Life ExtensionPower/Ability to:

extend one's life

The power to extend one's life. Sub-power of Lifespan Manipulation. Variation of Immortality. Opposite to Life Reduction.

User can somehow extend their or others' lifespan significantlyor maybe even indefinitelyin order to live longer.

By continuously bathing in the Lazarus Pits, Ra's al Ghul (DC Comics) has extended his life for over 600 years.

Paradise Herbs (Dragon Ball Super) extend the life of whoever eats them, and are the source of Master Roshi's longevity.

Toki (Fist of the North Star) was able to use his knowledge of pressure points to extend the mortally wounded Rei's life by a few days.

By continuously lengthening her telomeres, Tomiko Asahina (From the New World) has extended her life for over 200 years.

Master Son (Gintama) using Qi Gong to manipulate his lifespan, having lived in the battlefield for more than two centuries.

The Elixir of Life (Harry Potter) will extend the drinker's lifespan, so long as they continue to consume it, but it won't cease their body from getting older, so they will continue to age, and will eventually be completely dependent on the Elixir to live.

Madara Uchiha (Naruto) extended his life past his natural lifespan by attaching himself to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, but his body continues to age.

Lachesis (Valkyrie Crusade) can extend the years of life of anyone she wants as much as she wants.

Heart of Atlantis (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) provides phenomenal longevity, with the ability to extend an individual's lifespan by almost 500 times.

The Elixir of Life (SCP Foundation) is a liquid SCP-1440 won from the Small Death that could extend even the sickest person's life with a single drop until SCP-1440 used all of it to save various people from dying.

Perrinia immortalis/"Blood Orchid" (Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid), contains a unique, naturally generated chemical that extends an organism's telomeres, enabling them to live longer...

... the main reason why the anacondas are unnaturally larger then they should be because they keep growing till they die.

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Life Extension | Superpower Wiki | Fandom

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Todays offshore floating units are built to last, as technologies and industry standards evolve and operating conditions change. Extreme environmental conditions can accelerate normal wear-and-tear and lead to units structural damage during installation or operation.

To ensure continuous performance, asset owners, operators and designers have to address these challenges early in the design process, and manage them during units life extension modifications. To achieve this, they require assistance in identifying and prioritizing the best life extension measures.

We evaluate the units design, assess its strength and fatigue-related damage in accordance with industry standards. We verify if the unit fatigue life exceeds its operational life in order to determine if potential extension can be considered.

To ensure assets integrity, Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore conducts a variety of comprehensive assessments on your offshore unit. We then suggest structural modifications based on global unit model to support change management decisions and extend its operational life expectancy.

veristarinfo@bureauveritas.com

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Life extension | Marine & Offshore

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Overview

Vitamin E benefits range from antioxidant protection to promoting a healthy inflammatory response, and gamma tocopherol is one of the most important forms of vitamin E. Studies show the combination of alpha and gamma tocopherol supplementation appears to be superior to supplementing with either form alone for inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammatory factors.

Scientific journals highlight gamma tocopherol as one of the most important forms of vitamin E for optimal benefits.

Gamma E Mixed Tocopherols Benefits

Most commercial vitamin E supplements contain little, if any, gamma tocopherol. They instead rely on alpha tocopherol as the primary ingredient. However, it is gamma tocopherol (not the alpha form) that quenches peroxynitrite, a free radical that plays a major role in the development of age-related decline.

Product Details

Sesame Lignans: The Super Vitamin E Booster

Research suggests that adding sesame lignans to gamma tocopherol may enhance vitamin E activity. Sesame lignans have been shown to boost antioxidative activity in tissues by elevating the levels of vitamins C and E.

We have fortified our popular Gamma E Tocopherol supplement with standardized sesame lignans. Consumers obtain superior benefits at a much lower cost. This formula provides potent doses of gamma tocopherol along with sesame lignan extract to augment the antioxidant effects of gamma tocopherol.

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Life Extension, Gamma E Mixed Tocopherols, 60 Softgels - iHerb

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Expired Life Extension Coupons:About Life Extension:

LifeExtension is a health-oriented company that focuses on quality, purity, and potency. Their quality control standards are very high and even earned GMP registration from NSF International. For 35 years, LifeExtension has been faithfully giving scientific solutions to potency. Though founded in the 1980s, the founders of Life Extension have been actively involved in the anti-aging industry since the 1960s.

The company produces very informative publications on their website https://www.lifeextension.com/ . Some of these include; Disease Prevention & Treatment Book, as well as Life-Extension Magazine. There is also the Daily Health-Bulletin and the LifeExtension Update Email-newsletter. Apart from availing information, they also offer over 300 high-quality vitamins and nutritional supplements together with skin care products which they research on, or on whose research they fund. They offer to ship products both in the US and internationally.

Shipping costs are different, depending on the method that you choose. However, the rate is constant all over the US, and so a customer is free to order as many goods as possible without worrying over shipping. They offer 100% customer satisfaction guarantee and have a very standard approach to quality assurance.

To use LifeExtension coupons, shop for an item by adding it to your cart on the top right corner of LifeExtension home page. Click on View my Cart and then add your code into the Discount code then click Apply Discount to redeem your code.

For maximum benefit from LifeExtension, ensure you subscribe to their newsletter for health deals and news, shop from the On Sale section of the Products tab, and follow them on social media to know of latest products and events.

LifeExtension has other awards such as the LifeExtension Dollars (L.E Dollars) which comes with many benefits. If you join the Health-Rewards Program, you will stand a chance of winning LE Dollars every time you make a purchase. These LE Dollars can be redeemed for extra discounts at checkouts, and as a reward member, you are also entitled to exclusive discounts, free consultations, and a free magazine subscription for a whole year.

LifeExtension coupons come in printable and online formats and can save you up to more than 60% on special promotion offers. Keep on using their products and subscribing to their publications to get coupons. Furthermore, you can even get shipping coupons from LifeExtension, so just keep checking.

To find information concerning LifeExtension and all their products, it is best to visit their website https://www.lifeextension.com/ to see all their products and services.

Besides their website, you can follow them on Social Media with the following links:

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LifeExtension?_rdc=1&_rdrTwitter: https://twitter.com/LifeExtensionPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lifeextension/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lifeextension/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LifeExtensionVideosBlog: https://blog.lifeextension.com/

The LifeExtension call center is operational for 24 hours and seven days a week. They have dedicated customer care staff that will respond to all your queries and address your concerns related to orders, as well as change of shipping address and many more. To contact the LifeExtension customer support center, call them toll-free on 1-800-678-8989 or 1-800-544-4440 for immediate response and 001-954-766-8433 for International customers.

Other contacts that you may reach for specific concerns are:

Wellness Specialists 1-800-226-2370Nutrition Center 954-766-8144 or 1-888-895-4771

To get very quick responses to your questions, view Frequently-Asked Questions on their FAQ page https://www.lifeextension.com/faq. If you cant seem to get through using all the means listed above, leave them a message at http://health.lifeextension.com/LEFSurvey/ContactUs.aspx and you will get a response within 1 to 2 business days.

Owing to their thorough quality assurance policy, LifeExtension products are rarely returned because the level of customers dissatisfaction is negligible. However, if you are displeased or you feel your body is not reacting well with the product you purchased, feel free to contact customer care for expert advice.

After communicating with customer care and you still want to return the product, you can return and get a replacement or refund within 12 months after purchase. Their return policy is very simple and liberal.

You can contact their customer support to find out if your product is eligible for a refund. Also, specify if you are after replacement or a refund so that you get advised accordingly. Once youve shipped your product back on the address below, Contact customer support to alert them of the return so that they can be on the lookout.

The return address for products is

Product ReturnsLife-Extension Northeast-FulfillmentAttention: Returns150-Fieldcrest AveEdison NJ 08837

For blood test returns, call wellness specialists on 800-226-2370

Unlike their competitors, LifeExtension does gives you a whole 12 months grace period to decide whether you want to continue or discontinue the use of the product.

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Life Extension Coupon - March 2020 - $10 off and free shipping

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

When people talk about Californias legendary cannabis, they frequently mention growing ganja grown deep in the Emerald Triangle and weed sparked up on the bustling streets of Los Angeles and San Francisco. But theres another region in the Golden State that is now demanding attention. Since Californias adult-use cannabis market came online in 2018, Sacramento has exploded onto the scene as a hub of top-shelf indoor cultivation.

Few people in town perhaps only Gov. Gavin Newsom have helped push Sacramento to the top of the cannabis stratosphere more than its cultivators, who are growing some of the best cannabis in the world. But in recent years, one local cultivator has pushed the envelope so far that everyone else in town (and across the state) is now growing the genetics hes helped curate and breed.

As half ofSymbiotic Genetics,The Villagefinds himself among a small group of cultivators giving Sacramentos cannabis a global reach. At one point, there was so much of his Mimosa strain being grown in town, you could have mistaken Sacramento for the brunch capital of the world.

Today, The Village and his breeding partner Budologist are at the top of Hype Mountain. Here is the full story of how he went from budtender to championship breeder leading the City of Trees into the future.

The Village got his start working in 2010 at a medical marijuana dispensary called South Sacramento Care Center for about a year and a half, back in the looser days of Californias medical marijuana market.

I budtended, I vended, it kind of helped me know what was good and what was bad on quality standards, he told Cannabis Now.

When SSCC started their cultivation project in 2011, he knew that was exactly where he wanted to focus his passion for cannabis. He spent a year at the bottom of the ladder as the grunt worker.

I actually lived at the warehouse for four years and I think that really helped me learn a lot as well. Just being there all the time, he said.

The Village spent the first year following orders. Leaf picking and changing reservoirs were common activities. Eventually, as he spent more and more time caring for the plants, he picked up on what he believed to be some flaws in the cultivation process.

I was reading like crazy on all the online forums, just trying to figure out everything, he said. I lived there and I didnt have a life. The Village guessed he would go into the grow room about 20 times a day back then.

Not long after, he took over the whole cultivation facility. Speaking to how he got his nickname, he said that the SSCC workers started calling the facility The Village.

It was just a code word, he said. Instead of saying Hey, were going to the grow, wed say we were going to the village.

A big part of The Villages program in the early years was being the caregiver for numerous patients and growing them a monthly supply of marijuana. He helped supply about a pound of cannabis a month for free to over 15 patients selected to be a part of their compassion program.

We wanted to have them testify if anything ended up in court, but if it were in federal court it wouldnt even matter, The Village said. I thought it was really cool when we started pushing CBD for them once I got a hold of a couple of cuts.

The Village noted that well before he started going public with his brand, he was working with solventless hash enthusiast and medical producer Matt Rize. When Rize would post hash he washed from cannabis provided by The Village, he would list him as a private grower, allowing him to stay anonymous despite the good reputation the product earned.

Me and him had a year or two where we were dropping insane ice wax, The Village said.

Strains like Tangie and Sour Diesel were a hit with everyone lucky enough to score some.

In LA we dropped Tangie for $200 a gram, and it sold out. We only dropped 10 or 20 grams, but the hype was real, and it was crazy, he said.

At this point, The Village still hadnt even started breeding, he was just networking and growing like crazy. He met ET Extracts around that time. ET connected him withBudologist, The Villages eventual partner in crime at their award-winning breeding collaboration, Symbiotic Genetics. Budologist had a Pennywise cut he received from Geek Mike that The Village was keen to add to his stable.

We eventually met up and I got the cut, and we became friends at that point, The Village said. Three or four months later, he went ahead and asked [the breeder behind] Supernova Gardens if he could give me thePurple Punchcut.

A couple of years after they met in 2013, Budologist approached The Village about starting the breeding project that would become the renowned Symbiotic Genetics. Budologist planned to find a Purple Punch male that shared as many traits as possible with the prized Purple Punch female phenos and go from there. After another round of blessings from Supernova, the two built out a two-light breeding room.

It was in the seeds from the original batch that [Supernova] found the clone-only cut, Budologist said. Basically as soon as he gave me the seeds, it gave me the idea I wanted to do breeding. I knew I should pop the seeds and find a male to cross with the female Purple Punch.

Before going on to stabilize Purple Punch in the room and provide seeds to the masses, the first breeding projects featured a Cookies and Cream male Budologist selected. The first crosses in the room which, dont worry, would eventually pump out champions were Cookies and Cream x Forum Cookies and Cookies and Cream x Animal Cookies.

Those didnt work out because we had a lot of [hermaphrodites], and then we started the Punch project right after that, The Village said. We stayed in that two-light room for a while. Then once the Punch took off, when we dropped it, we were like Dang, we dont make enough seeds.

It would end up being roughly two years to get the seeds of the Purple Punch ready after the initial wave of excitement caused by the flower.

They dusted the original elite Purple Punch clone with a male, and then popped 150 seeds. In the process of the Punch propagation, about half of them were males. From the remainder, they narrowed the larger pack down to three of their favorites.

We flowered them out completely. Males, when theyre really towards the end of flower, theyll start putting off resin. You can actually rub that resin. The smell is like what a female would smell like, Budologist said. He also noted that resin will smell just as strong as the resin from a female plant. You can get that sense of what the terps are.

To get down to the three males, they selected phenotypes based on the quality of the bud structure and by picking the ones that had the strongest flavor reminiscent of the female Purple Punch. The seeds from that exceptionally bred Purple Punch hit the wider market in 2017.

The Symbiotic team also crossed the best male with five females, including LA Confidential, Clementine and Tangie.

On one fateful day in 2017, The Village and Budologist named the Purple Punch x Clementine cross Mimosa. In the years since it was released, Mimosa has been seen on podiums and winners lists across the country.

It just feels really good, Budologist said. Its a great thing to see your creation doing well all over the place. Its definitely something that even if people havent heard of Symbiotic Genetics, theyve heard of Mimosa.

The Village says its the teams most famous strain to this day.

Looking towards the future, the Symbiotic Genetics team is building out a new state-of-the-art breeding facility in Sacramento. They also want to get Budologist up to the capitol city full time, so he doesnt have to continue his two-hour commute to participate in the collaboration. Budologist has been working in the corporate world for 12 years as hes simultaneously pursued his plant passion, but he says it is a dream come true to transition full-time to cannabis breeding.

The plan is to get him here, and build an amazing breeding space with multiple rooms, The Village said. Then, well have a pheno-hunting room and a testing room so we can fully test our genetics and not have to send them out to people.

We asked The Village how many times the best phenotype of any given strain had been found by one of the testers he gifted the strain to. He could only think of two occasions where the genetics made their way back to him.

PureMelt gave me his Mimosa pheno. He gave me the Mimosa pheno Exotic Genetix used in their Strawberry line, said The Village. It says Strawberry and Cookies and Cream, but actually, its Mimosa and Cookies and Cream. Its a strawberry-dominant pheno of Mimosa. PureMelt won fourth place at the 2017 Emerald Cup with that one.

Strains from Symbiotic Genetics also took two spots in the top 10 of the personal sungrown cannabis category at theEmerald Cup, the premier competition for Northern California cannabis where many cultivators sell their seeds, in 2018. Their Cherry Punch genetics placed third and Mimosa placed fourth. Now the plan is to produce a lot more seeds. The plan for the new facility is to be able to work with four to five different males at any given time, instead of just the one they previously had the room for.

Well have multiple things going. It will kind of be like the Seed Junky approach where youre just dropping tons of new genetics all the time, The Village said. Were still going to do the whole approach of testing before we release anything. So thats going to slow us down, but once we get stuff stacking, its going to be releasing fast. Im hoping every six months well have a new line.

The essential shift now occurring within Symbiotic Genetics is that its two leaders are no longer thinking about cannabis breeding as a hobby.

We feel like the skys the limit once we have the financial backing, once we have the space to work the types of things we can do, said The Village. We created Mimosa and all these strains with two lights in a small-*ss room.

The potential was more evident than ever at last years Emerald Cup. People traveled from places like Argentina, Spain and Brazil just to get their hands on Symbiotics prized seeds.

Currently, The Village is sitting on over 70 cuts for when things go into full gear, including some of his own phenos and some of the GMO andWiFi Mintsother people have given him. He said hed most like to add to his collection those old OGs you kind of dont see theyre hard to get verified.

Over the years, The Village said he has gotten his hands on things he thought were old school OG cuts, but they never were what was claimed.

I have the Legend, Paris, the Lemon Fuel fromAlien Labs, he said. I mean I could be totally wrong, but they all seem like theres not a big difference between those three.

His theory is that OG is so finicky that it needs a much different environment compared to other strains in order to express its full character.

I think OGs express themselves more if you keep it a little warmer, he said. If you dont, it stays in a state where its unexpressed. So they kind of look the same, but theyre not fully able to push out the characteristics of what they are. So thats my kind of thing.

Other targets for the collection include Chem 91 and Super Silver Haze.

Theres a lot of new stuff I think is amazing, but Id like to go back to the roots, The Village said. He added that this emphasis on old-school cannabis is why Symbiotic Genetics recently pollinated an bunch of different females with a Kombucha male (a cross of Sour Diesel and a Purple Punch F2) featuring the old-school diesel flavor. Thats why we did the Kombucha line, to bring the Sour Diesel back in a new kind of way, he said. Our male we selected was very diesel-dominant.

Like many other cultivators who have been growing cannabis in California since before the 2018 adult-use regulations came down, The Village has been struggling to adapt to the new Golden State. In early 2019, The Villages old facility was shut down right before he was preparing to do a giant Banana Punch propagation because he hit a licensing snafu around the old building.

I mean, it sucks, The Village said. There are a lot of people that are being held back because of licensing. Its just so new to everyone. Were all learning and some of the cities are easier than others.

The Village says a lot of people already had grows that were dialed in to fit the states tight restrictions. But permitting a space youve already been using is hard. Most of the time you give [the states cannabis regulators] plans and they approve it. Well, now youre giving them plans that are already built, so if they dont approve it, then you essentially have to shut down to make those changes, he said.

The Village and Budologist knew they didnt want to do a patchwork job and decided they were just going to do a complete rebuild of the facility instead of a smaller remodel. Theyre now on the hunt for a partner to help fund the effort.

We could have done it ourselves, but it would have been cutting corners because we dont have the capital that you need to build one of these facilities, The Village said.

The Village recognizes certain challenges of the legal market, but were not living in the shadows. When I lived at the warehouse I was very fearful of getting raided. It was scary. But now I guess the only thing you have to worry about is thieves.

And those plotting against the Sacramento cannabis industry have been a major concern as of late. Due to the cannabis industrys lack of banking access, dispensaries are forced to horde large piles of cash to pay taxes. All this money has proven too tempting, and with Sacramentos rise to cannabis prominence, it became an even bigger target.

The Village says its particularly bad at the moment. At the end of the summer in 2019, one of the dispensaries he works with got hit by thieves, and numerous farms have been targeted, too. One night, two different facilities were hit. One dispensary lost $37,000 in four minutes.

Despite the rough nights, things are generally going well for Sacramentos cannabis scene. Its cultivators continue to travel up and down the states highways, returning with every trophy in the game. And when the Cannabis Cup visited Sacramento for the first time as a legal event in 2018, locals stole the show.

Sacramento is awesome, Budologist said. I think there is a lot of competition, which I think is the best thing because competition makes you work harder.

He believes Sacramentos population is open enough not to look down on the industry. Its definitely something people arent as embarrassed about, you know? he said.

While the short term has a bit of mystique to it, The Village, Budologist and their work at Symbiotic Genetics are not going anywhere. We look forward to continue watching them push the bar when it comes to exciting new cannabis genetics.

TELL US, have you tried the Mimosa strain?

Originally published in Issue 40 of Cannabis Now.LEARN MORE

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It Takes The Village - Cannabis Now

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Telit, a global enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), announced a partnership with Cleantron that provides a turnkey, end-to-end solution for optimizing the performance and cycle-life of Cleantrons battery packs. The partnership is the latest example of how Telit enables solution providers in any verticalincluding security, agriculture, retail, health care and moreto quickly and cost-effectively leverage IoT to optimize and differentiate their products and services.

Cleantrons new connected battery pack solution provides remote monitoring of the batterys health, temperature, voltage, current and state of charge data, which are critical for maximizing performance and cycle-life. Users also can track each batterys location, providing additional key insights into the status of high-value mobile/portable assets such as medical equipment, Industry 4.0 equipment and light electric vehicles.

Cleantron is using Telit solutions for its P4 Battery Packdesigned for use in light electric vehicles and industrial applicationswith the potential for expanding them across its entire portfolio. The solution is based on ME910C1-WW and Telit OneEdge:

When businesses want to harness the power of IoT, they turn to Telit, said Alon Segal, Senior Vice President, Software & Services, Telit. Cleantron is a prime example of Telits ability to provide all of the software, services and devices that a business needs to quickly and cost-effectively implement IoT.

Our partnership with Telit means that Cleantron customers can now get the real-time data they need to maximize the performance and cycle-life of the batteries that their vehicles, AGVs or other valuable equipment they depend on, said Maarten Kelder, CTO of Cleantron. Telit is the ideal choice because it provides everything we needmodules, cellular service and all of the toolssaving us time and money versus building our connected battery pack solution in house from scratch.

Telit is a global leader in Internet of Things (IoT) enablement, with an extensive portfolio of wireless connectivity modules, platforms, virtual cellular IoT operator services, and professional services, empowering hundreds of millions of connected things to date, and trusted by thousands of direct and indirect customers, globally. With nearly two decades of IoT innovation experience, Telit continues to redefine the boundaries of digital business, by delivering secure, integrated end-to-end IoT solutions for many of the worlds largest brands, including enterprises, OEMs, system integrators and service providers across all industries, enabling their pursuit of enterprise digital transformation.

Cleantron, located near Amsterdam is a specialist Producer of Li-ion Battery Modules for Industry 4.0, Light Electric Vehicles and the Automotive Sector. Having developed Cell Sensing Technology and Sense Making Algorithms, Cleantron uses advanced Battery Management Systems for, by example, Cycle-life Extension and Fast Charging.

See the article here:
Optimizing Lifetime and Health for Batteries in the Field - Cleantron - Energy Industry Review

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

By Michael Le Page

Roberto Pfeil/dpa

Because the symptoms of covid-19 are similar to those of other diseases, testing is the only way to know for sure if someone is infected with the coronavirus. Mass testing is therefore crucial to halting its spread. In the UK, a home test will apparently go on sale very soon.

How do you test for coronavirus infections?

At present, most tests are based on looking for genetic sequences specific to the covid-19 coronavirus. If these sequences are found in a sample, it must contain the virus.

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What does testing involve?

Getting a sample to test involves pushing a swab which resembles an extra-long cotton bud deep inside the nose or to the back of the throat. The swab is then sent off to a lab.

What about testing blood or urine?

The virus is only detected in the blood, urine or faeces of roughly half rof those who test positive based on nose or throat swabs, so blood, urine and stool tests arent reliable. If you are coughing up sputum, testing that can provide more accurate results than a nose or throat swab, according to a handbook summarising findings in China.

How long does it take to get a result?

Most labs use a method called the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which takes several hours. It can take days for labs to run the tests and tell people their result. Several groups around the world, are developing faster genetic tests, typically based on a method called loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), which takes less than half an hour. Handheld LAMP tests that could be used in homes and airports may start to become available within weeks.

How accurate are the tests?

In theory, genetic tests should be extremely accurate if done properly. However, there have been reports from China of many false negatives and false positives. This may be because the swabbing wasnt done correctly, or because overworked lab technicians were making mistakes. In addition, if people are tested very soon after becoming infected, they may not be shedding the virus yet.

Why is it so hard to get tested in most countries?

There are obvious practical issues with scaling up testing, from lack of trained personnel to equipment. But South Korea, which is now testing more than 20,000 people per day, has shown how fast it can be done. Many other countries didnt start ramping up testing capacity until local case numbers began to soar and unlike South Korea havent made testing central to their strategy as advised by the World Health Organization.

I have heard some tests can be done in 10 or 15 minutes. How do they work?

Rapid tests, such as the one that may roll out in the UK soon, are usually based on detecting proteins rather than genetic sequences. These proteins can either be viral ones, called antigens, or the antibodies our bodies make to kill the virus. Antigen tests can directly detect the presence of the virus, but are less accurate than genetic tests.

What about antibody tests?

The downside of antibody tests is that they cannot detect infections in the first two weeks or so, when people are most contagious. However, our bodies keep making antibodies even after we have recovered from an infection, so testing peoples blood for antibodies against the coronavirus will reveal how many of us have been infected so far. This will help us calculate the infection fatality rate.

Can antibody tests distinguish between people who have recovered and those who are still infected?

Sometimes. People start producing so-called IgM antibodies against the coronavirus around 10 days after showing symptoms (perhaps 15 days after infection). After another two days, their bodies start making IgG antibodies, and gradually stop making IgM. Most people will recover fully as soon as IgG levels ramp up. Many rapid tests can detect both types of antibodies. If IgM antibodies are present in someones blood, they are likely to be still infected. If only IgG is present, they are recovering or fully recovered.

How accurate are these rapid tests?

We dont know. Numerous companies are producing different tests that havent been independently checked yet. In general, testing for antigens or antibodies is less accurate than genetic testing, but the tests are easier and cheaper to manufacture. Rapid tests could play a valuable role, especially in poorer countries with little testing capacity. If they can reliably tell us when people have already been infected, it would allow key workers especially in healthcare to continue working without worrying about becoming infected or infecting their families.

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How does coronavirus testing work and will we have a home test soon? - New Scientist News

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Detailed knowledge of the human genome can provide us with extensive information about the causes of disease and how patients will respond to treatments. In this article, Pushpanathan Muthuirulan explores the concept of genetic testing and the potential for pharmacogenomic testing to transform healthcare.

Genomic assays offer enormous potential for improving human health. Recent advances in high-throughput genomic assay technologies have enabled development of more rapid and accurate genetic testing methods that can survey the entire human genome and pinpoint the genetic defects associated with diseases. Genomic assays offer deeper insights into disease causation in families and have improved our ability to diagnose and treat genetic disorders by targeting specific genetic subsets. The rapid pace of the discovery of genetic changes associated with disease has enabled researchers to predict the risk of genetic disorders in asymptomatic individuals, offering tremendous potential for unlocking value in precision medicine. Thus, genomic assays are on the cutting edge of medical innovation, offering resources to clinicians and healthcare providers for patient care and driving the future of medicine.

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Genomic assays: on the brink of revolutionising human healthcare - Drug Target Review

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Ever since the Human Genome Project began in the late 1980s, genetics and DNA have become topics of mass interest. The book Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 chapters states that the genome is a book that wrote itself, continually adding, deleting, and amending for over four billion years.

For Dr Surendra Chikara, who has been working in the field for over 20 years now, the idea of founding Bione, a healthcare startup, was a no-brainer.

Monitoring the present coronavirus outbreak scenario in the country, we have included new parameters to our Longevity Plus kit. The new updated kit provides information about the susceptibility of a person to viruses like coronavirus, SARS-like viruses, HIV, Hepatitis C virus, etc. This could be based on an individuals genetic makeup or the patterns of living, Surendra says.

Dr Surendra, Founder of Bione

Surendra says a recent addition to the Bione Genetic test can check an individuals susceptibility to coronavirus. He adds that the platforms microbiome test, combined with its predictive analytics tools and artificial intelligence, can provide tailored recommendations to individuals to strengthen their microbiome and improve their immunity.

A research paper titled 'Evidence of gastrointestinal infection of SARS-CoV-2 revealed that 23.29 percent patients infected with SARS CoV-2 showed positive results in stool after showing negative in respiratory samples. Hence, the gut microbiome test is the only way to know when a virus is no longer in your system, Surendra says.

Surendra started his career with recombinant DNA technology and worked with Dr Gita Sharma, who had created the first r-DNA vaccine for Hepatitis-B in India.

My journey in genomics started under her support and guidance. It was the time when human genome sequencing and next-generation sequencing were starting to gain importance. We were in discussions to bring D2C technology to India, but the Indian healthcare market was not ready for direct-to-consumer genetic testing," Surendra says.

This is a huge problem that all my networks were aware of. We all know that the future of the global pharmaceutical industry lies in developing precision medicines tailored for individuals based on their genes, and clinical risk for developing a disease. Indian genetic data is highly diverse and a number of breakthroughs can happen. At Bione, we are doing our part to be part of this bigger picture of making India disease-free, Surendra says.

The different types of kits depend on the number of tests covered, and include Longevity kit, Longevity Plus Kit, and MyMicrobiome kit. The Longevity Plus kit covers over 415 parameters, including health, personalised medicine, fitness, and wellness.

The team claims that it also covers a parameter that determines specific gene variants that may contribute to enhance resistance to viruses like coronavirus, HIV, Hepatitis C, and many others.

The MyMicrobiome kit identifies and quantifies the microbiome in the gut, based on which a personalised diet is recommended.

Surendra says scientific research has shown that the gut microbiome plays an important role in the function and maintenance of our immune system. In ideal conditions, this microbiome-immune system alliance allows the initiation of protective responses against germs.

The platform also offers sample collection, with samples collected from an individuals homes. A pick-up is arranged as per your convenience by Bione. The DNA sequencing is done in a well-equipped lab by expert scientists, after which a detailed report is prepared.

Bione gXplore is a user-friendly, informative, and interactive app-based platform. On it, you can go through your report and easily understand the results of DNA analysis.

Slots with genetic or food and nutrition counsellors are provided as a free-of-cost service. The expert team of counsellors guides you to proactively plan your and your familys health and lifestyle choices.

The Bione team consists of experts from global institutions and scientists domains of genomics, genetics, bio-IT, genome informatics, quality assurance, sales, marketing, genetic/nutrition/fitness counselling. The startup has a total team size of 39 people.

The startup also runs a lab with scientists, bioinformaticians, and genetic counsellors. The team is applying for ISO 9001:2015, followed by CAP and CLIA accreditation to follow global standards.

Bione is projecting to test 20,000 to 30,000 samples in the first year of operations. Tests are priced between Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000, with the option of paying in EMIs. Customers can choose the package based on their needs.

The startup has raised angel funding from a clutch of undisclosed investors. Gourish Singla, the Founder of blockchain startup Project Shivom has invested in Bione.

Currently, startups like The Gene Box and Hyderabad-based MapMyGenome work on providing preventive solutions based on an individuals genetic makeup.

He says the startup's high tech lab is using advanced technologies, including whole genome sequencing, while the competition is still working with array technology with limited markers.

(Edited by Kanishk Singh)

How has the coronavirus outbreak disrupted your life? and how are you dealing with it? Write to us or send us a video with subject line 'Coronavirus Disruption' to editorial@yourstory.com

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --To combat the lack of availability of tests, NxGen MDx announces the immediate launch and availability of their COVID-19 test.

The rise in U.S. cases of COVID-19, a highly contagious and sometimes fatal respiratory illness, has concerned health officials and spurred calls from lawmakers for action to expand testing capacity to slow its spread.

"Like the CDC-built kits, ours will be conductedon QuantStudio qPCR instrumentation and will be able to process 2000 samples per day with tests being resulted in 24-48 hours," said Dr. Jacqueline Peacock, Director of Laboratory Operations.

The test will help meet a major U.S. shortfall of diagnostic capabilities that has severely limited the nation's ability to track the spread of the outbreak.

"COVID-19 is a global challenge and we are committed to providing people on the frontlines of this pandemic with critical tests to help ensure proper care," said Alan Mack, CEO of NxGen MDx.

To ensure providers can give their patients the most comprehensive diagnostic results, NxGen MDx is also working to validate a 40+ respiratory pathogen panel to identify the cause of respiratory symptoms in a single test. This test is slated for launch in July 2020.

About NxGen MDxNxGen MDx LLC is a leading women's health company delivering highly accurate and precise genetic testing. NxGen MDx's history of whole-gene sequencing combined with advanced technology allows us to provide accessible, high-quality testing options to families as they plan for the future. NxGen MDx employs state-of-the-art technology, including rapid molecular diagnostics for infectious disease and genetic screening technology that examines the entire gene rather than parts of the gene, giving women and families a comprehensive assessment of their health. NxGen MDx is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. To learn more, visit the company's website at http://www.nxgenmdx.com.

Connect with us on:Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/nxgenmdx/LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/3832246Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nxgenmdxlab/Twitter - https://twitter.com/nxgenmdx

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With a simple sample of your saliva or swab of your cheek, a DNA testing kit can be used to research your familial origin or ancestry and determine paternity. Formerly a niche pursuit, home DNA testing is now an easy way to map out your family tree.

The kits have become quite affordable over the past few years, too, with a wide range of DNA testing companies -- from trailblazers such asAncestryand23andMeto upstarts such as LivingDNA-- selling testing kits.

You can learn a lot from DNA testing. In addition to deepening your understanding of ancestry, some services will introduce you to living relatives around the world through a common ancestor or use markers to shed light on your predisposition to specific health issues and diseases. Others will even test dog DNA and give you insight into your dog's health and breed makeup. Here we present to you our roundup of the nine best DNA test kits and services -- what they offer, how they work and how much they cost.

We'll update this story as we continue our in-depth testing of these services. In the meantime, the ones included here are the most popular DNA testing services as determined by Google keyword search rankings.

Looking for more in-depth info on DNA testing services in general? Jump to our explainer.

Named for the 23 chromosomes found in human cells, 23andMe offers a battery of tests, including some that analyze health risks like Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. (It was these tests thatattracted attention from the FDA.)

23andMe earns points for the depth of its medical tests, as well as the size of its match database. Purchasers of this DNA kit should note that the basic DNA test is $99 but that medical results cost another $99.

The added expense may be worth the money; the additional information includes genetic health risk information, wellness reports, trait reports, and carrier status reports, which indicate whether a particular DNA profile may be a genetic carrier of a disease or disability.

Your DNA information is gathered using a saliva sample from Autosomal DNA testing, which, once analyzed, is stored forever on 23andMe's servers. The service also provides for a chromosome browser and comparison, as long as any possible matches approve your access. The service's matrilineal and patrilineal line testing can geolocate your ancestry DNA in more than 1,000 regions.

(Appropriate for a genomics company, 23andMe's executive ranks contain some interesting familial relationships: CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki is the former wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin and sister of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki.)

Ancestry DNA has a vibrant genealogical community and offers a wide range of databases, research resources and family matching features. The Ancestry DNA test provides analysis segments of your DNA results and traces its origins to 500 geographic regions throughout Europe, Africa and Asia -- the most detailed of any of the services we've profiled. AncestryDNA also says that it can help you learn about up to 26 traits and attributes you've inherited from your ancestors -- all from a little bit of saliva.

Ancestry maintains a free family tree search tool, and you can add your specific results to that database. You can also download your full DNA profile and import that data into another tool -- but Ancestry doesn't offer a chromosome browser, so you can't do DNA segment comparisons. Ancestry DNA stores results in its DNA database forever.

FamilyTreeDNA is operated by Houston-based genetic testing lab Gene-by-Gene. Gene-by-Gene also operates the Genomics Research Center for National Geographics' Genographic Project, which has concluded its public participation phase.

FamilyTreeDNA offers a wide range of tests. The basic autosomal test costs $79 (plus shipping) and is conducted with a swab test sample of your cheek cells. You can add sequences and markers, and your father's line and mother's line tests, but that will step up the price considerably.

If you're interested in doing in-depth analysis, the FamilyTreeDNA offers a chromosome browser, allows raw data to be uploaded, provides support for setting different segment matching thresholds and allows up to five comparisons to be done at once. FamilyTreeDNA allows trial transfers from 23andMe and Ancestry DNA into its DNA match database; additional transfers of various datasets are available for a fee. FamilyTreeDNA promises to keep data for 25 years.

Offering DNA test kits and a range of online subscription services, MyHeritage says that its database includes more ethnicities -- that's 42 -- than any other major testing service. The free 14-day trial will let you poke around the company's massive online DNA database which includes 3.5 billion profiles in addition to information about over 100 million subscribers and their collective 46 million family trees.

Starting at $79, the company's DNA testing kits are competitively priced and cover the basics: A simple cheek swab will give you an analysis of your ethnic origins and the identification of relatives who share your DNA. In addition to MyHeritage's free basic subscription, which will let you assemble a family tree up to 250 people, there are other packages that accommodate larger trees, advanced DNA features, and more robust research tools. The company allows you to upload test data from other DNA testing services.

MyHeritage says that it has also sold more than one million DNA testing kits -- but its enormous database is largely powered by Geni.com, a genealogy social mediaaccording to the New York Times site, that has assembled "the world's largest, scientifically vetted family tree," according to the New York Times. (MyHeritage is Geni.com's parent company.)

HomeDNA is kind of like the Walmart of DNA testing, which is somewhat appropriate given that the company's testing kits are sold at Walmart stores in addition to CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens pharmacies.

HomeDNA offers a range of DNA ancestry testing services priced between $69 to $199. Though the jury is still out about the effectiveness of specialty tests, HomeDNA also sells test kits to determine food and pet sensitivity ($99), diet and exercise strategies based on your genetic makeup ($119), paternity ($164), and even skin care ($99).

Dog owners can buy a dog DNA test to help you determine your dog's breed history for $125. You can also buy a $125 health screening for your dog or cat that includes a series of tests for genetic diseases and traits. (If you're interested in a canine DNA test for less, Wisdom Health offers a dog DNA test kit for under $80.)

Testing is done with a mouth swab. Shipping is free. And results are kept for 25 years.

African Ancestry can't compete on price or the size of its match database, but it does offer deep regional analysis. It's a worthy specialized service for individuals looking at exploring African ancestry.

Rather than a match database of individuals, African Ancestry has the world's largest database of African lineages. The company can trace your ancestry back to a region in Africa and then pinpoint its location today. It can also dive deep into history and help find original ethnic groups that may date back as long as 500 years ago.

But the tests can get quite expensive. The company sells a maternal test kit and a paternal test kit for $299 each (shipping is free). If you want to trace both your maternal and paternal lines back through this DNA database, it'll cost you about $600. Still, for African family histories, the depth of analysis is unique among the services we profiled.

The Full Genomes service is so expensive, it offers a payment plan. But the service offers the largest library of Y-chromosome SNPs around. So if you want to explore your patrilineal background, this is the most comprehensive option on the market. You can also look into your mitochondrial DNA. There's no family match database, however.

Testing is done with a cheek swab. The company charges $25 for shipping.

Living DNA is a UK-based genomics firm that offers autosomal DNA data, as well as a breakdown of matrilineal and patrilineal lines. DNA data is gathered through a mouth swab.

Living DNA has a very limited family match database, so if you're looking for a service that can match you to relatives around the world, this isn't the one for you. But Living DNA's test is quite comprehensive, analyzing multiple types of DNA: it tests 638,000 autosomal SNPs, 22,500 Y chromosome SNPs and 17,800 X chromosome SNPs, along with 4,700 mitochondrial SNPs.

And the service tracks DNA to 150 geographic regions. Those with a UK family history will see a map of where paternal and maternal ancestors lived on the islands. Though we didn't test it first hand, Living DNA says its tools allow you to upload DNA data from other services to predict relationship matches.

Nebula Genomics offers a somewhat different take on DNA testing from the other testing services we've profiled. While you can order a full test kit from the company (and you should check to see if they're running a price promotion before ordering), you can also upload an existing DNA sequence from Ancestry or 23andMe's DNA database and get Nebula's reports at a reduced price.

The company claims a very different approach to DNA testing. Where most DNA testing firms examine a subset of the DNA sequence, Nebula says it examines the whole DNA sequence. They tell us they test, "1.3 billion positions and results in one thousand times more data than tests that use microarray-based genotyping.".

While the company does not offer a family-finding match database to connect you with relatives, they do offer a unique art print based on your DNA. We're not entirely sure we'd want to showcase our DNA up on the wall along with our prints of dogs playing poker and velvet Elvis, but Nebula's prints are quite attractive.

Of more note is the depth of the company's scientific reports based on your DNA sequence. The company also tests the microbiome in your mouth, providing a detailed overview of the bacteria contained inside your mouth and what it means for your overall health.

We wouldn't necessarily recommend Nebula's kit as your first stop on your DNA testing journey, particularly if you want to connect with your ancestors and family tree. But if you want to dive deeper even than 23andMe into the medical aspects of both your DNA and your personal mouth biome, Nebula is definitely a fascinating option to explore.

If you're using a home DNA testing service, you're likely looking for one of three things:

Ancestry and family history:The first big draw of a full DNA test is that you'll get a detailed breakdown on ancestry and ethnicity, and the migration patterns of your common ancestors. Spoiler alert: Your ethnic background may be radically different than you think it is. You'll also find out what a haplogroup is.

Relative identification:With your permission, some DNA services will let you connect with relatives you never knew you had -- other folks with matching DNA who have used the service and likewise given their permission to connect to possible relations.

Health and disease info:DNA testing can also indicate which conditions for what you may have a preponderance. It's a controversial feature, to be sure. Knowing that you have a genetic predisposition to a certain form of cancer may make you more vigilant for testing, but it may also lead to increased stress -- worrying about a potential health condition that may never develop, even if you're "genetically susceptible" to it. The possibility of false positives and false negatives abound -- any such information should be discussed with your doctor before you act upon it.

Afraid of needles and drawing blood? That's not an issue with these kits, which all involve either a swab test or a little bit of spit. All you need to do is spit into a vial or rub a swab in your mouth -- all the genetic data needed for these tests is present in your saliva -- and ship the DNA sample to the company for analysis.

The reason that a saliva sample works as well as blood (or hair follicles or skin samples) is that your DNA -- which is short for deoxyribonucleic acid -- is present in all of them. It's the basic genetic code present in all of your cells that makes up your key attributes, from the color of your eyes to the shape of your ears to how susceptible you are to cholesterol.

The key terms you need to know when comparing DNA testing services are:

SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism):Genotyping is done by measuring genetic variation. One of the more common is SNP genotyping, which measures the variations of a single nucleotide polymorphism. In our service summaries below, we discuss the number of SNPs. That's because the more a company measures, the more granular the variations analyzed.

Autosomal DNA testing:An autosomal test can be administered to both men and women and traces lineage back through both the maternal and paternal bloodlines.

Y-DNA:The Y-DNA test can only be administered to men and traces DNA back through the patrilineal ancestry (basically from father to grandfather to great grandfather).

mtDNA:The mtDNA is matrilineal and lets you trace your ancestry back through your mother, grandmother and great grandmother.

Autosomal tests can get you quality genetic information going back about four or five generations. Because the Y-DNA and mtDNA tests are more focused on one side of the line, you can get information going back farther, but with fewer data about family structure.

Before you use any of the services we've highlighted below, keep these important factors in mind.

Match database size:If you're looking for living relatives and not just curious about your origins, this is important. Simply put, the bigger the pool of available data, the better the chance you'll have of finding a match.

Privacy concerns:Nothing is more private than your health data, which is why you should make sure a prospective DNA testing site doesn't just keep at-home DNA test results security, but also follows the same best-practice online security protocols you'd expect from your bank or email provider. You'll want to look for two-factor authentication, an encrypted password database and so on.

But for DNA companies/testing providers, you should also investigate how they're sharing your genetic data -- even if anonymously -- and how long they keep the data. It's not just academic: Authoritiesrecently identified a suspect in the Golden State Killer murdersthanks to an open-source DNA and genealogy service known as GEDmatch (not profiled here).

If you're creeped out by how much information Facebook,Googleand Amazon have on you based on your online browsing habits, just remember that these DNA testing services are getting what is effectively your medical history -- especially those DNA analysis services that detail genetic health risks like Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Make sure of their policies before turning over that valuable data. Also, even if you don't share your DNA with a service, your familial DNA data may be available if a relative shared their genetic material. The privacy issues can get very complex.

Don't expect perfect accuracy.Testing kits can give you indications, but taking a DNA test with one of these testing services won't magically produce a history book of your family's background.

Consult a doctor on any health data:Cancer. Leukemia. Heart disease. Alzheimer's disease. There are a lot of scary afflictions out there, and your DNA testing may well indicate which ones to which you are genetically predispositioned. But the data markers from DNA testing kits exist in isolation. You should consult your doctor to explore the data from any of these tests. They'll help you determine how to implement any lifestyle changes or followup testing as a result, if it's worth doing so.

CNET's Justin Jaffe contributed to this story.

Updated periodically with new information.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Monday, March 23, 2020 3:30 p.m. CDT by Todd Epp

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) -- Sioux Falls two health care giants--Avera Health and Sanford Health--have been approved to test for COVID-19.

First, the release from Sanford:

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. Sanford Health has launched a test for the COVID-19 virus using an FDA-approved method under Emergency Use Authorization.

Tests will be available at Sanford clinics and medical centers, and processed at the Sanford laboratory in Sioux Falls. Patients will receive results in 24-48 hours.To be tested, patients must meet high-risk criteria and have a physician order.

The new Sanford testing capability will enable far more patients to be tested with faster turnaround time.

Sanford estimates it will be able to process nearly 400 tests per day, with plans to double that capacity in the coming weeks.The expanded testing will also provide public health officials more data about the spread of COVID-19 in the communities Sanford serves.

This was a tremendous effort on the part of our team to rapidly validate and launch our own internal testing, said Dr. Allison Suttle, chief medical officer for Sanford Health. Our testing will deliver faster results, enabling us to provide responsive care and keep our patients and staff safe.

Previously, tests were sent to the state Department of Health or commercial laboratories. Sanford will continue to use these external labs as needed for any overflow testing.

Sanford Healths test is FDA compliant and test results have been validated over the last week.

To get a test, Sanford patients must meet criteria defined by the Centers for Disease Control, including:

If patients are experiencing symptoms, they should call their provider instead of going directly to their clinic.

Sanford is also offering e-visits for COVID-19 care in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Ane-visitis an online questionnaire about symptoms that patients complete from home. A Sanford provider will review and respond within four hours with a treatment plan or prescription, or instruction to be seen in-person for further evaluation or testing.

Next, Avera:

Averas laboratory in Sioux Falls has been verified by the South Dakota Department of Health to perform COVID-19 testing.

The Avera Institute for Human Genetics has worked closely with the governors office as well as the state health department to establish guidelines on how pending tests are processed. This additional testing site will allow processing of up to 200 tests per day. Avera will have the ability to enter these results directly into the patients AveraChart electronic medical record.

The most critical and highly suspicious tests will receive priority. Result time will depend on volume, however, most test results will be able to be returned in a few days and inpatient tests that are considered urgent based on the patients condition can be returned more quickly.

To date, this testing has been conducted by the state health departments laboratory and Averas contract laboratory.

We are incredibly proud of the teamwork that was involved in making this happen so quickly. This will benefit our patients, health care workers and the general public. The health and safety of our patients and communities are the utmost important to Avera. We hope the addition of more testing sites will expedite results and calm worries, said Bruce Prouse, MD, Clinical Vice President of the Avera Laboratory Service Line.

Testing of COVID-19 samples is a complex process. Thanks to Averas background with genetic testing, we have the expertise and equipment to accomplish this, Prouse said. Getting this validation completed so quickly took amazing teamwork by our laboratory staff as well as state health officials. All are working together in the best interest of patients and the greater population.

All test results will be sent to the state for reporting purposes. Patients with positive test results will be contacted with instructions on how to care for themselves at home, symptom management, and when to contact health care provider if symptoms worsen.

Learn more at Avera.org/COVID-19

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Nevada State Public Health Laboratory Director Dr. Mark Pandori shows us how they test samples for COVID-19. Reno Gazette Journal

Northern Nevada is only at the very beginning of the worlds coronavirus pandemic, said President and CEO of Renown Health Tony Slonim.

We would expect things to get worse before they get better, said Slonim in an interview Friday with the Reno Gazette Journal.

Slonim, who has been at the helm of Renown since 2014, talked candidly about the shortcomings of the medical system in Nevada, where testing for COVID-19 is still low, and how he navigates a system in a state where finding enough doctors has always been a struggle.

I think the important part for me, when you are in one of these crisis moments, you train for it, you drill for it, prepare for it for years as your responsibility, and the day actually comes when you have to use your skills," Slonim said. "It's a little bit ... its humbling."

Study: Reno among metros most vulnerable to a COVID-19 recession; Las Vegas in top 5

Theres been nothing like this crisis before for Slonim, who has an impressive resume.

He was at Childrens National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on 9/11, working in the trauma center and intensive care unit of a pediatric hospital.

This reminds me of that, he said.

Slonim is quick to praise his medical team and others in the statewho have come together in this crisis.

He is on daily calls with leaders of other hospitals. They talk about the supply of ventilators.As he watches what has happened in other cities as the virus has spread, he knows there arenot enough.

Dr. Tony Slonim(Photo: Jamie Kingham, provided by Renown)

At some point there was a tipping point where the volume of patients increased dramatically and that outstripped the capabilities both supply wise, experience wise and equipment wise, he said.

Slonim said there are a couple of hundred ventilators available in Northern Nevada. He and the other hospital executives talk about how to get more.

But its not just ventilators.

You cant just have a ventilator. You have to know how to operate it, he said.

Despite Nevada focusing on recruiting doctors to the Silver State, there is still a shortage that is decades-old problem.

"We are short. We start needing people. You have to give people a break in this, he said, adding that in this type of crisis, staff will befatigued.

Coronavirus updates: Clark reports 52 new cases, Washoe reports 4 includes UNR student

It takes extra effort to provide care in an isolation environment.

The staff he has could be stretched thin, something he watchesknowing he must rotate people in charge and staff who often wantto keep working.

He calls staff his heroes,from doctors and nurses to people looking for supplies. Many have given up vacations and put aside their own worries to work.

Unfortunately, events like this bring out the best in people, he said.

Slonim sounds almost careful when asked about the number of test kits and how testing is going in Nevada. He said the governor and the health department are diligently working and aware of the problems.

A triage tent is seen at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno on March 12, 2020.(Photo: Jason bean)

He said they are doing the best with the tests they have.

To date, Nevadahas tested nearly 2,100 people and as of Friday positive cases were nearing 200. Two people in Clark County have died.

But Slonim said Nevada needs to test more.

We need broader capabilities around making sure we have broad-scale surge testing available in Nevada, so we can segregate people who have it from those that do not, he said.

He said the same type of testing the state pioneered with the Healthy Nevada Projectshould be happening for COVID-19.

Launched in 2016, the Healthy Nevada Project was a community-based population study where genetic testing was provided to thousands of Nevadans to learn about the health of the community and genetic risks.

Coronavirus in Nevada: Cannabis sales, deliveries increase as Nevadans stock up on pot amid COVID-19 isolation

Because if I could test 60,000 people in Northern Nevada (for COVID-19), I would really understand with data and factsthe proportion of people who actually have it versus those that just have the sniffles and a cold.

He said it would help him and others make decisions and plan for coronavirus with evidence. He wants to be able to test nursing home patients.

We know, boy do we know, that nursing home residents are vulnerable, he saidof knowing they will eventually get sick and come to the hospital, triggering an influx of patients.

Testing is pivotal upstream, so you can prevent consequences downstream.

The triage tent is seen at the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno on March 12, 2020.(Photo: JASON BEAN/RGJ)

Slonim admits hes anxious. He worries about his family and his elderly parents who live outside of a coronavirus epicenter in New York.

And there are days even he wonders if he is getting sick.

All of the sudden you are convinced you have COVID-19, he said. You can make yourself feel something if you let your imagination run wild.

Wondering with every coughif you've come down with the virus isn't limited to laypeople:Its real. It happens to me. It happens to my family."

He says the hospital feels like it does on the streets.

There is an air of what is going on, he said.

Elective surgeries were put off. More than 2,000employees who can work from home do. And many employees are waiting for the surge that will come.

Not to minimize it by these words, but it is our responsibility to go on as businesses as usual.

Siobhan McAndrew tells stories about the people of Northern Nevada and covers education in Washoe County. Read her journalism right here. Consider supporting her work by subscribing to the Reno Gazette Journal.

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ELMWOOD PARK, N.J., March 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- BioReference Laboratories, Inc., an OPKO Health company (NASDAQ: OPK), today announced a collaboration with the City of Miami to provide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing. BioReference will provide COVID-19 testing at drive-through locations for Miami residents by appointment.

BioReference is also announcing that they are providing testing for drive-through testing centers in South Florida, Hialeah and Hollywood through a collaboration with Larkin Community Hospital.

"We all are responsible for helping to control the spread of this virus," said Francis Suarez, Mayor of the City of Miami. "As an individual who tested positive for COVID-19, I have a duty to the City of Miami to bring my city's residents access to testing and information, and through our partnership with BioReference, we can help address this public health crisis."

"BioReference continues to prioritize expanding public access to COVID-19 testing across the nation," said Jon R. Cohen, M.D., Executive Chairman of BioReference Laboratories. "The importance of high-quality, reliable, scalable laboratory tests available is a critical part of the response in the effort to contain COVID-19."

If you demonstrate symptoms related with COVID-19, please call the Florida Department of Health immediately: 1-866-779-6121 or call the City of Miami COVID-19 Center: 1-305-960-5027.

Providers should refer to the most current CDC guidelines for further information on appropriate testing of patients, available here https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-criteria.html.

About COVID-19 Testing at BioReference Laboratories, Inc.BioReference Laboratories is accepting specimens for COVID-19 testing from healthcare providers, clinics and health systems throughout the United States to promote earlier diagnosis of the coronavirus and to aid in limiting spread of infection. In addition to its nationwide COVID-19 testing offering, BioReference has partnerships with the New York State Department of Health, the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation (NYC Health + Hospitals), the State of New Jersey and the City of Detroit to provide COVID-19 testing.

BioReference is offering a real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) assay with expected 24-48 hour turnaround time. The Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 test has been made available pursuant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Emergency Use Authorization for diagnostic testing in CLIA certified high-complexity laboratories. All tests are conducted in BioReference's main laboratory in Elmwood Park, N.J., which currently has a capacity to run up to 15,000 COVID-19 tests per day. For more information, visit https://www.bioreference.com/coronavirus.

About BioReference Laboratories, Inc.BioReference provides comprehensive testing to physicians, clinics, hospitals, employers, government units, correctional institutions and medical groups. The company is in network with the five largest health plans in the United States, operates a network of 10 laboratory locations, and is backed by a medical staff of more than 160 MD, PhD and other professional level clinicians and scientists. For more information, visit http://www.bioreference.com.

About OPKO HealthOPKO Health is a diversified healthcare company. In diagnostics, its BioReference Laboratories is one of the nation's largest full-service clinical laboratories; GeneDx is a rapidly growing genetic testing business; the 4Kscore test is used to assess a patient's individual risk for aggressive prostate cancer following an elevated PSA and to help decide about next steps such as prostate biopsy; Claros 1 is a point-of-care diagnostics platform with a total PSA test approved by the FDA. In our pharmaceutical pipeline, RAYALDEE is our first pharmaceutical product to be marketed. OPK88003, a once-weekly oxyntomodulin for type 2 diabetes and obesity - reported positive data from a Phase 2 clinical trial. It's among a new class of GLP-1/glucagon receptor dual agonists. OPK88004, a SARM (selective androgen receptor modulator) is currently being studied for various potential indications. The Company's most advanced product utilizing its CTP technology, a once-weekly human growth hormone for injection, successfully met its primary endpoint and key secondary endpoints in a Phase 3 study and is partnered with Pfizer. OPKO also has research, development, production and distribution facilities abroad.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), which statements may be identified by words such as "expects," "plans," "projects," "will," "may," "anticipates," "believes," "should," "intends," "estimates," and other words of similar meaning, including statements regarding BioReference's plans to begin testing for COVID-19 in Miami and the timing of and availability of the test, the turn-around time for testing and test capacity, as well as other non-historical statements about our expectations, beliefs or intentions regarding our business, technologies and products, financial condition, strategies or prospects. Many factors could cause our actual activities or results to differ materially from the activities and results anticipated in forward-looking statements. These factors include those described in the OPKO Health, Inc. Annual Reports on Form 10-K filed and to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, forward-looking statements may also be adversely affected by general market factors, reagent and supply shortages, competitive product development, product availability, federal and state regulations and legislation, the regulatory process for new products and indications, manufacturing issues that may arise, patent positions and litigation, among other factors. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date the statements were made, and we do not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements. We intend that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe-harbor provisions of the PSLRA

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The Asia Pacific prenatal and newborn genetic testing market is expected to reach US$ 1,679.956 Mn in 2027 from US$ 630.914 in 2018. The market is estimated to grow with a CAGR of 11.6% from 2019-2027.

The key factors responsible for the growth of the market in Asia Pacific are rising burden of genetic diseases among infants, increasing fertility rates and developing healthcare scenario with rising awareness among populace regarding the benefits of prenatal testing. On the other hand, use of digital microfluidics in newborn testing is likely to be a prevalent trend in the future years. Soaring birth rates among developing economies are responsible for fueling global baby boom. However, the rising birth rate also contributes to rising birth defects and infants suffering from several genetic diseases. According to a report published by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2018, there are almost 250 babies born every minute around the globe. Moreover, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the fertility rates for Hispanic women was highest in 2017 among Hispanic women with 67.1 births per 1,000 women.

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Some of the major primary and secondary sources for prenatal and newborn genetic testing included in the report areFood & Drug Administration (FDA), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), International Trade Administration (ITA), Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (cSIR), Pakistan Down Syndrome Association (PDSA) and others.

Asian countries such as India and China also have high fertility rates due to factors such as effects of religion, inadequate supply of family welfare services, poverty, and others. According to the World Bank in 2016, the fertility rates in India were reported to be 2.23 births per women as compared to 1.80 in the United States and 1.62 in China. Moreover, neighboring countries, such as Pakistan also have alarming rates of fertility. In 2016, the birth rate in Pakistan was reported to be 3.48 births per woman as per the World Bank data. However, the birthrate in India has successfully reduced its high fertility rate, but still is high as compared to other developed nations. According to the United Nations (UN) report published on June 2019, the fertility rate has reduced to 2.1. Therefore, by 2050 additional 273 million people will be added to Indias population. The increasing number of parturient women across the world are thus likely to create increasing demand for prenatal and newborn genetic tests across the globe leading to the growth of the market.

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The Asia Pacific prenatal and newborn genetic testing market, based on the disease indication was segmented into cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, downs syndrome, phenylketonuria, recurrent pregnancy loss, and Antiphospholipid syndrome, and other diseases. In 2018, Down syndrome segment held the largest share of the market, by disease indication. The highest share of Down syndrome attributes to the high prevalence of this genetic abnormality among fetuses and availability of multiple tests for its screening and diagnostics. However, the sickle cell anemia segment is expected to grow at the fastest rate during the coming year.

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Asia Pacific Prenatal & Newborn Genetic Testing Market With Latest Trends & Future Scope by 2020-2027: Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs),...

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- Leveraging proprietary technology and manufacturing platform to develop transformativegene therapies for multiple rare diseases with high unmet needs -

- Pipeline led by Phase 3 gene therapy candidate for treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), with a BLA filing targeted for 2021 -

- Backed by world-class group of biotech operators and investors -

EXTON, Pa., March 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Castle Creek Biosciences, Inc., a privately held, late-stage gene therapy company, announced that it has received a new investment of $75 million to support the advancement of its clinical development pipeline. Castle Creek Biosciences is a portfolio company of Paragon Biosciences, which led the $55 million equity investment from Fidelity Management & Research Company and Valor Equity Partners, along with a $20 million venture loan from Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (HRZN).

Castle Creek Biosciences is leveraging its proprietary technology platform and commercial-scale manufacturing infrastructure to develop personalized gene therapies for rare diseases with high unmet needs. The company plans to use the funding to advance and expand its gene therapy pipeline, led by the Phase 3 clinical development of FCX-007 (NCT04213261), its gene therapy candidate for the treatment of RDEB. It will also use the funding to expand its current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) infrastructure located in the greater Philadelphia region.

Clinical results from the ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial for FCX-007 continue to show positive trends in safety and wound healing in RDEB patients. Current data from this clinical trial were presented at the inaugural World Congress on Epidermolysis Bullosa held in London during January of 2020. FCX-007 was administered to 10 non-healing chronic wounds of which eight achieved complete wound closure 12 weeks post-administration (80%) vs. no wound closure in intra-patient, matched non-treated wounds (0%). FCX-007 continues to be well tolerated up to 52 weeks post administration.

We are proud to have the strategic support of world-class investors whose impact enables our efforts to transform the lives of patients and the future of medicine, said John Maslowski, Chief Executive Officer of Castle Creek Biosciences. We are steadfast in our commitment to the epidermolysis bullosa community and will continue to keep patients, caregivers and clinicians informed on the progress of our current programs, including FCX-007 and diacerein topical ointment, while we expand the scope of our gene therapy platform.

Castle Creek Biosciences is led by a strong executive leadership team with a proven record of developing innovative and potentially life-changing treatments for conditions with the greatest medical need, said Jeffery Aronin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paragon Biosciences. As investors, we are excited by the progress that the team has made and are committed to growing the Castle Creek Biosciences platform to address multiple rare genetic diseases.

About Castle Creek Biosciences, Inc. Castle Creek Biosciences is a privately held company that develops and commercializes gene therapies for patients with rare and serious genetic diseases. The companys lead gene therapy candidate, FCX-007, is being evaluated for the treatment of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), the most severe and debilitating form of epidermolysis bullosa (EB). The company is also advancing clinical research evaluating a diacerein topical ointment, CCP-020, for the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS) and other forms of EB. In addition, Castle Creek Biosciences is developing FCX-013, a gene therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe localized scleroderma. Castle Creek Biosciences is a portfolio company of Paragon Biosciences. For more information, visit castlecreekbio.com or follow Castle Creek on Twitter @CastleCreekBio.

About Paragon BiosciencesParagon is a life science innovator that invests in, builds, and advises bioscience companies. Our mission is to serve patients living with severe medical conditions which do not yet have adequate treatments. Paragons portfolio of independently-run bioscience companies focus on biopharmaceuticals, AI-enabled life science products, and advanced treatments such as cell and gene therapies. We help people live longer, healthier lives. For more information, please visit: ParagonBioSci.com.

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SEATTLE, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Coherent Market Insights, the global viral vector and plasmid DNA manufacturing market is estimated to be valued at US$ 427.2 million in 2019, and is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 22.8% over the forecast period (2019-2027).

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Key Trends and Analysis of the Global Viral Vector and Plasmid DNA Manufacturing Market:

Key trends in the market include increasing incidences of cancer, rising number of product launches, and increasing collaboration and acquisition activities by key market players.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), in 2018, around 9.6 million cancer deaths occurred globally. Over the last decade, development of gene therapy for the treatment of the cancer has increased significantly. Gene therapy treatment for cancer include transfer of foreign genetic material in the targeted cancer cell in the host's body. Various types of viral vectors and plasmid DNA such as retrovirus and HGF plasmidare used in the development of gene therapy.

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Increasing product launches and approvals by regulatory authorities are expected to drive growth of the global viral vector and plasmid DNA manufacturing market over the forecast period. For instance, in December 2017, Spark Therapeutics received the U.S. FDA approval to launch the LUXTURNA in the U.S. market. It is the first FDA approved gene therapy for treatment for an inherited retinal disease (IRD) and the first adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector gene therapy approved in the U.S.

Furthermore, key players operating in the market are focused on adopting acquisition, agreement, and collaboration strategies, in order to expand their product offerings in markets. For instance, in December 2017, Merck KGaA entered into a commercial supply agreement with bluebird bio, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. According to the agreement, Merck agreed to manufacture viral vectors for bluebird's gene therapy products targeting the rare genetic disorders.

Key Market Takeaways:

Key players operating in the global viral vector and plasmid DNA manufacturing market include

Lonza Group AG, FinVector Vision Therapies, Cobra Biologics and Pharmaceutical Services, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, VGXI, Inc., VIROVEK, SIRION Biotech GmbH, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies U.S.A., Inc., Sanofi, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, Brammer Bio, and MassBiologics.

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Market Segmentations:

Did not find what you were looking for? Here are some other topics:

DNA AND RNA SAMPLE PREPARATION MARKET

DNA and RNA samples are necessary for variety of applications in drug research and development and cancer studies. High quality DNA and RNA samples are important for a wide variety of research and clinical applications. Biological studies require purified and isolated nucleic acids as the first step and in all recombinant DNA techniques. The extraction of nucleic acids from biological material requires cell lysis, inactivation of cellular nucleases, and separation of the desired nucleic acid from cellular debris.

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LIFE SCIENCE PRODUCTS MARKET

Life science products include laboratory supplies & accessories, cell culture & fermentation processes, cell therapy technologies, chromatography products, bioprocess filtration, fixed and live cell research through imaging and analysis, sample collection products, recombinant proteins, cell lines, and antibodies. These products are used for drug discovery, tissue engineering, drug screening, forensic testing, and genetic analysis.

Read more @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/life-science-products-market-3652

GLYCOBIOLOGY MARKET

Glycobiology involves study of structural aspects, biosynthesis, and biology of polysaccharides and how they function in an organism. Study of glycobiology has variety of application in areas such as drug discovery and development, diagnostic applications, therapeutic application, and industrial applications.Complex structure of glycan's and difficulty in its study, high costs of spectrometry and high performance liquid chromatography are expected to hinder growth of the market.

Read more @ https://www.coherentmarketinsights.com/market-insight/glycobiology-market-3639

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Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

]]> The companies will work together on three initial programmes for gene therapies to treat rare disorders. Credit: PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay.

Takeda Pharmaceutical has signed a strategic collaboration and licence agreement with biotherapeutics developer Codexis to research and create gene therapies for rare disorders.

Codexis will use its CodeEvolver protein engineering platform to construct gene sequences encoding protein variants that could boost efficacy by improving activity, stability and cellular uptake.

Takeda will combine these transgenes and its gene therapy capabilities to develop candidates for treating various rare genetic diseases, including lysosomal storage disorders and blood factor deficiencies.

Codexis president and CEO John Nicols said: Our CodeEvolver platform technology enables the rapid engineering of novel genetic sequences that encode more efficacious proteins. The prospects of these improved sequences for the development of differentiated gene therapies for patients with rare diseases, therefore, holds great promise.

Takedas expertise in developing novel treatments for patients with rare genetic disorders, and its commitment to developing the best possible gene therapies, makes them an ideal partner for our growing Novel Biotherapeutics business unit.

The companies will work together on three initial programmes. Codexis will generate enzyme sequences that could be progressed as gene therapies into pre-clinical development.

Takeda will carry out the pre-clinical and clinical development, as well as commercialisation.

Apart from the three programmes, Takeda could launch up to four programmes for different target indications.

Codexis will obtain an upfront payment, research and development (R&D) fee reimbursement.

The company is also eligible for development and commercial milestone payments, and sales royalties on any commercial product resulting from the partnership.

Earlier this month, Takeda Pharmaceutical announced plans to develop a drug to treat Covid-19. The company will develop a polyclonal hyperimmune globulin (H-IG), referred to as TAK-888.

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Cell Therapy Technologies Market Forecast 2020-2030

LONDON, March 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumables, Equipment, System & Software, Cell Processing, Cell Processing Equipment, Single Use Equipment, Cell Preservation, Distribution, Handling, Process Monitoring & Quality Control, Human Cells, Animal Cells, Life Sciences & Research Companies, Research Institutes

Visiongain estimates that the global cell therapy technologies market will grow at a CAGR of 15% in the first half of the forecast period. In 2020, North America is estimated to hold 38% of the global cell therapy technologies market.

How this report will benefit you

Read on to discover how you can exploit the future business opportunities emerging in this sector.

In this brand new201-page reportyou will receive104 tables and 110 figures all unavailable elsewhere.

The 201-page Visiongain report provides clear detailed insight into the cell therapy technologies market. Discover the key drivers and challenges affecting the market.

By ordering and reading our brand-new report today you stay better informed and ready to act.

To request sample pages from this report please contact Sara Peerun at sara.peerun@visiongain.com or refer to our website: https://www.visiongain.com/report/cell-therapy-technologies-market-forecast-2020-2030/#download_sampe_div

Report Scope

Global Cell Therapy Technologies Marketfrom2020-2030

Forecast of the Global Cell Therapy Technologies Market byType of Product: Consumables Equipment:Cell Processing Equipment, Single Use Equipment, Other Equipment System & Software

Forecast of the Global Cell Therapy Technologies byProcess Type: Cell processing Cell preservation, distribution and handling Process monitoring and quality control

Forecast of the Global Cell Therapy Technologies byCell Type: Human cells:Stem cells, Differentiated cells Animal cells

Forecast of the Global Cell Therapy Technologies byEnd User: Life Sciences and Research Companies Research Institutes

This report provides individual revenue forecasts to 2030 for thesenational markets: The US Canada Mexico UK Germany France Italy Spain Japan China India South Korea Singapore Malaysia Russia Brazil Argentina UAE South Africa Nigeria Mexico

Our study discusses the selectedleading companiesthat are the major players in the respiratory inhalers market: GE Healthcare Lonza Group Merck KGaA Terumo Bct, Inc. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. & Other Companies

For the leading companies, we feature product portfolios, business segment breakdowns, recent developments & key expansion strategies etc.

This report discussesfactors that drive and restrainthis market. As well asopportunitiesandchallengesfaced by this market.

This report discusses thePorter's Five Forces Analysisof the Cell Therapy Technologies Market.

Key questions answered by this report: How is the Cell Therapy Technologies Market evolving? What is driving and restraining factors of the Cell Therapy Technologies Market? What are the market shares of each segment of the overall Cell Therapy Technologies Market in 2020? How will each Cell Therapy Technologies submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much revenue will these submarkets account for in 2030? How will the market shares for each Cell Therapy Technologies submarket develop from 2021 to 2030? What will be the main driver for the overall market from 2021 to 2030? Will leading national Cell Therapy Technologies Markets broadly follow the macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual national markets outperform others? How will the market shares of the national markets change by 2030 and which geographical region will lead the market in 2030? Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period? How will the industry evolve during the period between 2020 and 2030?

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To request a report overview of this report please contact Sara Peerun at sara.peerun@visiongain.com or refer to our website: https://www.visiongain.com/report/cell-therapy-technologies-market-forecast-2020-2030/

Did you know that we also offer a report add-on service? Email sara.peerun@visiongain.comto discuss any customized research needs you may have.

Companies covered in the report include:

Affymetrix, Inc.AkouosAllCellsApplikon Biotechnology Inc.ATLATL CentreAutolus LimitedBeckman Coulter, Inc.Becton, Dickinson and CompanyBioengineering AGBiological IndustriesBioWa, IncBrammer BioC.R. Bard, Inc.CaridianBCT, IncCell and Gene Therapy Asia Technology CentreCentre for Process Innovation (CPI)CMC Biologics (Asahi Glass Co.)Cobra BiologicsCocoon PlatformCryoportDanaher CorporationDiNAQOR AGEMD Performance MaterialsEMD SeronoEppendorf AGEuropean Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)Finesse Solutions, Inc.Flexsafe RM TXFloDesign SonicsFlowJo, LLCFood and Drug Administration (FDA)Gamida CellG-CON ManufacturingGE healthcareGenScriptInfors HTIntegrated DNA Technologies, Inc.LaVision BioTecLonza Group, GE HealthcareMassachusetts Eye and Ear (MEE)Meissner Filtration Products, Inc.Merck KGaAMerck SeronoMesoblastMilliporeSigmaMiltenyi BiotecNova BiomedicalPall Corporation (Pall)Patheon N.V.Penn State UniversityPharmaCell B.VSartorius AGSartorius Stedim BiotechScinogySelecta Biosciences, IncSiemensSolaris BiotechStafa Cellular TherapyStafaCTStemcell TechnologiesTerumo Bct, Inc. (A Subsidiary of Terumo Corporation)Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.Tillotts Pharma AGTranstem LabUniCAR TherapyWorld Courier

To see a report overview please e-mail Sara Peerun on sara.peerun@visiongain.com

Related reports:

Global Stem Cell Technologies and Applications Market 2019-2029

Biobanking Market Forecasts 2019-2029

Biologics Market Trends and Forecasts 2019-2029

Global Bioreactors Market 2020-2030

Global Precision Medicine Market Forecast 2019-2029

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Visiongain Report Looks at Opportunities Within the $23bn Cell Therapy Technologies Market - Yahoo Finance

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Introduction

Sangamo Therapeutics (SGMO) is a clinical-stage biotech company focusing on the research and development of genomic medicine across 4 distinct technology platforms: gene therapy, cell therapy, in vivo genome editing, and in vivo genome regulation.

Sangamo is best-known for developing its proprietary gene-editing technology, zinc finger proteins ("ZFPs"), which is a naturally occurring class of transcription factor proteins found in humans and other species. The company has used its internal know-how and technical expertise to develop a proprietary synthetic ZFP platform with potential clinical utility in ex vivo gene-edited cell therapy, in vivo genome editing, and in vivo genome regulation.

ZFPs also can be engineered to make zinc finger nucleases ("ZFNs") which proteins that can be used to specifically modify DNA sequences by knocking in or knocking out select genes, or genome editing, and ZFP transcription-factors ("ZFP-TFs") which are proteins that can be used to selectively increase or decrease gene expression.

Sangamo is developing a series of clinical programs, which are either wholly-owned or partnered with well-established pharma and biotech companies, to focus on 3 therapeutics areas in inherited metabolic disease ("IMDs"), central nervous system ("CNS), and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Its full list of clinical pipeline programs is listed in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Sangamo Therapeutics' Clinical Pipeline (Source)

The company's most advanced program is an investigational gene therapy for severe hemophilia A, SB-525. SB-525 is developed under a global collaboration with Pfizer (PFE), of which the rights of SB-525 have been transferred to Pfizer to run a phase 3 trial. In December 2019, both companies announced updated initial data from the phase1/2 trial of SB-525. SB-525 was generally well-tolerated and demonstrated a sustained increase in Factor VIII activity. SB-525 has been granted RMAT, Orphan Drug, and Fast Track designation by the FDA as well as Orphan Medicinal Product Designation by the European Medicines Agency ("EMA").

Beyond SB-525, the company is also investigating 2 wholly-owned gene therapy. ST-920 is being evaluated to treat Fabry disease, a rare inherited metabolic disease, in a phase 1 study in the US and UK. SB-920 has received Orphan Drug designation by the FDA. The company also plans to advance ST-101 into clinical trials in 2021 to treat phenylketonuria ("PKU") which is a rare inherited disorder that originates from a defect in the PAH gene and results in a harmful accumulation of phenylalanine in cells throughout the body.

Sangamo is working with Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) to develop ex vivo gene-edited cell therapies, ST-400 and BIVV-003, for transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia ("TDT") and sickle cell disease ("SCD") respectively. Both ST-400 and BIVV-003 are related product candidates using the same technology involving gene editing of a patient's own hematopoietic stem progenitor cells using non-viral delivery of ZFN technology.

Sangamo is the phase 1/2 study of ST-400 in 6 patients with TDT while Sanofi is recruiting the phase1/2 study evaluating BIVV-003 in patients with SCD, and Sanofi is responsible for the subsequent development, manufacturing, and commercialization of both programs.

In Dec 2009, Sangamo presented interim results for the first 3 patients ST-400. As of the data cut date, 2 more patients have been enrolled although they were not included in the interim updates. The 3 patients treated with ST-400 experienced prompt hematopoietic reconstitution, demonstrating neutrophil engraftment in 14-22 days and platelet engraftment in 22-35 days. No emerging clonal hematopoiesis had been observed as measured by on-target indel pattern monitoring in the three treated patients. The downside of the data readout is that its treatment of TDT appears to be not as efficacious as other competitors such as bluebird bio (BLUE).

Sangamo also has a global collaboration and license agreement with Kite Pharma, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gilead Sciences (GILD), for the development of engineered cell therapies for cancer. The company is working together with Kite to design ZFNs and viral vectors to disrupt and insert select genes in T cells and natural killer cells. The first program of this agreement expected to start a clinical trial in 2020 is KITE-307, which is an allogeneic anti-CD19 CAR-T cell therapy. Given the well-documented struggles of Kite's approved autologous CAR-T, Yescarta, the success of allogeneic CAR-Ts will be very beneficial.

Lastly, Sangamo is also evaluating the potential of regulatory T-cells ("Tregs") genetically modified with a CAR ("CAR-Tregs") in solid organ transplantation. CAR-Treg cell therapies are being conducted in several preclinical studies in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as multiple sclerosis ("MS") and inflammatory bowel disease ("IBD"). The most advanced CAR-Treg cell therapy is TX200, which is an autologous treatment for the prevention of solid organ transplant rejection and the clinical trial is expected to be initiated in 2020.

Sangamo is only planning to start a new clinical trial for its in vivo genome editing programs. SB-913 is a second-generation ZFNs program that will be used to treat Mucopolysaccharidosis type II ("MPS II") and a new clinical trial is planned to start this year.

The company had previous programs from first-generation ZFNs that have been halted as they did not demonstrate enough clinical benefits. The company plans to use data from the SB-913 study to definite the next steps for its in vivo genome editing programs.

The company also has several preclinical programs evaluating their ZFP-TF technology as a novel therapeutic approach for CNS diseases. In December, Sangamo announced a collaboration with Biogen (BIIB) to develop and commercialize ST-501 for tauopathies including Alzheimer's disease, ST-502 for synucleinopathies including Parkinson's disease, a third undisclosed neuromuscular disease target, and up to 9 additional neurological disease targets. Under the terms of the agreement, Biogen will pay Sangamo $350M upfront, inclusive of a license fee and equity investment, and Sangamo is eligible to receive up to $2.37B in future milestones.

Sangamo also has a partnership with Pfizer and Takeda (NYSE:TAK) to develop and evaluate ZFP-TFs. The company is working with Pfizer to evaluate ALS and frontotemporal lobar degeneration ("FTLD") that are linked to the mutations in the C9ORF72 gene. In the partnership with Takeda, the company is evaluating a preclinical program for Huntington's disease in which ZFP-TF is designed to differentially down-regulate the mutated disease-causing huntingtin gene ("HTT gene") while preserving the expression of the normal version of the gene.

As of 31 December, 2019, cash and equivalents on hand was $385M. The amount is excluding the $350M injection from the collaboration with Biogen, and when factored in, cash on hand should comfortably be in the range of high $600-700M. This should give them a comfortable runway to fund all operations well into 2021, an important point given that the recent stock market crash which limits any secondary offering options.

Impressively, the company has managed to strike several high-profile partnerships with 5 global biotech/big pharma companies. Such partnerships not only validate Sangamo's technology and capabilities, but they also provide future avenues of funding with as much as $6.34B royalties on net product sales and potential milestone payments due to the company.

Figure 1 Sangamo Therapeutics' Partnerships (Source)

In terms of competition, the company competes with several players, particularly in the cell and gene therapy space. bluebird bio has more advanced programs in both TDT and SCD and, to date, has shown much better efficacy. There are also other companies such as CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) that are using an alternative gene-editing method, CRISPR/Cas9 in gene therapy. Other companies such as Editas Medicine (EDIT) and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) are also developing CRISPR/Cas9 for treatments in TDT and SCD, although it must be noted that these are not their lead programs.

In terms of allogeneic CAR-T, there are more established players such as Allogene Therapeutics (ALLO), Cellectis (CLLS), and Precision Biosciences (DTIL). The main difference among these companies is primarily the choice of gene-editing tools with Allogene and Cellectis using TALEN while Precision is using ARCUS. All these companies are, currently, in a similar stage of clinical development.

In addition to healthy donors derived allogeneic therapies, Fate Therapeutics (FATE) is developing allogeneic therapies from induced pluripotent stem cells ("iPSCs") as a renewable cell source. The advantage of this is that product consistency and potency will be improved, and the manufacturing process will be akin to the well-established biologics where they are produced from a single cell line. It is notable to note that Allogene is also investigating using iPSCs as a renewable cell source. Also, Atara Biotherapeutics (ATRA) is developing an Epstein-Barr Virus ("EBV")-based allogeneic T cell therapy platform. Their lead program is in Phase 3 and a BLA filing is expected by the second half of the year. That should put them in the lead position of commercializing an allogeneic T cell therapy and the company is gradually moving into allogeneic CAR-T space as well.

Sangamo is, currently, trading at a market cap of around $700M, which is almost as much as its cash position. While its cash position will eventually deplete to fund operations and clinical trials, the current valuation means that there is also no value for its technology and intellectual position. I consider it a good time to take up a small position in Sangamo, especially if investors have a time horizon of at least a year to weather the COVID-19 black swan event and wait for further clinical updates from the company.

It must be cautioned though that investing in clinical-stage biotech can be extremely risky, given the binary nature of the field. This is especially so, given the market turmoil from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has also led to several countries announcing lockdowns, which have disrupted supply chain and operations. Several clinical trials have already been delayed globally and this may impact Sangamo negatively, as their cash burn will continue even if clinical trials are delayed.

Disclosure: I am/we are long ATRA, BLUE. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

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Sangamo Therapeutics: Market Cap Is At A Bargain Relative To Its Cash Position - Seeking Alpha

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Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies have produced encouraging clinical outcomes, demonstrating their therapeutic potential in mitigating tumour development. However, another form of T-cell immunotherapy based on T-cell receptors (TCR) has also shown great potential in this field. Here, Nikki Withers speaks to Miguel Forte who elaborates on the process and explains why he is excited about seeing an idea translate into an industrial proposition.

STIMULATING the natural defences of a persons immune system to kill cancer cells, known as immunotherapy, has become a novel and exciting approach to treat cancer. For example, the role of T cells in cell-mediated immunity has inspired the development of several strategies to genetically modify T cells, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, to target cancer cells. In recent years, CAR T-cell therapy has received much attention from researchers and the press alike, and the landmark approval and clinical successes of Novartis Kymriah (the first FDA-approved treatment to include a gene therapy step in the United States) and Gilead/Kite Pharmas Yescarta (the first CAR T-cell therapy for adults living with certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma) has prompted a surge of further research. However, this approach which involves isolating cells from a patient, bioengineering them to express CARs that identify and attach to tumour cells and injecting them back into the patient has several limitations, according to Miguel Forte, former CEO of Zelluna Immunotherapy and currently CEO of Bone Therapeutics.

Forte has been working on a T-cell immunotherapy approach that primarily focuses on the T-cell receptors (TCRs). Similar to CAR therapies, TCR therapies modify the patients T lymphocytes ex vivo before being injected back into the patients body. However, they differ in their mechanisms for recognising antigens. CAR T-cell therapy can be compared to a policeman, with a photograph of the criminal, being able to identify them on the street, explained Forte. It is an artificial way of guiding those cells to the cancer when the cancer cells are in suspension. The difficulty with CAR is that it cannot always penetrate and deliver an effect in solid tumours. TCR therapy, which utilises the natural mechanisms that T cells use to recognise the antigen and therefore the cancer, is better suited to penetrate the tumour ie, the policeman is able to go inside the building where a criminal is hiding.

It is obviously more costly at the beginning of the development when you are fine tuning your process, compared to when you progress to a larger scale as you approach the market

Of note, this approach targets the TCR- peptide/major histocompatibility complex (MHC) interaction, which enables eradication of tumour cells. Intracellular tumour-related antigens can be presented as peptides in the MHC on the cell surface, which interact with the TCR on antigen-specific T cells to stimulate an anti-tumour response. Imagine you, or the cells, are not just a soldier in an army but a captain that can bring other immune cells into the mix. TCRs and these cells, once they go in, have a direct kill activity and an immunostimulatory activity to other cells to have a more comprehensive effect of killing the tumour cells. Forte concluded that this approach is scientifically appealing and could bring value to a large array of solid tumours.

The benefits of TCR therapies are evident; however, as with all new approaches, it is not without its challenges. The first relates to the manufacturing of these therapies; the process requires extracting patient material, changing it and then returning it to the patient. Unlike drug discovery with small molecules where you have an inert, well-defined, chemically-established component, with biologics you go up a notch in terms of complexity, Forte explained, adding that while small molecules are unidimensional, biologics are three-dimensional and, thus, more complex and challenging to manufacture. You need to remember that your product, the cells, are a living being. It is something that replicates, changes and responds to its environment. This makes it a lot more challenging to characterise and define the right specifications of the product. The initial challenge is to put in place a consistent and reliable manufacturing process.

Generating the necessary pre-clinical data can also prove challenging; studies are easier to conduct in animal models when you are working with chemical entities rather than human cells, according to Forte. Finally, when the product does get to clinic, there are elements of manufacturing, supply and logistics that can prove challenging; however, companies are starting to provide solutions for this. Working in cell and gene therapy we need to apply what we have done with other products, explained Forte. You need to adapt to the complexity and diversity of the product you have in hand. Here, you have a live product. Something that responds. It is similar to having a child; you can modulate it, but you can never fully control the behaviour of something you are shaping.

Bringing a new drug to market, from drug discovery through clinical trials to approval, can be a costly process, especially when developing cell-based therapies. These are more expensive than developing chemistry or biologics, but when biologics started to be developed, they were also very expensive, explained Forte. We are now seeing a reduction of those costs as more companies are developing products and consequently more solutions are surfacing.

Forte was involved in developing his first cell therapy product about 10 years ago. At this time, it was difficult; a lot of solutions you had to build in house. Nowadays, you can import this from solutions already available so you can concentrate on the specificity; for instance, the viral vector for gene editing your cells or the cytokine concentration for the expansion of your cells. He added that as these therapies grow, so too does the competition, resulting in reduced costs. However, the price and return on investment must correlate with benefit. It is obviously more costly at the beginning of the development when you are fine tuning your process, compared to when you progress to a larger scale as you approach the market.

The well-publicised success story of Emily Whitehead a six-year-old leukaemia patient who was one of the first patients to receive CAR T-cell therapy is a prime example of the success of immunotherapy treatments. Even though these patients may need to continue medications, they can live a relatively normal life. The gene- edited cells remain in the individual and continue to control the cancer by restoring the immune systems capabilities, said Forte. He hopes that similar results will be seen with TCR therapies: Hopefully, a significant fraction of patients will have a clinical and biological response that will reduce the tumour bulk, give them a quality life and remain doing so by controlling the cancer for a significant amount of time.

Forte concluded that the possibilities for TCR- based immunotherapies are exciting and hopefully products will be developed that will deliver an immediate and sustained effect in cancer patients.

About the author

MIGUEL FORTE

Miguel is currently the CEO of Bone Therapeutics and visiting Professor at the Lisbon University in Portugal. He also serves as Chief Commercialization Officer and Chair of the Commercialization Committee of the International Society of Cellular Therapy (ISCT) and is Member of Board of Directors of ISCT and ARM. Miguel was CEO of Zelluna Immunotherapy until the end of 2019. Miguel holds a masters degree from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, Portugal, a PhD in Immunology from the University of Birmingham, UK, an accreditation as Specialist in Infectious Diseases and a certificate on Health Economics of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Technologies (HEP). He is Fellow of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the RCP in the UK.

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TCR therapy an attractive alternative to CAR T for immunotherapy - Drug Target Review

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

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Global Hemophilia Gene Therapy Market 2020:Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Status and 2026 Forecast Spark Therapeutics, Freeline Therapeutics,...

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

Collaboration to leverage synergies between Monoclonal Antibody and Non-Viral Gene Delivery Platforms

SAN DIEGO and BOSTON, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In response to the government call for rapidly deployable countermeasures, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE, Sorrento) and SmartPharm Therapeutics Inc. (SmartPharm) today announced a research and development collaboration to develop a next-generation, gene-encoded antibody vaccine for COVID-19. The collaboration will utilize monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 virus discovered and/or generated by Sorrento that will be encoded into a gene for delivery utilizing SmartPharms non-viral nanoparticle platform.

Over the past 10+ years, Sorrento has extensively utilized the G-MABTM Library, one of the largest and most diverse fully human antibody libraries in the biopharma space, for discovering potent immuno-oncology and anti-infective antibodies against over 100 drug targets. In the effort to more quickly resolve the global COVID-19 crisis, our company has initiated a rapidly accelerated program for the identification of potent neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus antigens that may be used for either treatment or prophylaxis, said Henry Ji, CEO of Sorrento Therapeutics. We expect our platform to produce many candidate neutralizing antibodies for SmartPharm to incorporate into its powerful gene delivery platform. We look forward to our partnership with SmartPharm as part of our goal to make a meaningful impact in this truly global effort.

As a company founded by infectious disease physicians, including myself, we are passionate about applying our novel gene delivery platform to this national and global health crisis, said Jose Trevejo CEO of SmartPharm Therapeutics. Given the disproportionate mortality in elderly and immune-compromised, it is critical that we develop novel technologies that will better protect our populations that are particularly vulnerable to severe coronavirus infection.

Unlike classical antigen-based vaccines, which rely on a patients immune system to establish efficacy, SmartPharms gene-encoded antibody platform is designed to directly neutralize the coronavirus by producing the protective antibody directly in the muscle of the individual. This gene-encoded monoclonal antibody delivery platform or Gene MAb bypasses the in vitro antigen production process and potential for vaccine-induced side-effects in immunized individuals. This is especially important in susceptible populations like the elderly, where antigen-based vaccines are significantly less effective for the prevention of respiratory infections such as influenza or coronavirus. The companies expect that this novel approach will enable faster progression to clinic, pending agreement with the FDA.

As part of the collaboration, Sorrento and SmartPharm expect to develop a gene-encoded antibody or antibodies that can be administered as a prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Plans for the collaboration may include candidate development as well as filing of an IND application in the next few months.

About SmartPharm Therapeutics

SmartPharm Therapeutics Inc. is a privately held, pharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation, non-viral gene therapies for the treatment of serious or rare diseases with the vision of creating Biologics from Within. SmartPharm is currently developing a novel pipeline of non-viral, gene-encoded proteins for the treatment of conditions that require biologic therapy such enzyme replacement and tissue restoration. SmartPharm commenced operations in 2018 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA, USA. For more information, please visit http://www.smartpharmtx.com.

About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

Sorrento is a clinical stage, antibody-centric, biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies to turn malignant cancers into manageable and possibly curable diseases. Sorrento's multimodal multipronged approach to fighting cancer is made possible by its extensive immuno-oncology platforms, including key assets such as fully human antibodies (G-MAB library), clinical stage immuno-cellular therapies (CAR-T, DAR-T), intracellular targeting antibodies (iTAbs), antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and clinical stage oncolytic virus (Seprehvir).

Story continues

Sorrento's commitment to life-enhancing therapies for patients is also demonstrated by our effort to advance a first-in-class (TRPV1 agonist) non-opioid pain management small molecule, resiniferatoxin (RTX), and ZTlido (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. Resiniferatoxin is completing a phase IB trial for intractable pain associated with cancer and a phase 1B trial in osteoarthritis patients. ZTlido was approved by the FDA on February 28, 2018. For more information visit http://www.sorrentotherapeutics.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any statements made for and during any presentation or meeting contain forward-looking statements related toSorrento Therapeutics, Inc., under the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the collaboration and expected scope, terms and timing thereof and plans related thereto; the expected timing for the initiation and completion of ongoing studies for coronavirus using antibodies and data read-outs related thereto; the number of antibodies expected to be identified; the expected timing for commencing and completing registrational studies, including any potential for faster progression to the clinic, and for submitting an IND application for antibody technology for the treatment and/or prevention for coronavirus; the potency of any antibodies and ability to provide efficacy; any potential market for antibody therapy for the treatment and prevention of coronavirus and Sorrentos potential position in the anti-viral immunity industry. Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to: risks related to Sorrento's and its subsidiaries', affiliates and partners technologies and prospects and collaborations with partners, including, but not limited to, the collaboration with SmartPharm, using gene-encoded antibodies for the treatment and prevention of coronavirus infections; risks related to seeking regulatory approvals and conducting and results of clinical trials; the clinical and commercial success of the treatment and prevention of coronavirus infections using gene-encoded antibodies; the viability and success of using gene-encoded antibodies for treatments in anti-viral therapeutic areas, including coronavirus; clinical development risks, including risks in the progress, timing, cost, and results of clinical trials and product development programs; risk of difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals; risks that clinical study results may not meet any or all endpoints of a clinical study and that any data generated from such studies may not support a regulatory submission or approval; risks related to seeking regulatory approvals and conducting clinical trials; risks of supplying drug product; risks related to leveraging the expertise of its employees, subsidiaries, affiliates and partners to assist the company in the execution of its strategies; risks related to Sorrentos debt obligations; risks related to the global impact of COVID-19 and other risks that are described in Sorrento's most recent periodic reports filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commission, including Sorrento's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year endedDecember 31, 2019, and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with theSecurities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors set forth in those filings. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in this press release except as required by law.

Media and Investor Relations

Contact: Alexis Nahama, DVM (SVP Corporate Development)

Telephone: 1.858.203.4120

Email:mediarelations@sorrentotherapeutics.com

Sorrento and the Sorrento logo are registered trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.COVIDTRAP, Saving-Lifeand Improving-Lifeare trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.ZTlido and G-MAB are trademarks owned by Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Sorrento, respectively.Seprehvir, is a registered trademark of VirttuBiologics Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TNK.Therapeutics, Inc. and part of the group of companies owned by Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 2020 Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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SORRENTO AND SMARTPHARM TO COLLABORATE TO DEVELOP NOVEL GENE-ENCODED ANTIBODY VACCINE INTENDED TO PROTECT AGAINST COVID-19 - Yahoo Finance

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Virus Filtration Market Size, Outlook and Growth Opportunities, 2019- 2025" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The 'Virus Filtration market outlook to 2025' report includes the latest predictions of the global Virus Filtration market along with geography, therapy area, and applications. The report specifically focuses on different types of Virus Filtration with special attention to their emergence over the forecast period to 2025.

The research report provides objective measures to tap into future opportunities that will be available over the next six-years. It also highlights key areas to watch over the future along with detailed insights into drivers and challenges across different Virus Filtration applications and products.

Companies Mentioned

The Virus Filtration market report aggregates the current market size based on volume and average price data. It also includes a six-year outlook to 2025 based on anticipated growth rates for each sub-segment and industry as a whole.

The base case outlook in the next six-years for different types of Virus Filtration, across different verticals and countries, is provided. It additionally examines the key dynamics around companies, markets, along with key trends, drivers and challenges facing the Virus Filtration worldwide.

The report covers a broad region from the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and Middle East Africa from 2018 to 2025. 12 countries across these regions are analyzed independently in the Virus Filtration report. Impact of domestic market conditions, price variations, competition, government policies, healthcare spending, technological and local market conditions are assessed for country-level forecasts.

Global spending on healthcare continues to increase significantly with the aging population, increased access to treatment and ongoing advancements in technology. This provides strong support for Virus Filtration market growth in the medium to long term future. While growth will remain steady in the developed markets, Asian and other emerging markets will be key for Virus Filtration market growth from 2019 to 2025.

To address the expanding need for advanced Virus Filtration products, companies are rapidly embracing the new market dynamics, primarily focusing on new launches, specifically to suit local and regional demand patterns. Accordingly, detailed discussion about broader implications of key strategies, product launches, and other latest Virus Filtration market developments are included in the research work.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Table of Contents

2. A Review of 2018 and Outlook to 2025

2.1. Trend Analysis

2.2. Critical Success Factors

2.3. Demand and Growth Dynamics by Type

2.4. Demand and Growth Dynamics by Application

2.5. Demand and Growth Dynamics by Market

3. Strategic Analysis

3.1. Largest Drivers of Virus Filtration Market Growth

3.2. Different Challenges Faced by Virus Filtration Companies

3.3. Five Forces Analysis

4. Global Virus Filtration Market Outlook by Product

4.1 Kits, Reagents, and Consumables

4.2 Filtration Systems

4.3 Services

5. Global Virus Filtration Market Outlook by Application

5.1 Biological

5.1.1 Vaccines and Therapeutics

5.1.2 Blood and Blood Products

5.1.3 Cellular and Gene Therapy Products

5.1.4 Tissue and Tissue Products

5.1.5 Stem Cell Products

5.2 Medical Devices

5.3 Water Purification

5.4 Air Purification

6. Global Virus Filtration Market Outlook by End User

6.1 Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology Companies

6.2 CRO's

6.3 Research Institutes

6.4 Medical Device Companies

7. Asia Pacific Virus Filtration Market Outlook

7.1 Leading Virus Filtration Types contributing to Asia Pacific market

7.2 Top Applications contributing to Asia Pacific Virus Filtration

7.3 Top countries contributing to Asia Pacific Virus Filtration

8. Europe Virus Filtration Market Outlook

8.1 Leading Virus Filtration Types contributing to Europe market

8.2 Top Applications contributing to Europe Virus Filtration

8.3 Top countries contributing to Europe Virus Filtration

9. North America Virus Filtration Market Outlook

9.1 Leading Virus Filtration Types contributing to North America market

9.2 Top Applications contributing to North America Virus Filtration

9.3 Top countries contributing to North America Virus Filtration

10 South and Central America Virus Filtration Market Outlook

10.1 Leading Virus Filtration Types contributing to South and Central America market

10.2 Top Applications contributing to South and Central America Virus Filtration

10.3 Top countries contributing to South and Central America Virus Filtration

11 Middle East Africa Virus Filtration Market Outlook

11.1 Leading Virus Filtration Types contributing to Middle East Africa market

11.2 Top Applications contributing to Middle East Africa Virus Filtration

11.3 Top countries contributing to Middle East Africa Virus Filtration

12 Company Profile Snapshots

12.1 Top Companies Operating in Virus Filtration market

13 Recent Industry Developments

14 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/cjw9dh

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Outlook on the Global Virus Filtration Industry to 2025 - Largest Drivers of Virus Filtration Market Growth - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business Wire

Recommendation and review posted by Bethany Smith

The BioHealth Capital Region (BHCR) and its life science ecosystem have a rich and deep history of pioneering scientific innovation, research, development, and commercialization. The regions history has been written by life science anchor companies, scientific research universities, government research organizations, rich startup culture, and serial entrepreneurs, all of whom have played critical roles in transforming the BHCR into one of the most innovative and productive biocluster in the world.

Contributions to the BHCRs legacy of life science achievement have emerged from all staffing levels, various labs, countless executive teams, numerous entrepreneurs and biohub support organizations. Contributions have arisen from an intricate tapestry of backgrounds and cultures.

Women, in particular, have had a strong hand in shaping the history of the BHCR. In celebration of Womens History Month, were taking a closer look at the achievements of female life science leaders that have laid the groundwork for the next generation of women trailblazers in the BHCR and made the region what it is today.

Dr. Fraser is one of the most influential figures in BHCR history. In 1995, she was the first to map the complete genetic code of a free-living organism while at the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Rockville, Maryland. It was there that the automation of the DNA sequencing process made the idea of large-scale sequencing efforts tangible. As President and Director of TIGR, Fraser and her team gained worldwide public notoriety for its involvement in the Human Genome Project, which was completed in 2000 with the presentation of a working draft of the fully sequenced human genome.

As a leader, Fraser provided her researchers with the infrastructure to collaborate and apply multi-disciplinary team science and empowered them to think big. She is also most importantly known for how she challenged her team to ask the right questions, which is the root of scientific progress and success.

Her work at TIGR and as part of the Human Genome Project are foundational events in the regions history, as it marked the BHCR as the epicenter of genomic research and helped spark the regions biotech boom. In fact, it was a controversial partnership with TIGR that gave Human Genome Sciences(HGSi) the first opportunity to utilize any sequences emerging from TIGR labs. The mass of genetic information and sequences, especially that associated with diseases, that HGSi acquired catapulted them into biotech history and an important anchor company within the region.

Dr. Fraser is widely viewed as a pioneer and global leader in genomic medicine; she has published approximately 320 scientific publications and edited three books; she is also one of the most widely cited microbiology experts in the world. She founded the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland in 1997. The institute currently holds 25 percent of the funding thats been awarded by the Human Microbiome Project and has been referred to as The Big House in genetics.

Dr. Judy Britz is yet another female life science pioneer that put the BHCR on the map. While working as a research scientist at Electro-Nucleonics Inc., Dr. Britz developed one of the first licensed blood screening tests for HIV, and launching a storied career that has spanned approximately 25 years. She is also a serial entrepreneur that has successfully raised $50M in capital and served as the top executive for two highly successful Maryland-located companies.

Dr. Britz was the first woman to lead the states biotech initiative as the first announced Executive Director of the Maryland Biotech Center. The center was launched under the Maryland Department of Commerce to deploy a strategic life science economic development plan under Governor Martin OMalleys $1.3B, 2020 Vision and to be a one-stop-shop and information center to promote and support biotechnology innovation and entrepreneurship in Maryland.

Judy was the first woman to lead Marylands life sciences initiative, bringing industry experience and perspective to the states economic development activities, a focus still maintained under Governor Hogans leadership today, shared Judy Costello, Managing Director, Economic Development BioHealth Innovation, Inc., who served as Deputy Director under Dr. Britz.

Much of the work done by Dr. Britz and her team laid the foundation and seeded the commercialization efforts that have blossomed into the thriving #4 Biotech Hub that we have today.

GeneDx was founded by Dr. Bale and Dr. John Compton in 2000. The company recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Since its founding, GeneDx has become a global leader in genomics and patient testing. Under her leadership, the Gaithersburg, Maryland company has played an important role in the history of genetic sequencing and the rise of the BHCR as a global biohealth cluster.

GeneDx was the very first company to commercially offer NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) testing in a CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) lab and has been at the leading edge of genetic sequencing and testing for two decades. The companys whole exome sequencing program and comprehensive testing capabilities are world-renowned.

Prior to launching GeneDx, Dr. Bale spent 16 years at NIH, the last nine as Head of the Genetic Studies Section in the Laboratory of Skin Biology. She has been a pioneer during her storied career, publishing over 140 papers, chapters and books in the field. Her 35-year career includes deep experience in clinical, cytogenetic, and molecular genetics research.

Prior to being named CEO and Chair of the Board of Sequella in 1999, Dr. Nacy was the Chief Science Officer and an Executive VP at EntreMed, Inc. EntreMed was one of the most influential BHCR companies in the 1990s. EntreMed, MedImmune, Human Genome Sciences and Celera Genomics all played critical roles in creating the globally recognized, top biocluster that the BHCR has become.

After earning her Ph.D. in biology/microbiology from Catholic University, Nacy did her postdoc work at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the Department of Rickettsial Diseases; her postdoc performance earned a full-time position at Walter Reed that started a 17-year career at the institute. After a highly successful run, Nacy left Walter Reed to join EntreMed.

Today, Dr. Nacy leads Rockville, Marylands Sequella, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing better antibiotics to fight drug-resistant bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections. Sequellas pipeline of small molecule infectious disease treatments have the potential to improve the treatment and outcomes for the over 3 billion people worldwide that are impacted by increasingly drug-resistant infectious diseases.

Emmes Corporation is the largest woman-led organization in the BHCR and is headed by Dr. Lindblad, who started her career at Emmes in 1982 as a biostatistician. She has been with Emmes for nearly 40 years, ascending to become VP in 1992, Executive VP in 2006 and ultimately the companys CEO in late summer of 2013.

Dr. Lindblad has published more than 100 publications and presentations has served as a reviewer of grant and contract applications for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has chaired or served on Safety and Data Monitoring Committees across multiple disease areas. Emmes is a life science anchor company for the BHCR, employing more than 600 staff globally with its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland.

Under Kings leadership, GlycoMimetics (GMI), an oncology-focused biotech, went public, secured an exclusive global licensing agreement with Pfizer and was instrumental in raising significant amounts of capital for the company. She was also the first woman Chair of Biotechnology Innovation Associations (BIO, 2013-14), where she still plays an active role on BIOs Executive Committee.

A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Business School, King has had a celebrated career in both biopharma and finance. Prior to becoming CEO of GMI, King served as an Executive in Residence for New Enterprise Associates (NEA), one of the leading venture capital firms in the U.S. She has also held the position of Senior Vice President of Novartis-Corporation. King joined Novartis after a remarkable ten year run with Genetic Therapy, Inc. where she was named CEO after helping Genetic Therapy navigate the organization through various growth stages, including the companys sale to Novartis. King was named the Maryland Tech Councils Executive of the Year in 2013, the Top 10 Women in Biotech by FierceBio and has served on multiple boards across her career.

Dr. Connolly has had a pioneering career in the life sciences. She was the very first woman to graduate from Johns Hopkins Universitys Biomedical Engineering Doctoral Program in 1980. She was also a member of the first female undergraduate class entering Stevens Institute of Technology in 1971.

For decades, Dr. Connolly tirelessly worked to build up what is now known as the BHCR. In 1997, shortly before the region gained wider recognition as a biotech hub, she was the first person to be designated the state of Marylands biotechnology representative. Dr. Connollys career has spanned academia, government, and industry, including co-founding a startup and working as the Business Development Director for EntreMed, Inc., an original BHCR anchor company. She is the former Director of Maryland Industrial Partnerships Program (MIPS) and was inducted into the College of Fellows by the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2013.

Dr. Kirschstein played an enormous role in shaping the BHCR as NIH Deputy Director from 1993 to 1999 during the regions early formative years. She also served as Acting Director of NIH in 1993 and from 2000 to 2002. A pathologist by training, she received her medical degree from Tulane University in 1951 and went on to a long, successful career at the Division of Biologics Standards that lasted from 1957 to 1972.

While at the Division of Biologics Standards, Dr. Kirschstein played an important role in testing the safety of viral vaccines and helped select the Sabin polio vaccine for public use. She eventually ascended to Deputy Director of the group in 1972 and was later appointed the Deputy Associate Commissioner for Science at the FDA. In 1974 she became the Director of the National Institute of Medical Sciences at NIH and served in that role for 19 years.

Her awards and accolades are too numerous to list, but one notable honor came in 2000 when she received the Albert B. Sabin Heroes of Science Award from the Americans for Medical Progress Education Foundation.

Lastly, we want to recognize four additional women for their contributions to launching an organization that has impacted thousands of women by promoting careers, leadership, and entrepreneurship for women in the life sciences Women In Bio.

Women In Bio (WIB), one of the most important and influential support organizations for women in the life sciences, was founded in 2002 to help women entrepreneurs and executives in the Baltimore-Washington-Northern Virginia area build successful bioscience-related businesses. WIB started as a BHCR organization but has expanded its footprint to 13 chapters across the U.S. with 225 volunteer leaders and 2,600 members. The non-profit group has created a forum for female life science entrepreneurs and executives based on its core philosophy of women helping women.

WIB founders are Anne Mathias, a local venture capitalist and current Senior Strategist with Vanguard;

Elizabeth Gray, co-founder of Gabriel Pharma and current Partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP;

Robbie Melton, former Director of Entrepreneurial Innovation at TEDCO and current Director of Kauai County, Hawaiis Office of Economic Development;

and Cynthia W. Hu, COO, and General Counsel at CASI Pharmaceuticals.

In conclusion, we can not fairly capture the true history of life science and the BioHealth Capital Region without giving special recognition to Henrietta Lacks. In 1951 a Johns Hopkins researcher created the first immortal human cell line from cervical cancer cells taken from Lacks. That cell line, known as HeLa, is the oldest and most commonly used human cell line which was essential in developing the polio vaccine and has been used in scientific landmarks such as cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization.

Though she was a black tobacco farmer from southern Virginia, her impact on science and medicine is unquestionable. She never knew that the Doctor took a piece of her tumor that would be used by scientists who had been trying to grow tissues in culture for decades without success. For some reason, that is still unknown, but her cells never died and the first immortal human cell line was born.

Thank you to all of the women who have been so influential in shaping the field of science, the industry of biotechnology and the BioHealth Capital Region.

Steve has over 20 years experience in copywriting, developing brand messaging and creating marketing strategies across a wide range of industries, including the biopharmaceutical, senior living, commercial real estate, IT and renewable energy sectors, among others. He is currently the Principal/Owner of StoryCore, a Frederick, Maryland-based content creation and execution consultancy focused on telling the unique stories of Maryland organizations.

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Twelve Women Who Have Shaped The History of the BioHealth Capital Region - BioBuzz

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