, is finding success in producing the plant by eschewing commonly used methods. Rather than using greenhouses, Yang Shaowen is utilizing the natural habitat of longan forests near Zhangzhou, Fujian province, to grow the precious plant.Yang is president of Zhangpu Yankee Biotech Co, a company that specializes in growing herbal flowers, including the dendrobium officinale. Born in Zhangzhou, Yang has been working in the TCM industry for more than 20 years.Over the past three years, the wholesale price for dendrobium officinale has soared from 800 yuan ($128; 96 euros) per kilogram to 1,200 yuan. With more and more home cooks using the plant in soups and porridges and as a medicine to treat the flu, the price is climbing.Yang is not the first to grow the herb on a large scale. In recent years, Fujian's neighboring province of Zhejiang has used greenhouses to grow it. Zhejiang is now a major base for cultivating and processing herbs in China.In its natural environment, dendrobium officinale grows on rotting leaves and moss; if grown in soil, their roots are easily affected by bacteria. Replicating this delicate environment in a greenhouse costs millions of yuan.But Yang has a big advantage in Zhangzhou. The average temperature here is higher compared to Zhejiang and its winters are less harsh. The city's other distinct advantage is its thick longan forests, 35 hectares of which Yang has turned into his farm to cultivate 100,000 sprouts annually.In his natural farm, he mixes pine sawdust with soil and places the sprouts in a basket. He then hangs the baskets on branches, where the lush leaves shade the plants from sunlight. Tiered in layers of branches, this method saves space as compared to conventional flat greenhouses.Under these conditions, a tree can generate an annual output of 30,000 yuan and every hectare of longan forest can yield plants with a total value of 4.5 million yuan, Yang says."By using the forest, we can save from investing on expensive equipment. We can also roll out this business pattern to the local farmers."Yang says a listed company in Hong Kong has been negotiating with him to invest in another 30 hectares of what he calls "forest plantation".Yang says one issue is that the supply of dendrobium officinale isn't meeting market demand, so he is telling local farmers to grow the plant under their own longan trees with the promise that he will buy their mature plants at a decent price.He says health products made with dendrobium officinale are already popular in major cities. In five-star hotels in Fujian province, a cup of tea made from the plant's flower charges for 168 yuan.With popularity high, he says many plantations have begun to grow the herbs using his method. "We have to be efficient because many places have turned eyes to these plants," Yang says.To make their products more competitive, Yang is extending its industry chain to product processing and development. "Compared with our competitors in Zhejiang province, we lag behind in processing and marketing."Yan Jianhong, deputy general manager of Zhangpu Yankee Biotech, says they are exploring the medicinal value of the herbal plants by working with pharmaceutical companies."In the next two to three years, we will focus on health food development," Yang says. "But in the long term, we plan to develop new medicines. By extending the industry chain, we gain a better position in the competition landscape so our company can escape the low-level price competition."(China Daily 02/22/2013 page12)

 

Capital crunch: Life science startups look to new sources of funding

Updated Feb. 22, 2013 at 12:26 p.m.By ED MATHERS, Partner, NEADURHAM, N.C. —It's no secret that the flow of capital into the life sciences industry has slowed to a trickle over the last several years. The number of funds being raised continues to decline, with only a handful of firms raising fresh funds in the past two years (including NEA), leaving venture capitalists with a shortage of dry powder and an ever-dwindling appetite for risk. In 2012, the sector saw a 10 percent drop in total dollars invested and a six percent decrease in the number of deals. First-time financings were hardest hit, with the lowest number of deals since 1995.Coupled with an unstable economic environment and a widespread aversion to capital-intensive projects, the hurdles to bringing new treatments and therapies to patients seem higher than ever, and the threat of an innovation bottleneck (with grave consequences for human health) looms large. Clearly the industry must redirect the flow or find new sources of capital to survive.This transformation underway in life sciences is a core focus of the upcoming CED Life Science Conference, where we'll discuss the broader funding landscape, dynamics within the venture capital industry, and emerging opportunities to pursue less traditional sources of capital. The flow of capital will certainly be a key topic for discussion at CED and throughout 2013, and we can expect several key shifts to emerge or become more firmly rooted during the course of the year.

New Role for Big Pharma What has begun to unfold in the life sciences industry is a massive paradigm shift of the role "big pharma" plays in the startup ecosystem. As more and more VCs pull away from the early-stage biotechnology and medical device sectors, many big pharmaceutical and biotech companies have stepped in and supplied an influx of much-needed corporate cash. Why now?Historically, big pharma has honed in on products as they enter late-stage development, seeking low-risk opportunities to close the gap on existing pipelines. Previously, the corporate venture groups participated in financings—fast forward to now, and we see more pharma-led financings. Ironically, at the same time, pharma is also cutting back on R&D budgets, and exiting certain therapeutic areas.This crisis has delivered a wake-up call for big pharma in recognizing the importance of platform-oriented companies, which are focused on creating new, disruptive, and broadly-applicable technologies rather than a specific therapeutic product. Structured to foster innovation, these types of companies are uniquely positioned to make technical and scientific advancements that will fuel the next generation of therapeutics. Large pharmaceutical and biotech companies depend upon a thriving life sciences ecosystem, and platform-focused companies are an increasingly important factor in that equation.

Corporate R&D "Going to Where the Science Is" Corporate R&D, equally important to the ecosystem, has increasingly made "going to where the science is" central to its strategy. Large corporations are increasingly collaborative, partnership-focused, and are cultivating hubs for innovation.For example, Johnson & Johnson recently announced the launch of four research centers in prominent life sciences communities, including Boston, California, China and London. Merck established the California Institute for Biomedical Research in San Diego to conduct early-stage drug research. Bayer partnered with the University of California, San Francisco, to establish an innovation center focused on helping basic research discoveries progress to the drug development stage. Pfizer has also announced several academic relationships, all with a goal of early access to cutting edge technology and relationships with academic leaders in their fields. We can expect to see more of this in 2013.

Casting a Wider Net Clearly, reviving the flow of capital to life sciences cannot (and should not) be fueled by big pharma alone, and there is still considerable room for growth in developing new strategies for funding. A successful future for the life sciences industry will require medical startups to think outside of the box to bring in fresh capital, and they have already begun to do so.During the last few years, the concept of alternate funding sources appears to be gaining traction in life sciences. Liquidia Technologies received a $10 million equity investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in support of their development and commercialization of safe and more effective vaccines. Hedge funds in Boston and San Francisco are the latest backers of Intarcia Therapeutics, which is developing a potential treatment for type-2 diabetes.Pharma-backed VC funds companies are also beginning to flow significantly more money into deals, proving their willingness to elevate their role from simply strategic investor to financing leader in this space. As life sciences startups lay the bricks for alternate roads to funding, we're likely to see increased momentum when it comes to finding new sources of capital and, longer-term, a much more diverse life sciences ecosystem.

The Seeds Are Planted Although the life sciences sector is struggling right now, it appears that the seed has been planted for new survival strategies. As the VC capital channels to life sciences continue to shrink, the industry must become much more flexible and innovative in their fundraising process through big pharma's increased support of platform and product-oriented companies as well as medical startups' exploration of new avenues to fresh capital. The evolution of the psyche of the life sciences investment ecosystem only stands to continue in 2013 and, for the sake of all of our health, let's hope it does.

 

 

Vitro Biopharma Appoints Established Life Science Sales Executive to Its Board of DirectorsGOLDEN, Colo.

 Feb 20, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE via COMTEX) -- Vitro Diagnostics, Inc. (otcqb:VODG), dba Vitro Biopharma, simultaneously accepted the resignation of Mr. Erik Van Horn from its Board of Directors and appointed Pete Shuster, the CEO of Neuromics, Inc. to its Board of Directors. Mr. Shuster is a seasoned and experienced sales executive. He is the current owner of Neuromics, Inc., a privately held and profitable business focused on sales of numerous (>2500) specialty life science products including stem cell products manufactured by Vitro Biopharma. Neuromics, Inc. sales have grown over 5.5-fold since inception in 2003. Shuster has extensive prior experience in managing sales of computer software and related products for companies including Caterpillar, Baxter Healthcare and Harley-Davidson.Mr. Erik Van Horn has also resigned from Vitro Biopharma's Board of Directors due to the request of his present employer. Vitro Biopharma is presently engaged in expansion of sales of its stem cell products and is executing a marketing and distribution strategy based on strategic expansion of its product lines together with accelerated sales activity. Thus, while the Board regrets the loss of Mr. Van Horn's management expertise and technical acumen, its present business development activities are considerably strengthened through the addition of Mr. Shuster to its Board of Directors.Dr. Jim Musick, Vitro Biopharma's President & CEO, said, "I am very pleased to have been associated with Mr. Erik Van Horn throughout his tenure with Vitro Biopharma. Erik joined Vitro Biopharma in 1991 as an employee and was instrumental in the establishment of the diagnostic antigen business unit that was later sold to Venaxis,Inc., formerly Aspen Biopharma, Inc. (Nasdaq, APPY). He subsequently contributed to the technical development of our present stem cell product line while providing critical business guidance throughout his role as a director of the company. On behalf of all Vitro Biopharma shareholders, stakeholders and other associates, I congratulate Erik on his contributions and service to the Company. I am also very pleased to announce the addition of Mr. Pete Shuster to the Board of Directors. His strong background in sales of similar products to those that we manufacture represents a significant addition to our team. I greatly look forward to working more directly with Mr. Shuster to advance our business plan focused on expansion of sales of existing products and strategic addition of new high-value products to enhance drug discovery and development through use of well-characterized cell-based assay systems derived from stem cell technology and through the introduction of novel products targeting select opportunities within the field of regenerative medicine.""Jim Musick and his team have developed an innovative platform for generating umbilical cord blood and induced pluripotent derived stem cells", said Shuster. "They are well positioned to provide both off the shelf and engineered cells to align with the unique needs of pharmaceutical and biotech companies in discovering new therapies for autoimmune and degenerative diseases as well as certain forms of cancer. I look forward working closely with Jim to generate profitable revenue from his current and future stem cell based assay solutions."There are currently no commitments or understandings regarding Mr. Shuster's compensation as a director, although it is expected he will be offered some form of equity package consisting of stock options, stock grants or a combination. No decision has been made with respect to Mr. Shuster's service on one or more standing committees of the Board.

About Mr. Pete ShusterHe received a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Lawrence University in Wisconsin during 1981 and performed graduate studies in biochemistry at the University of Minnesota. He was in Sales and Sales Management with Teltech from 1985 to 1994 where he was a top producer. He was a sales representative at Connect, Inc from 1994 to 1995 where he sold systems integration solutions. He was a Major Account manager at SDRC from 1995 to 1999 and Senior Account Manager at EAI for sales of Product Visualization Software. At both of these firms, he achieved significant sales success including completion of several large transactions. In 1998, he was recognized as the #1 sales person worldwide for total sales of Metaphase Product Data Management solutions with multi-million dollar sales to Harley Davidson, Baxter Healthcare and Sauer Sundstrand. From 1996 to 2002, he was the founder and owner of Kingdom2.com, an online reseller of re-manufactured satellite systems. From 2000 to 2002 he was Large Account Sales Director of PTC, a company that sold product data management and CAD software, where he lead teams that sold to heavy equipment manufacturers, including Caterpillar, John Deere and Case. The team achieved sales > $15,000,000 in FY2001.In 2003, he founded Neuromics, Inc, his present business that is a web-based marketer of reagents to accelerate discovery in Neuroscience, Diabetes/Obesity and Cancer offering products including antibodies, proteins, transfection reagents, stem cell and primary cell lines, cell culture media and apoptosis measurement kits. He maintains a strong presence in various social media and is responsible for several blogs related to life science products. He has considerable expertise and experience in strategic selling.

About Vitro BiopharmaVitro Diagnostics, Inc. dba Vitro Biopharma (otcqb:VODG) (http://www.vitrobiopharma.com), owns US patents for production of FSH, immortalization of pituitary cells, and a cell line that produces beta islets for use in treatment of diabetes. In 2011, Vitro Biopharma out-licensed its intellectual property related to treatment of infertility to Dr. James Posillico, a renowned expert in Assisted Reproductive Technologies. Vitro Biopharma also owns a pending US patent for generation of pluripotent stem cells and an additional pending patent for methods of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) generation and related materials. Vitro Biopharma's mission is "Harnessing the Power of Cells(TM)" for the advancement of regenerative medicine to its full potential. Vitro Biopharma operates within a modern biotechnology manufacturing, R&D and corporate facility in Golden, Colorado. Vitro Biopharma manufactures and sells "Tools for Stem Cell and Drug Development(TM)", including human mesenchymal stem cells and derivatives, the MSC-Gro(TM) Brand of optimized media for MSC self-renewal and lineage-specific differentiation. In addition to our FSH patent licensee, Vitro Biopharma maintains several strategic partnerships including an alliance with Neuromics, Inc. (www.neuromics.com). Neuromics, Inc. is a primary distributor of Vitro Biopharma products and a well established manufacturer and distributor of a large variety of life science research products especially focused on cell-based assay systems We jointly manufacture stem cell assay systems with HemoGenix(R), Inc. (http://www.hemogenix.com/), known as the LUMENESC(TM) quantitative assay for determination of MSC quality, potency and response to toxic agents. Vitro Biopharma has an agreement with Stemgenesis, Inc. (http://www.stemgenesisinc.com) for distribution of its stem cell products into select Chinese provinces. Also, Vitro Biopharma's CEO is a consultant on an NSF grant at the City College of New York to advise Dr. Lane Gilcrest, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and his colleagues regarding the development of novel extracellular materials for use in self-renewal and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.