The all new Fredcobio coming

It has been a pretty good year in Fredcobio, I am glad to say, and the end of the year is ramping up to be amazing.    Many of you know that I have been working a contract with MedImmune assisting in the validation of the new Frederick Manufacturing Center.  That contract ended suddenly 9although it was expected) last week, so now I am back wheeling and dealing and looking at what I am going to do next.

I’ve been neglecting my two start-ups and building on my recent, newly elected status as the Grand Poobah of Biotech in Frederick first official Biotech Ambassador of the Frederick Chamber of Commerce (which I announced at the last Biobeers).  As such, we’ve had a couple of very preliminary meetings with interested parties from the Chamber, OED, FITCI,  the City of Frederick and a few other interested partners and I think there are a lot of good things we can do together.  Most of these ideas, these delusions of grandeur are just that:  ideas.  We need to transform our ideas into action and start getting some stuff done.

What do I mean by that?  First of all, everyone wants more information about things like funding and where to get it and how much is available, but we also need to start talking more with each other.  There are over 50 biotech companies or quasi-government (even “real government”) agencies in Frederick County and we don’t even know what we all do for a living.  I’m talking about better networking and business and commerce between just the local companies.  Well, that’s a start.  What we really need to do is communicate with all of the people at NCI and the various and sun-dried agencies behind the barbed wire fence that is Ft Detrick and find out what they’re doing. Speaking of which, a couple of very newsworth things have popped up on my radar screen over the past couple of days.

One of them is an excellent resource I’ll bet no one is even paying attention to off base, and we should be: Free Lectures at Ft Detrick by various agencies.  You can find the whole calendar here:  http://is.gd/gS3wv

I used to try to post them, but got tired of doing that and I don’t even think anyone was watching.  But as a “for example”, there are at least three different lecture series going on now, the one called  CCR Grand Rounds is hosting a lecture Tuesday 11/23 by Frederick R. Appelbaum, M.D. who is the Director, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center entitled “The Grand Challenges of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.” How cool does that sound? And did I mention it’s free? Well, not exactly free. I bet some of our tax money is being used somehow.  All of the details are here: http://is.gd/gS483

Ansd another thing I thought was interesting, passed along by Frank at SAIC-Frederick is this list of qualifying ”Therapeutic Discovery Project Grants” for the State of Maryland from IRS.gov.  The list is pretty long, but I think you’ll recognize for names familiar to Fredcobio such as ImQuest, Akonni, BioElectronics and BioAssay Works.  Over $48MM in grants awarded to Maryland over the past 2 years, just on this “qualifying” delineation.    My memory tells me more than $1.5BB is being spent at Ft Detrick alone this year (a lot of bricks and mortar as well as research).

I almost forgot to mention the next BioBeers date is set:  Friday December 10th.  I’m going to be improving the blog and likely moving our LinkedIn and Google groups over to a MeetUp platform in the coming weeks. So stay tuned, Fredcobio campers.

LavaAmp and the Unreasonable Institute

Even though there is a lot going on in Fredcobio in terms of news to report, I have been spending most of my “free” time working a contract at MedImmune, setting up my cell culture lab with the help of AFAB Labs to get my Stem Cell project with FiberCell Systems up and running and spending a lot of time working on the LavaAmp project.

The project is taking off with terminal velocity. The web site is up and running (thanks to Eric at SyncHaven), we have a bold new logo, Guido is in the finals for the Unreasonable Institute’s Finals and preparing for the BIL 2010 Conference in Long Beach CA.

Here’s Guido’s page from the BIL2010 web site:

GUIDO NÚÑEZ-MUJICA – LAVAAMP: POCKET PCR FOR PENNIES

About the Talk
A buoyancy based device, dubbed the LavaAmp, is able to perform PCR faster than regular thermocyclers, for extremely low cost, and is easily of manufactured and operated. The LavaAmp will also be portable and battery or USB powered, programmable, and able to communicate with smartphones and computers. The LavaAmp hardware will be as open as possible, completely customizable and hackable, so it can be adapted to new purposes and suit the needs of its users. Currently, the detection of the amplified DNA has to be done by conventional agarose gels, however, a variety of methods could be used for in situ detection for the next versions of the LavaAmp. The coupling of DNA detection in a handheld device means quick, effective and even automatic detection of plant and cattle pathogens, food-borne bacteria and diagnostic of antibiotic resistant infections with no need of cumbersome culture tests, not always available. Such a device would allow better surveillance of emerging pandemics in risky areas.

This would improve our collective reaction time against pandemics and extend the reach of the PCR for solving needs currently unmet because of cost and portability. Portable Personal PCR can be attractive for diagnosing neglected diseases in a clinical setting or used by hobbyists and schools: Is this sandfly infected with leishmaniasis? Do you want to teach your kids the real science behind CSI? Do you want to perform your own paternity tests? The LavaAmp can solve these problems and answer these questions, it is an extraordinary tool harnessing the power of PCR and taking it outside the lab, allowing anyone to become a citizen scientist.

And in more, cool LavaAmp news Rob Carlson (a principle at Biodesic, LavaAmp’s Engineering design firm and LavaAmp shareholders) was on the Economist in late December in a panel discussion along with Dean Kamen (DEKA Research, inventor of the Segway), Dwayne Spradlin (Innocentive), and Kai Huang (Founder of Guitar Hero).  Check it out on his blog post.  Rob also talks about the LavaAmp  in another blog post yesterday “Bits, Atoms and the Future of Manufacturing“

We continue to refine the hardware design of the LavaAmp, and it looks like we have the production hardware down to 5 or 6 components, 4 of which are injection molded plastic.  The labor will only be in assembly of the final box, as all sub-assemblies should all come off automated fab lines of one kind or another.  All the real cost is in the design and tooling — once we get up and running the per unit costs should be quite reasonable.

FredCoBio: MIA

Geesh, I just realized that I haven’t posted in nearly a month.  So much news to catch up on I don’t know where to start.

The reason I haven’t posted is that I have been working a contract at MedImmune, aiding in the commissioning of their new Frederick facility where they will be scaling up Synagis.  It’s a wonderful product, a monoclonal antibody called  palivizumab, which protects preemies and high risk babies from lung infections.  It’s very busy here and I expect it to continue to be busy through the end of the year (at least that’s how long I think my contract will be running).  I really don’t know how much of what I see here is considered “confidential” so I’ll keep quiet.  Suffice to say, big bioreactors and 4-5 contractors for every MedImmune employee on site.

It’s kind of fun running into the other contractors all over town in different bars and restaurants.  Especially now that MedImmune has already received $453 million in contracts since May, but Frederick doesn’t have much to do with making the H1N1 vaccine.  A lot of the people here do travel to Philadelphia where that product is packaged, though.

Speaking of swine flu, I gave a talk tat the NIH last week on the Commercial uses of Stem Cells.  My focus was on the “commerce”  created specifically by Stem Cell research, staying away from the Therapeutic elements.

Check it out:

Enough shameless self promotion.

Frank from SAIC-Frederick sent me this press release, which I have not seen covered elsewhere:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Amplimmune Enters Into Broad Alliance with NCI

Collaboration Will Focus on

Potential New Therapies for Cancer and Autoimmune Disease

FREDERICK, Md., Oct. 13, 2009 — Amplimmune, Inc., has entered into a broad agreement with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for further advancement of two Amplimmune product candidates into therapies for cancer and autoimmune disease.

Under the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), Amplimmune will collaborate on multiple projects with NCI and its contractor, SAIC-Frederick Inc., under the umbrella of the NCI’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative (ATPI). The goal of ATPI is to accelerate the translation of cancer and AIDS research into clinical therapies, diagnostics, and treatments. NCI-Frederick’s prime contractor, SAIC-Frederick is facilitating these partnerships for NCI.

The collaborations will focus on furthering development of Amplimmune’s AMP-110 and AMP-224 therapeutic biologic candidates. AMP-224 blocks activation of the PD-1 receptor and inhibits immune evasion typically induced by tumors or infectious disease pathogens. AMP-110 is being developed as a biologic to treat autoimmune/inflammatory disease and has been demonstrated to attenuate key inflammatory pathways that contribute to a wide range of different autoimmune diseases.

“We are very pleased to establish this broad CRADA with the National Cancer Institute,” said Michael Richman, Amplimmune’s President and CEO.  “We look forward to collaborating with investigators at NCI and feel that these collaborations will have a significant impact on accelerating development and advancing AMP-224 and AMP-110 into the clinic,” he added.

“We value the opportunity to collaborate with Amplimmune on development of their leading therapeutic biologic candidates to treat cancer and immune disorders.  This partnership reflects the true potential of NCI’s ATPI—to accelerate leading innovations into clinical application in the fight against cancer, through strategic partnerships.  We look forward to working closely with our colleagues at Amplimmune on our shared goals under the CRADA,” said David Hoekzema, SAIC-Frederick’s Vice President of Business Development.

About Amplimmune Inc.

Headquartered in Rockville, Md., Amplimmune is focused on developing novel biologics targeting key co-stimulatory/co-inhibitory molecules that rebalance the immune system and are intended for treating cancer, autoimmune disease, infectious disease, and transplantation. With its strong development focus, Amplimmune is rapidly advancing two lead molecules toward clinical development: one in the area of cancer and the other in the autoimmune disease setting. AMP-224 will be advancing into a phase 1 clinical trial for cancer in 2010. Working closely with its founders at Johns Hopkins University and other collaborators, Amplimmune is expanding its technology base in the area of immune co-stimulatory/co-inhibitory molecules and has assembled a large foundation of reagents, models, know-how, and intellectual property to further develop its product pipeline as well as to discover novel biomarkers, ligands, and receptors. For more information: www.amplimmune.com.

About SAIC-Frederick

SAIC-Frederick, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a Fortune 500^® company, is the operations and technical support contractor for the National Cancer Institute’s research and development center in Frederick, Md.  This is a national laboratory dedicated to rapidly translating basic research into new technologies for diagnosing, treating, and preventing cancer and AIDS. SAIC-Frederick maintains a full suite of advanced technologies in areas such as nanotechnology, genomics and imaging; operates the federal government’s drug and vaccine manufacturing facilities; operates the high-performance Advanced Biomedical Computing Center; and supports more than 300 clinical trials for patients in the United States and around the world.

Information about the NCI’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative can be found at ATPIhome.com

Contacts:  Frank Blanchard,  SAIC-Frederick, Inc.  (301) 846-1893  blanchardf@mail.nih.gov

Gary Fanger, Amplimmune Inc. (301) 309-9800  fangerg@amplimmune.com

They’ve also been awarded (SAIC-Frederick that is) $300MM in ARRA funding (the Stimulus hits Frederick County) and have heard rumors through my contacts in SAIC_Fred purchasing that the money is going to be released soon, in the form of several new hires and loads of contracts.  Stay tuned and I will try to give FredCoBio companies and inside edge.

And speaking about big money and Big SAIC-Frederick Projects, Matan recently announced they’ve secured $300MM in financing for the Riverside Park project:

Contact : Noelle Schilling

Tel   (301) 815-9980   Cell (301) 471-7552

Email nschilling@mataninc.com

Matan Companies Teams with Federal Capital Partners to Finance The National Cancer Institute At Riverside Research Park in Frederick Maryland

(September 30, 2009-Frederick, MD) The Matan Companies has teamed up with Federal Capital Partners (FCP) to complete the financing for the development of the National Cancer Institute’s 330,000 square foot Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF) at Riverside Research Park in Frederick Maryland.  The state-of-the art 200 million dollar office and laboratory facility will commence construction immediately and is slated for delivery in mid 2011.    As part of the larger 177 acre Riverside Research Park, the National Cancer Institute’s 62 acre campus will have expansion capacity for another 570,000 square feet, reserved for life-science and advanced technology partner organizations.  “This site will be the center of an intensive new effort to bring together government, industry, academic, and nonprofit partners, working side-by-side, utilizing technological resources second to none, to more rapidly translate our latest genetic and molecular discoveries about cancer into effective new treatments that benefit patients,” said John E. Niederhuber, M.D., director of the National Cancer Institute.   With SAIC-Frederick, Inc. as its prime contractor, the new facility will be the only Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) in the country focused exclusively on biomedical research and development, and concerted technology and R&D partnership efforts toward reducing the burden of cancer.

Matan and FCP partnered to secure the 52 million dollar construction financing from Wells Fargo Bank and US Bank.  “Today’s financing environment demands creative approaches to bring large, high profile projects like this to the market.  The ATRF is one of the largest private biotech developments in the country to secure construction financing and it is a credit to everyone involved,” stated Mark Matan, Principal of the Matan Companies.   Matan Companies will develop and manage the project.

“We are incredibly excited to have formed this partnership with the Matan Companies to bring this very important project to fruition,” said Esko Korhonen, Managing Partner of FCP.  “The diligent work by our teams resulted in consummating a great financing package and we appreciated the opportunity to work with Wells Fargo, US Bank, Jones Lang LaSalle and Cassidy & Pinkard to get this deal completed.”

Cassidy and Pinkard helped to secure the equity and debt for this transaction and Jones Lang LaSalle represented the Tenant.

About Riverside Research Park

Riverside Research Park is the first biomedical research and development park of its kind in Frederick Maryland.  The 177 acre site has all necessary infrastructure and utilities in place and is ready to build.  Riverside delivered its first tenant in the Spring of 2008, a 54,000 sf facility for Charles River Labs.   Riverside can accommodate up to 1.8 million square feet of lab, R &D, and office space.    “Frederick has a vibrant biotech community servicing NIH, the National Cancer Institute and Fort Detrick, but until now there hasn’t been a destination for these companies to come together in a collaborative campus type environment in this market.   Riverside Research Park provides just that and there has been a very high level of interest from companies looking to co-locate with the National Cancer Institute” said J.P. Matan, Director of Leasing for Matan Companies.   Located within the city limits of Frederick and less than three miles from the main gates of Fort Detrick,  Riverside is uniquely positioned to provide private sector companies, government agencies, and universities a secure and collaborative work environment. Abundant green space, water features, walk/jogging trails, courtyards, and chance meeting spaces will all add to the collaborative work environment and campus like feel of Riverside Research Park.    For more information please visit: www.riversideresearchpark.com

About Federal Capital Partners

Founded in 1999 by partners Esko L. Korhonen and Lacy I. Rice, Federal Capital Partners (FCP) is a real estate investment and development company headquartered in Washington DC.  Other partners include Alex Marshall and Tom Carr, former Chairman and CEO of CarrAmerica Realty Corp. who joined FCP as a partner in early 2007.  Since its inception, FCP has acquired more than $1.2 billion of real estate assets consisting of multi-family, office, retail and industrial assets.  In 2008 FCP raised a 240 million dollar co-mingled, private equity fund which it is currently investing in multiple product sectors in the Mid Atlantic region.  FCP has established a strong reputation in the greater Washington DC metropolitan area real estate markets as an investor with a keen eye for indentifying unexploited markets and product sectors.

About Matan Companies

Headquartered in Frederick Maryland for over 30 years, Matan Companies is one of the regions premier commercial real estate and development firms.   Founded on the principle of providing a comprehensive, full-service approach to all disciplines involved in commercial real estate, Matan has assembled an in-house professional staff with a proven track record in the disciplines of asset management, investment sales, debt placement, property management, leasing, development and construction.  Matan’s knowledge of the local market and established history, including certainty of closing, expeditious due diligence and timely settlement dates, sets the company apart from the competition.  This full service approach gives Matan the ability to control every phase of the real estate investment process.  Matan’s primary geographic focus is Frederick, Maryland and the I-270 Corridor.  Matan’s current portfolio consists of over 3.2 million square feet in 30 buildings with an additional 3 million square feet in the development pipeline.

About NCI-Frederick and SAIC-F

With SAIC-Frederick (SAIC-F) as its prime contractor, NCI-Frederick, is home to a cadre of researchers studying cancer and HIV/AIDS and is host to NCI’s Advanced Technology Program, which encompasses nanotechnology, high-performance computing, genomics, and biomedical imaging, among other areas.  SAIC-F, a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a Fortune 500^® company (NYSE: SAI) – is the operations and technical support contractor for the National Cancer Institute’s research and development center in Frederick, Md.  This is a national laboratory dedicated to rapidly translating basic research into new technologies for diagnosing, treating, and preventing cancer and AIDS. SAIC-Frederick maintains a full suite of advanced technologies in areas such as nanotechnology, genomics and imaging; operates the federal government’s only drug and vaccine manufacturing facilities; operates the high-performance Advanced Biomedical Computing Center; and supports more than 300 clinical trials for patients in the United States and around the world.    “The NCI has identified an urgent need to convert basic research findings into effective cancer treatments that can be delivered to patients right away,” said Larry O. Arthur, Ph.D., president of SAIC-Frederick. “The consolidation of our operations into modern facilities will enable us to do just that, with the specific goal of shortening timelines, reducing costs, and increasing productivity—all of which will benefit cancer patients and people at risk for cancer.”  More information about the NCI’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative (ATPI) can be found at www.atpihome.com.

NCI at Riverside Research Park Building Rendering:  https://www.box.net/shared/static/r2a6uoimhs.tif

Additional Contacts:

Esko Korhonen                                    Frank Blanchard                                 Joe Carter

Federal Capital Partners                     SAIC-F                                                  Wells Fargo

202-386-7160                                      301-846-1893                                      202-303-3016

esko@fcpdc.com Blanchard@mail.nih.gov carterjl@wellsfargo.com

Jeff Jacobson                                       Paul Collins                                           Pete Briskman

US Bank                                                Cassidy & Pinkard                              Jones Lang LaSalle

703-442-5482                                      202-463-2100                                      301-214-1144

Jeffrey.jacobson@usbank.com pcollins@cassidypinkard.com Pete.Briskman@am.jll.com

I actually could’ve broken this story before the press release, but I was busy and didn’t want to annoy one of my bestest BioBeers sponsors.  But do check out the new Riverside Park web site.  It’s awesome.

And speaking about more rumors, sadly, this one is NOT a rumor. Marilgen, in my home town of Ijamsville (just a mile or so north of the MoCo line), was acquired by Origene. My sources tell me that the few employees left at Marilgen have been offered positions at OriGene and will be relocated to Rockville (boo, hiss).  Marilgen has been struggling for a year or so since one of their primary investors decided to pull their cash out.  I have a lot of personal ties to Marligen, since most of the people there, in their hayday, were former LTI colleagues of mine and half of the Vialing depertment I used to run at LTI. Sherry Challberg hired me in 1988 and moved me to Maryland, for which I am eternally grateful.

This makes me think that it’s already time to schedule the next BioBeers.  I think I’ll make a new post with a poll on which day of the week to have the next one.  I’ve been trying to rotate it around because everyone has different schedules.

Opportunities Abound!

A couple of quick notes as I procrastinate finilizing Grant application and cell culture duties.

Some really cool news from International Stem Cells came out yesterday.  From their web site:

WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2009

International Stem Cell Corporation Reports Positive Pre-Clinical Trial Results From Human Corneal Epithelial Cells

International Stem Cell Corporation (OTCBB:ISCO), the first company to perfect a method of creating human “parthenogenetic” stem cells from unfertilized eggs, has received positive early results from animal trials designed to improve photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), a form of corrective laser eye surgery that offers an improved alternative to LASIK.

PRK is generally thought to be safer and produce better long-term results than LASIK, but has not been used as frequently because of patient discomfort following surgery and a longer healing time. By combining ISCO’s human corneal cells with a proprietary surgical device developed by Paul H. Chen, M.D., who is conducting the trials, ISCO and Dr. Chen believe that cellular enhanced PRK can replace LASIK for many of the hundreds of thousands of patients who now use LASIK.

The first stage animal trials just completed demonstrated that ISCO’s corneal cells manufactured by ISCO’s subsidiary, Lifeline Cell Technology, encouraged corneal-defect healing in the animals. The trials are the first step toward gaining Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to test the efficacy of using ISCO’s cells to improve healing after corneal surgery, and could result in the first FDA approved use of human cells produced by ISCO.

Jeffrey Janus, President of ISCO and CEO of Lifeline, noted that “The cells used in these trials are derived from donated human tissue processed using proprietary techniques devised by ISCO’s subsidiary, Lifeline Cell Technology. However, ISCO’s parthenogenic stem cells can also produce human corneal cells. Corneal cells derived from ISCO’s parthenogenetic stem cells may provide a consistent and reliable source of corneal cells that could eliminate entirely the need for donated human tissues.”

This work is being done in collaboration with Dr. Chen, who has developed the cell transfer technology. Dr. Chen is an eye surgeon at North County Laser Eye Associates, and he is on staff at Scripps Memorial La Jolla and Scripps Encinitas Hospitals.

For more news and information on International Stem Cell Corporation please visit http://www.IRGnews.com/coi/ISCO where you can find the CEO’s video, a fact sheet on the company, investor presentations, and more

Maybe those of you who aren’t in the Biotech field don’t know how important it is to have “preclinical” data, which allows you to apply to the FDA for permission to run clinical trials. Your preclinical data had better be air tight and good.  Of course, the material was made by LifeLine in Walkersville, so it must be good. And for the sake of full disclosure and shameless self promotion, I am providing processed tissues for some other things that LifeLine is doing and I want them to do well.  Rumor has it they’ve installed additional, temporary space.  So all you people that I have telling to pay attention to little LLCT and ISCO, pay attention.

In other news, I was “tipped off” that a new RFP was posted on the SAIC-Frederick web site.  This is a pretty big one, but you’re going to need animal facilities. You can find the whole SOW and all the required documents  HERE, but this is the meat of it:

Solicitation No. S09-159  GLP Safety Testing of Vaccines Developed by Vaccine Research Center (VRC) Manufactured for Clinical Trial Use

Due date June 30, 2009

Perform GLP safety studies suitable for submission to the FDA for support of an IND application.

o Confirm AAALAC accreditation prior to initiating the study

o Work with the VRC to develop and finalize protocols. The VRC and the Subcontractor will sign off on the protocol and retain a copy

o Purchase and quarantine of suitable animals as specified in the protocol

o Housing of animals (1 animal per cage), test animals and control animals in separate rooms

o Administer injections of vaccine as directed in study protocol

o With VRC’s help, acquire and become trained to use Biojector and any other specialized injection devices

o Provide clinical evaluation and assess other measurements of health as specified in the protocol

o Euthanize animals and perform a gross necropsy in accordance with study protocol

o Collect blood and tissue from animals; send aliquot of blood to VRC for immune analysis and send tissues for other analysis as directed by VRC

o Run clinical chemistry and hematology tests as specified in protocol

o Run biodistribution studies as specified in protocol

o Analyze histopathology of preserved tissues as specified in the protocol

o Perform statistical analyses of test results and provide updated historical data for gender-matched unimmunized or placebo-controlled animals for comparison as specified by the protocol

o Audit test results

o As appropriate, investigate deviations of the protocol, procedures, or unexpected test results (e.g. moribund or found-dead animals) and report such investigations to VRC staff in a timely fashion.

o Provide unaudited interim, unaudited, and audited, signed final report as indicated in the protocol

• Interim clinical observations and measurements via email on a bi-weekly basis as indicated in the protocol. Interim (“unaudited”) report transmitted electronically to Project Coordinator and the VRC Project Lead (contact information listed below)

• Final report – One hard copy of this report can be sent to the VRC Project Lead and an electronic pdf version can be provided to Project Coordinator.

I hope they get as many interested parties as the last request, but haveing GLP animal facilities may make it tough.

We’re Baack!

Sorry about the long break the past couple of weeks.  I have been busy on a number of fronts.  Last week I went to US Pharmacopia HQ in Rockville to participate in the “Cell, Gene and Tissue therapies Expert Committee meeting #7″ .  It was quite eye opening, although somewhat structured.  

This week I have dedicated myself to getting my MTTF Grant application completed.   I spent a good part of the day on Thursday last week working with my collaborators at the FDA to get the project defined in a bit more detail. The first pass is done, but the application needs to be reviewed and submitted.  Last week I was busy, busy.  On Wednesday I attended the BioEspaña program as a part of the Hopkins Biotech Network in MoCo.  It was very informative and interesting.  I know España is not the center of stem cell research in the universe (like we are here in FredCoBio), but I was very impressed with the amount of activity going on in different regional Biotech clusters.  Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to work with BTI Biotechnology Institute on some of their stem cell work.  Heck, any chance for a company paid trip to the Basque region would be fine with me.

Friday was the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Scramble at Musket Ridge.

Speaking of the Chamber, I’ll be presenting the Social Media Conference session entitled

“Beyond Facebook & Twitter:  Niche networks, new platforms, mobile web, and the future of social media for business.”  That’ll be a mouthful.

More details here:

PDF registration form – including full conference schedule & list of presenters:

http://bit.ly/fredsmc

Online calendar & registration – members must login for discounted pricing:

http://bit.ly/fredsmc-web

Official Twitter tag, for viewing online discussions about this conference:

#fredsmc – http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23fredsmc

I didn’t get much Biotech business done on the golf course, but was fortunate to sit with Larry Arthur of SAIC-Frederick at the lunch afterward.  Yet another BioBeers fan added to the roster!

Speaking of SAIC-Frederick, I may have stirred up a bit of “fun” with my FedBizOps post a couple weeks back.  We sure did overwhelm the Procurement folks with more responses than they expected.  In case you didn’t read the comment, there is now a link Directly on SAIC-Frederick’s web site: http://www.ncifcrf.gov/bizopps/rfps.asp.  Bookmark it and keep an eye on it.  I’ll continue to try to find out more about how to get FredCoBio companies first in line for landing some of these prime contracts.

In Other SAIC-Frederick news (and I apologize because I got this on May 13th), a Press Release:

SAIC-Frederick, Inc. and Sensor Technologies Collaborating to Understand Complex Protein Interactions in Cancer

FREDERICK, Md., May 13, 2009 — SAIC-Frederick Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) [NYSE: SAI], and Sensor Technologies Inc. of Shrewsbury, Mass., have signed a collaboration agreement to begin integrated studies of complex protein interactions involved in cancer and other diseases.

The agreement is part of the National Cancer Institute’s Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative, which aims to further NCI’s mission by speeding the translation of research discoveries into new treatments for cancer and AIDS. SAIC-Frederick, as prime contractor for the National Cancer Institute at Frederick, is facilitating these partnerships for the government.

The collaboration will involve proteomics and imaging studies to advance the understanding of complex structural interactions and binding kinetics of proteins in cells and in cancer disease processes.

The Optical Microscopy and Analysis Laboratory (OMAL) and Protein Chemistry Laboratory (PCL) at SAIC-Frederick, together with Sensor Technologies, will begin integrated studies to assess the dynamics of fluorescence-tagged molecules utilizing Sensor Technologies’ newly launched Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) platform—“QuantumXpert™.”

Studies will also include integration with in vivo microscopy techniques in OMAL with the goal of developing dynamic, biomolecular models that are both physical and performed by computer simulation. Sensor has redefined FCS, creating the first portable, three-channel FCS spectrometer, enabling studies of molecular complexing and interaction at single-molecule levels. The QuantumXpert™ and Sensor’s revolutionary FCSXpert™ software introduce this important single molecule technique into the laboratories of biochemistry and cell and molecular biology in an easy-to-use format.

Applications of this technology have the potential to provide insights that could accelerate the development of new treatments. By integrating this enabling platform with in vivo microscopy techniques, the research teams also seek to advance the field of computer simulation modeling in cancer research and development.

“SAIC-Frederick is very pleased to be collaborating with the science and technology experts at Sensor Technologies. We believe our cooperative efforts to study and integrate leading biomolecular analysis and imaging technologies will result in new insights and analytical approaches to tumor cell biology and function,” said Dr. Stephen Lockett, head of OMAL at SAIC-Frederick.

“Sensor Technologies welcomes the opportunity to bring the detection and measurement capabilities of its FCS platform to bear on the large challenges inherent in understanding the cell biology of cancer and AIDS,” said Dr. David E. Wolf, chief science officer for Sensor Technologies.

In other news, I got a nice “Thank You” letter from what might be the first Job landed because of FredCoBio.  The only problem is that the job was in PG County, but the request came in through the web site, I mailed it out to my “recruiter & hiring managers” mailing list and the person was hired.  Anyone that wants on that list, just let me know.  I’ll be surprised if you’re not on there already.

And don’t forget about NCI’s Seminar series running this month.  I try to post one every month but skipped May.  The seminars are free and open to the public.  This one next week sounds interesting: “Highlights of Thirty-Two Years of Drug Design and Chemistry at the NCI”.  I will try to attend.

And finally I will leave you with a Life Technologies Press release and video:

Invitrogen Scientists Compile Comprehensive Guidebooks for Stem Cell Research

Industry Thought Leaders Edit Two Reference Books Essential for Advancing Regenerative Medicine CARLSBAD, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May. 21, 2009– Invitrogen, a division of Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:LIFE), today announced that four of its scientists whose work is focused in stem cell research are editors of two recently published books that capture many of the latest findings in this field and provide comprehensive guidelines for applying technologies to advance related applications. Emerging Technology Platforms for Stem Cells, by John Wiley & Sons, and Regulatory Networks in Stem Cells, by Springer Science + Business Media are expected to be essential references for researchers, scientists and clinicians applying stem cell science to personalized and regenerative medicine. Emerging Technology Platforms for Stem Cells was edited by Uma Lakshmipathy, Ph.D., a principal scientist, and lead editor of the book; Jon Chesnut, a research and development director; and Bhaskar Thyagarajan, Ph.D., a program manager, all from Life Technologies. This book presents general principles and methodologies for professionals involved in stem cell research. It focuses on current technologies that can help scientists to overcome some of the challenges they face in developing stem cells as therapeutic agents, incorporating scientific papers by 78 authors from 10 countries. Regulatory Networks in Stem Cells was edited by Mohan Vemuri, Ph.D., a research and development director at Life Technologies; and by Vinagolu K. Rajasekhar, Ph.D., a senior research scientist, at Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. This book describes key factors involved in stem cell pluripotency, maintenance, and directed differentiation towards specific lineages, and how regulation of these complex events results in stem cell fate choices in normal and disease conditions. The book includes writings of 200 authors from around the world. Uma Lakshmipathy, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Invitrogen Primary and Stem Cell Systems at Life Technologies “We think about how technology addresses challenges related to stem cell research daily, and we realized that there are no resources out there – nothing on the market – that describes these emerging technologies and how they will apply to therapy and drug discovery. We wanted a book that would be a window to the future.” Mohan Vemuri, Ph.D., Research and Development Director, Invitrogen Primary and Stem Cell Systems at Life Technologies “Regulatory networks are the molecular systems operating at the DNA, RNA and protein levels that play a crucial role in making the stem cells do what they’re supposed to do in normal development, or in cellular repair in disease.” Additional Resources Emerging Technology Platforms for Stem Cells – Overview, reviews, and order information Regulatory Networks in Stem Cells – Overview, reviews, and order information Invitrogen Stem Cell Solutions Invitrogen Leadership in Regenerative Medicine Invitrogen is a leading provider of platform independent, essential life science technologies for disease and drug research, bioproduction and diagnostics. It is the premier provider of products and services for advancing the field of regenerative medicine. Invitrogen’s efforts are focused on supplying researchers and developers with the most comprehensive suite of products for advancing cell therapy efforts, including the industry’s premier portfolio of tools and reagents for stem cell research. It also focuses on creating unique primary and stem cell models for better and more efficient drug screening. Invitrogen, together with Applied Biosystems ― a global leader in providing innovative instrument systems to accelerate academic and clinical research, drug discovery and development, pathogen detection and forensic DNA analysis ― is part of Life Technologies Corporation, which markets the life science industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of solutions for molecular and cell biology. Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems products are used in nearly every major laboratory in the world.

This and That: Short Stories from FredCoBio

I’ve been busy trying to propagate a few new cell lines and fooling around, but trying to keep finding things relevant to FredCoBio.

In the FNP today there is a nice piece about the new Earth & Space lab next to Lincoln Elementary.  It’s supposed to open this fall.  I haven’t been there in probably 10 years.  I know renovation is long over due and hope to be able to check it out when it’s completed.

StemCellDigest.net ran an interesting review of recent sucess in raising capital for the parent company of LifeLine Cell Technology in Walkersville.  In case you didn’t know, they recently closed $5MM financing in the form of Series D preferred stock.  This sets up an interesting connection between Frederick, Oceanside CA and Russia that I hope will prove fruitful going forward.  We’ll have to keep an eye on it.

And just now Alexey’s post in the FriendFeed regenerative Medicine room was most enlightening.  He linked to a WIRED article with relevance to Ft Detrick, although not explicitly mentioned in the article.

The first phase of the Pentagon’s plan to regrow soldiers’ limbs is complete; scientists managed to turn human skin into the equivalent of a blastema — a mass of undifferentiated cells that can develop into new body parts. Now, researchers are on to phase two: turning that cellular glop into a square inch of honest-to-goodness muscle tissue.

I don’t know this for a fact, but I would be pretty sure this funding has some ties to the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, commissioned out of Ft Detrick.

Like I said, it’s been a busy week.

All the Buzz

All the buzz around the blogshpere & newswires today is about president Obama lifting the ban on embryonic stem cell research.  I have ranted on about this enough already.  To sum it up, it’s a wonderful thing.  I especially like Obama stating that he is going to let Science dictate the path of medical research and not politics.  We’ll see how well he does with that.

Certainly FredCoBio companies like LifeLine, Life Tech and Lonza stand to launch new products and get renewed interest in existing products.  The big issue with the Bush Doctrine was one of perception that there is something illegal about stem cell research.  LifeLine/ISCO is hosting a webinar on March 12th to discuss, if anyone is interested.

Since Frederick county is the Stem Cell captial of thw e world, it’s got to be good for us, right?  According the Stemcelldigest.net ISCO/LifeLine is one of the top performing stem cell companies, in terms of market capitalization change YTD.  I hope that trend continues.  Now Lonza and Life Tech don’t get a lot of attention from the “core” stem cell guys since they’re both involved in a lot of other stuff and not “exclusively” stem cell companies.

According to a recent report from Life Science Intelligence, the regenerative medicine and stem cell fields is expected to grow 16% annually to go from $1.5BB in 2008 to $118BB in 2013.

Riding on the waves of growth, maybe someone can find a job for my old buddy (I should say “long time”) Jim Spencer.  Apparently he fell victim to Life Tech paring back in other groups, perhaps to focus on the growth in stem cell markets?

“You do what? Sorry, we don’t want Your business…..”

Couple weeks ago I went to a Frederick County Chamber of Commerce lunch networking event at the Red Horse.  It’s like a speed dating networking event:  you sit with 4 other people, give them your elevator talk, pass out cards, move to next table every 5 minutes.  As a small business owner with no real “retail” or consumer services to offer (although I have toyed around with the idea of handing out “coupons” for free placental perfusion or “Recycle your placenta” bumper stickers), the sales people at these events like to pitch their wares:  Web design, Accounting services, graphic arts, office supplies, computer stuff, etc.

So I had a couple follow-up calls and made appointments to chat with a few people since I really need to start “branding” the Hemacell Perfusion (and man, does the web site need some work).  Here’s where it gets bizarre.

I get an email back from one of my appointments stating “we really think the work you are doing is great, but we’re not going to be able to business with you because of potential conflict of interest with existing clients.”  That’s a first for me.

And on another rant, there was a great little opt ed piece in the Baltimore Sun last week written by Dr’s Curt Civin (best known as the person who discovered CD34) and E. Albert Reece.  In the piece he make allusion to the belief that Obama will overturn the Bush “Stem Cell Legislation”.  As I have said before (HERE and HERE), this piece of legislation is really not the problem and as the Opt-ed piece states:

Lifting the ban is an important first step – but it is mostly symbolic. Unless it leads to a significant increase in funding for rebuilding the infrastructure this field needs to mature, it is likely to have little tangible effect. This would be very unfortunate, because the field of regenerative medicine – which utilizes stem cells, among other tools, to understand disease processes and to repair damaged organs – is ripe for development.

I also have been meaning to ask you all to oppose HR 801 “Fair Copyright in Research Works Act” which seeks to overturn the order that all NIH funded research be made available to the public at no charge.  Most critically, H.R. 801 would reverse the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Public Access Policy, prohibit American taxpayers from accessing the results of the crucial biomedical research funded by their taxpayer dollars, and stifle critical advancements in life-saving research and scientific discovery.  Please write your Senator, House member, and local officials and state your opposition to HR 801.  I’ve already sent an e-mail to Roscoe Bartlett and a few others.  You can go to the web site for more information.

FNP reports on Lonza Expansion

Today in the Frederick News-Post there was a report of the Cell Therapy expansion at Lonza-Walkersville.  I am not entirely sure if this is new news, or just a report on the progress of an expansion project started last year will the clearing and grading behind the warehouse? I had reported on this in July, based on a Lonza press release.  Good news in any event.  As otehr businesses and economy struggles, FredCoBio rolls on!  And 80 more bioscience jobs.  I suspect these positions will be filled through AeroTek Scientific Staffing, as they have been in the past.  If you’d like an intro to any of the fine people there, drop me a line.

You can read the FNP article HERE, here’s the summary:

The growing market for its cell therapy program spurred the expansion. The 44,000-square-foot building will house three Class 10,000 cell production sites and office space. The Class 10,000 designation requires specific clean room qualifications for the successful production of tissue cells.

The new building will be joined to the existing warehouse at Lonza with a two-level connector to allow for convenient movement of personnel, materials and products.

Planning for the new building began in 2007, the same year Lonza acquired the bioscience division of Cambrex. Completion of the new building is expected in the fall of this year.

Is it already the New Year?

I must apologize for being a lame blogger this year, thus far.   Although I have not been doing a tremendous amount of lab work, I have been running to and fro trying to relocate myself over to FITCI@Hood and collecting Christmas Trees for the goats.

I’ve also started plans for the first BioBeer of 2009.  Looks like it’ll have to wait until February, since everyone was slow recovering from the holidays and now they’re booked through the end of the month.  I know I have plenty to do between now and the end of the month.

But in my lull, there were a couple stories meriting some attention.

First, I guess no one will be surprised to hear that the Tech Council of Maryland will be asking for more funding this year.  According to the Baltimore Business Journal, there will be requests for doubling funding for the state’s biotech tax credit, amongst other things.  I tried, unsuccessfully, to get this tax credit two years ago when I was going to dump $100K into my own biotech venture.  Apparently, you need to have greased someones palms already to qualify.  Maybe I’ll try again this go around?

And in a story that may have gone unnoticed, the GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network released a story about Anthersys of Cleveland: “Athersys Receives IND Authorization for Multistem in Treatment of Ischemic Stroke“  In case you don’t know, IND means “Investigational New Drug”.

According to the article “Athersys, Inc. (Nasdaq:ATHX) announced today that it has received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin a Phase I clinical trial evaluating the safety of administration of its “off-the-shelf” adult stem cell product, MultiStem(r), in the treatment of ischemic stroke.

The Phase I study will be a double-blind, placebo controlled dose escalation trial evaluating the safety and maximum tolerated dose of single-dose administration of MultiStem following an ischemic stroke. The trial is designed to include up to 48 patients and will be conducted at multiple clinical centers in the United States.”

from Athersys' web site

So this is very good news for Frederick’s own Lonza-Walkersville, as you may read through this Feb ’07 Press release:

Athersys engaged Lonza to assist it in the scale-up and manufacturing of its clinical grade product, using Athersys’s production processes. “We are excited about this relationship and our role in supporting Athersys’s entry into the clinic with its MultiStem(R) product,” said David Smith, Vice President, Cell Therapy Bioservices at Lonza. “Athersys’s production process has proven to be robust and scalable, providing a strong foundation for conducting clinical development.”

Yet another example of Frederick leading the world in Stem Cell production technologies for research and therapy.

I also wanted give a shout out to Smart Company Magazine for some very good taste (in naming this blog “featured blog”) in their new web site design and a couple articles about Ft Detrick and SAIC in their print edition this month.

Also congratulations to Dr Jeffery Hung at SABiosciences for being put in the same catagory as Affymetrix, Roche, Aligent and Illumina with a nice excpert in the MicroArray article in GEN.