Tag Archives: PHA

Join Taipei City’s Thriving Health Industry: Registration for “Win A Greater Health” Pitch Contest Starts Now!

TAIPEI, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Taipei City Government’s Department of Economic Development is taking proactive steps to attract international startups and foster collaboration with local businesses through its “Talent Exchange Program”. In line with this initiative, they have established the “Taipei Entrepreneurs Hub (TEH)” to cultivate a vibrant international community of entrepreneurs in the heart of Taipei. In 2023, the spotlight is on the health industry, and the department is delighted to announce the forthcoming “Win A Greater Health” international online startup pitch contest. Registration is now open until September 15, 2023, Taipei time (UTC+8). International teams specializing in digital health fields are welcomed to participate.

The department places great importance on attracting international startup teams with key technologies and research capabilities to facilitate the cooperative transformation and upgrade of local industries. This has always been a crucial industrial goal for the city government. Additionally, harnessing the power of innovation and entrepreneurship to drive city diplomacy is a significant driving force. Therefore, in recent years, the department has actively connected global startup ecosystem resources through TEH, organizing various networking events across different industries and time zones, creating the most resource-rich and comprehensive entrepreneurial community. The ultimate goal is to welcome international entrepreneurs from around the world to establish their presence in Taipei.

This year, the international startup pitch contest, in collaboration with TEH, the Taiwan Digital Health Industry Development Association, BE Health Ventures, and the Taipei Medical University BioMed Accelerator, welcomes international startup teams to participate. The competition encourages teams to develop Taiwan market expansion plans with a focus on implementing their goals in Taipei City. The winning teams will not only receive one international round-trip ticket from anywhere to Taipei to attend the Demo Day presentation but also enjoy customized matchmaking sessions and business itineraries during their stay in Taipei. Selected teams will have diverse opportunities for technological connections, collaborations, and interactions with businesses and venture capital firms in Taipei.

In addition to organizing the competition, the city government has established StartUp@Taipei office and Inves Taipei office to support startups from around the world in settling in Taipei. The ultimate goal is to make Taipei City a partner for international talents and collaborate to develop more business opportunities.

For more information and registration details for the online competition, you can visit the official Facebook page or LinkedIn page, or contact the organizing company Everiii Consulting CO., Ltd. at (+886 2) 33435456 ext. 806, Ms. Kuo.

Clarivate Announces Gordon Samson as President, Intellectual Property and Nominates Dr. Saurabh Saha as New Independent Director


Naming the first of three business leaders for its newly created market segments and nominating new Independent Director to its Board

LONDON, March 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Clarivate Plc (NYSE: CLVT), a global leader in connecting people and organizations to intelligence they can trust, today announced that Gordon Samson, currently Chief Product Officer, has been appointed President of its Intellectual Property (IP) market segment, effective April 1. The Company also announced that it has nominated Dr. Saurabh Saha to stand for election as a director at its 2023 Annual General Meeting of shareholders on May 4, 2023.

Jonathan Gear, Chief Executive Officer, Clarivate said: “I’m very pleased to announce the appointment of Gordon who has been a trusted and valued member of our Executive Leadership Team since he came to Clarivate from CPA Global as part of our acquisition in 2020. In this newly created role, he will be responsible for accelerating the growth of our IP segment empowering customers to establish, protect and manage their IP.

Based on my experience working with him over the last eight months and the work we’ve done this year to align the organization, I’m confident that he will be instrumental to how we capitalize on product and service innovation to deliver organic growth. This is the first of our presidential appointments and we look forward to providing updates on further appointments in due course.”

Samson joined Clarivate in October 2020 with the acquisition of CPA Global, having joined CPA Global in 2014 as Chief Operating Officer. During the last three years with Clarivate, Samson has made significant contributions, helping transform the Company’s APAC region and bringing together the Company’s entire product portfolio to offer customers a full range of enriched data, insights, analytics and workflow solutions. He has a long and successful track record of driving organizational transformation and growth in the IP industry and beyond, having held senior executive roles with both operating and P&L accountability for more than 20 years.

Andy Snyder, Chairman of the Board, Clarivate commented: “We look forward to Dr. Saha joining our Board. He will bring a great deal of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries and his guidance will provide valuable insights and perspective, especially as we continue to execute on our growth strategy in the Life Sciences & Healthcare segment.”

Dr. Saha is a physician-scientist, pharmaceutical executive, and biotech entrepreneur dedicated to discovering and developing novel life-changing medicines. He is notable for leading the development and demonstrating human effectiveness of two innovative cancer drugs, an ERK kinase inhibitor (Ulixertinib) and an oncolytic immunotherapy (C. novyi-NT). He is currently CEO of Centessa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CNTA), a global pharma company. Prior to Centessa, Dr. Saha was a Senior Vice President of R&D and Global Head of Translational Medicine for all disease areas at Bristol Myers Squibb. Other past roles include Venture Partner at Atlas Venture, a VC firm in Cambridge MA, Chief Executive Officer at Delinia, Chief Medical Officer of Synlogic, a management consultant at McKinsey & Company, and head of the New Indications Discovery Unit at Novartis. He is an associate member and Global Clinical Scholar at Harvard Medical School, holds an MD and PhD in medicine and cancer genetics from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, an MSc in biophysics from the University of Oxford and a BSc in biochemistry from Caltech.

About Clarivate

Clarivate™ is a leading global information services provider. We connect people and organizations to intelligence they can trust to transform their perspective, their work and our world. Our subscription and technology-based solutions are coupled with deep domain expertise and cover the areas of Academia & Government, Life Sciences & Healthcare and Intellectual Property. For more information, please visit clarivate.com.

Investor Relations Contact
Mark Donohue, Head of Investor Relations, investor.relations@clarivate.com, +1 (215) 243 2202

Media Contact
Amy Bourke-Waite, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, newsroom@clarivate.com

World Stroke Organization Tackle Gaps in Access to Quality Stroke Care


GENEVA, Switzerland, Oct. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — On World Stroke Day (29th Oct), the World Stroke Organization has announced the launch of a new program that aims to drive access to quality acute stroke care and save lives around the world.

What happens in the minutes after someone has a #stroke? They start to lose crucial brain tissue that contains memories, language and personality. Knowing the symptoms and acting FAST can save that person’s life.Learn the signs, Say it’s a stroke. Save #Precioustime
What happens in the minutes after someone has a #stroke? They start to lose crucial brain tissue that contains memories, language and personality. Knowing the symptoms and acting FAST can save that person’s life.Learn the signs, Say it’s a stroke. Save #Precioustime

The WSO Stroke Certification initiative is a strategic response to the results of a WHO-WSO survey which found that less than half (49%) of countries could provide comprehensive evidence-based acute stroke care. The survey also identified a huge gap in provision of care between high- and low- and middle-income countries. While 91% of high-income countries were able to provide access to specialist stroke unit care, the number was just 8% in low-income countries. 

Two of the fundamental markers of quality acute stroke care are the provision of thrombolysis (the removal of blood clots using intravenous medication) and thrombectomy (the removal of blood clots by keyhole surgery). Research published by WSO found global rates of access to these treatments stand at 46% and 30% respectively.

‘One in four of us will have a stroke in our lifetime, yet the majority of people globally lack access to effective treatment and stroke center care. On top of this, a lack of effective global prevention strategies has led us to a place where stroke is the second leading cause of death and the third leading cause of disability worldwide, with a soaring human and economic cost,’ said WSO President Professor Marc Fisher. Incoming WSO President and leading Brazilian neurologist, Professor Sheila Martins added: ‘We have the knowledge and tools that could save millions of lives and hundreds of millions of dollars. Delivering quality stroke care is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.’

WSO’s Global Stroke Guidelines and Action Plan aim to help institutions and governments implement evidence-based criteria and standards for care developed by WSO. Initially targeting hospitals in middle-income countries, the program will be launched on Nov 1st with the primary aim of growing the global network of accredited stroke care providers.

Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. On World Stroke Day the public, health care professionals, stroke survivors, politicians and industry leaders will come together to raise awareness of stroke symptoms and the importance of timely treatment.  

The public can follow the campaign on social media using #Precioustime and help raise awareness by sharing a clock selfie or participating in the strokespotter.org online game challenge.

Notes to Editors

I. The World Stroke Organization is the only global body solely focused on stroke. With around 3000 individual and 100 society members, spanning every global region, we represent over 55,000 stroke specialists in clinical research and support services. WSO is in official relations with WHO and has UN consultative status.
II. The WSO Stroke Certification program builds on the WSO-SIEVC Certification program in Latin America and the Caribbean https://www.world-stroke.org/news-and-blog/news/wso-siecv-certification-of-stroke-centers-in-latin-america-and-caribbean
III. State of stroke services across the globe https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/17474930211019568 
IV. WSO Global Stoke Factsheet https://www.world-stroke.org/publications-and-resources/resources/global-stroke-fact-sheet 
V. World Stroke Day website www.worldstrokecampaign.org

Contacts:

Anita Wiseman,
Campaign & Partnerships Manager, WSO
campaign@world-stroke.org
+447940029444

Knowing the symptoms and signs of a #stroke and acting #FAST can save a person’s life and all the things that make them unique.Learn the signs, Say it’s a stroke. Save #Precioustime
Knowing the symptoms and signs of a #stroke and acting #FAST can save a person’s life and all the things that make them unique.Learn the signs, Say it’s a stroke. Save #Precioustime

Biomedical industry bears fruit again in National Nanning Economic & Technological Development Area

NANNING, China, Aug. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Recently, the lung CT image-aided diagnosis software developed by Guangxi Yizhun Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (“Yizhun”) in National Nanning Economic & Technological Development Area (“Area”) has been granted the registration certificate of class III medical devices (GXZZ20223210687).

Production workshop of Nanning Neptunus Health Industrial Park
Production workshop of Nanning Neptunus Health Industrial Park

Nanning’s investment promotion departments at all levels aim at creating biomedical industry clusters through high starting point planning and attraction of targeted investments, according to National Nanning Economic & Technological Development Area Management Committee. In the Area, the biomedical industry, involving the fields of production, inspection & testing, sales and distribution, continually expands in industrial scale and gradually improves in industrial chain. The approved “lung CT image-aided diagnosis software” is the first software in Guangxi province and the country’s eighth one with the registration certificate of class III AI medical devices and software, and the sixth in Guangxi province and the second in Nanning city to have received the certificate. This is another achievement of the city’s continuous optimization of services for moved-in enterprises and solid efforts in building up the biopharmaceutical industry.

In terms of precise investments, the Area has compiled a panorama of biopharmaceutical industry chain, positively brought in investments in the industry chain and industry clusters and introduced a batch of key projects such as Hainan Huluwa Pharmaceutical, Guangdong Yili Pharmaceutical, Yida Xiansheng, Sinopharm Group and Guangxi LiuYao Group, forming an industrial development pattern with biopharmaceuticals, traditional Chinese medicine, health care products, medical devices and modern pharmaceutical logistics as main fields. According to information, the Area is the major ground to develop the biopharmaceutical industry in the city, and there are currently 625 biopharmaceutical enterprises in the Area.

Image Attachments Links:

   Link: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=428269
   Caption: Production workshop of Nanning Neptunus Health Industrial Park

Source: National Nanning Economic & Technological Development Area Management Committee

IFN Neurologic and MetaCell Partner to Launch the IFN Neurologic Affiliate Program

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., and PERTH, Australia, June 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ —

Summary

The Institute of Functional Neuroscience, a world leading treatment and rehabilitation centre utilising the latest technologies in neuroplasticity research, and MetaCell, an innovative life science software company specialised in cutting-edge research software for major pharma, biotech, and academic institutions, have partnered to launch IFN Neurologic. This application will help clinicians to better serve patients with neurological disorders and provide treatments in the functional neuroscience domain. The application has been piloted with a limited number of clinics in 2021/2022, and now is made available to clinics and patients worldwide.

IFN Neurologic is an innovative application to help clinicians better serve patients with neurological disorders and provide treatments in the functional neuroscience domain
IFN Neurologic is an innovative application to help clinicians better serve patients with neurological disorders and provide treatments in the functional neuroscience domain

Affiliate Program 

Affiliate clinics will use for the first time IFN Neurologic to perform restorative neuroplasticity interventions on their patients at their own clinic. The affiliate program includes a comprehensive education program accredited by IFN (Institute of Functional Neuroscience) and AICN (Australian Institute of Clinical Neuroscience), all the necessary hardware/software, and access to the IFN Neurologic platform.

The team

Dr. Randy Beck, PhD, Director of the IFN, said: “We’re excited to be launching this new application in partnership with MetaCell. With this new software that requires no installation and can be reached from any web browser in the world, we now have the ability to rapidly scale up our diagnostic processes and reach more patients around the world at the click of a button.”

Giovanni Idili, COO of MetaCell, added: “We are very proud to work with Dr. Beck and provide IFN with a solution that ultimately allows the organisation to help a much greater number of patients at the same outstanding level of service, and we look forward to partnering with many more clinical innovators using our unique approach to custom software development in concert with our clinical neuroscience platforms.”

About IFN

The Institute of Functional Neuroscience (IFN) utilises the latest in neuroplasticity and neuroscience research to develop treatment approaches aimed at improving brain and nervous system performance of patients with a wide range of conditions including migraines, seizure disorders, strokes, attention deficit disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, developmental coordination delay, vertigo, depression, learning and developmental disorders, concussion syndromes and autism.

About MetaCell

MetaCell is a life science-focused software company composed of scientists and software engineers, with deep domain expertise in computational neuroscience, molecular biology, data science, and enterprise-grade online software development. Their solutions have been trusted for over a decade by some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and leading research institutions in the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and Europe, including Biogen, Pfizer, Eisai, Salk, UCL, Mount Sinai, UCSD, Yale, Princeton, and many more.

Contact details

IFN Neurologic: https://ifnneurologic.com/ | +61 (08) 6254 2282 | affiliateprogram@ifnneurologic.com
IFN: https://ifn.net.au | +61 (08) 6254 2282 | info@ifn.net.au 
MetaCell: https://metacell.us/ | US +1 617-286-4832 | UK +44 1865 648684 | info@metacell.us

First AI to Refine Medical Coding by Exploring Therapeutic Data

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Medical AI start-up Aesop Technology announced a new partnership that made their new product, DxPrime, available in the Olive Library. DxPrime provides physicians and clinical documentation improvement (CDI) teams with information about missing and wrongly coded diagnoses and procedures to correct the patient’s chart in just a few clicks. It makes completing discharge summaries, prioritizing work for CDI teams, and medical coding much easier, faster, and less error-prone.

If the patient record is incorrect, you cannot code correctly.

Completeness, precision, and validity of medical documentation are critical for all healthcare stakeholders. Without correct patient records, patients could receive improper discharge instructions and a sub-optimal continuum of care. Providers also can struggle to estimate the length of stay and code insurance claims correctly, resulting in denials and loss of revenue.

Approximately 10% of inpatient claims are denied, of which more than 85% (or about $35 billion) result in unnecessary losses. Many of these denials occur because of errors in the patient record that occur upstream from the claims process. Diagnosis input errors are difficult for physicians to avoid because the knowledge of coding systems is different from what they need to learn to provide great patient care. Modern medicine’s complexity has caused 14,400 diseases to be included in ICD-10, further classified into 68,000 ICD-10-CM and 87,000 ICD-10-PCS codes.

“Physicians, CDI team, and coders have to spend a lot of time poring through medical records to find the key clinical diagnoses among the vast amount of information available,” said Jim Long, CEO of AESOP. “After that, they have to follow a series of inefficient steps on the computer to complete the input process, and search functionality for ICD codes often is not helpful. The whole process is complex, time-consuming, and error-prone.

When the physicians input the improper diagnosis, it also has downstream implications. When using DxPrime, we have helped physicians often notice they did not correctly code complications such as urinary tract infections and respiratory failure. By assisting them in inputting the proper diagnoses, our partners have seen an increase in revenue of 5-10% per inpatient.”

State-of-the-art machine learning assisted physician data entry.

DxPrime provides high-quality suggestions to support physician data entry based on a machine learning model (published in the Healthcare journal) that has been run on top of data from 3.2 Billion patient visits, including vast amounts of structured information. It allows DxPrime to use items from the patient record like lab test results and medications ordered when predicting a diagnosis.

This comprehensive model utilizes artificial intelligence to efficiently compensate for traditional CDSS and NLP weaknesses to find correct or missed diagnoses.

About Aesop Technology

Aesop Technology develops AI-powered technology to enhance patient safety and medical coding quality.

Contact
Jeremiah Scholl, CPO & Co-founder
hi@aesoptek.com
T: +1 415-818-0633
www.aesoptek.com

Cision View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-ai-to-refine-medical-coding-by-exploring-therapeutic-data-301559368.html

Dada’s JDDJ in action to guarantee medical supply and online health consultation with pharmaceutical partners

SHANGHAI, April 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — As a number of cities in China are ramping up anti-epidemic measures, more consumers rely on online-to-offline services to purchase much-needed medications. JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms operated by Dada Group (Nasdaq: DADA), is proactively stepping up efforts to guarantee citizens’ medication needs in collaboration with its pharmaceutical partners.

Pharmacy-to-home service on JDDJ.
Pharmacy-to-home service on JDDJ.

In Shanghai where Dada is headquartered, a surge in number of orders for drugs becomes evident – to address citizens’ needs, JDDJ’s on-demand retail and delivery services have become essential. According to operating data from JDDJ on April 1, in March, the number of orders for epidemic prevention related medical supplies, the number of orders for chronic disease medicines, and that of orders for common household medicines in Shanghai have increased by 380%, 160% and 130%, respectively, on a month-over-month basis.

In addition, to better help those in need, JDDJ is now connected to JD Health, the healthcare subsidiary of JD.com, to provide 24-hour free online health consultation services as an effort to enable platform customers to obtain professional advice and guidance from doctors in a timely manner without leaving home. Data from JDDJ shows a strong demand in online medical consultation in March across the country, recording a month-over-month growth of 30% in number of consultations compared to February.

About Dada Group

Dada Group is a leading platform of local on-demand retail and delivery in China. It operates JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms for retailers and brand owners, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform open to merchants and individual senders across various industries and product categories. The Company’s two platforms are inter-connected and mutually beneficial. The Dada Now platform enables improved delivery experience for participants on the JDDJ platform through its readily accessible fulfillment solutions and strong on-demand delivery infrastructure. Meanwhile, the vast volume of on-demand delivery orders from the JDDJ platform increases order volume and density for the Dada Now platform. In June 2020, Dada Group began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market, under the ticker symbol “DADA.”

Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dadas-jddj-in-action-to-guarantee-medical-supply-and-online-health-consultation-with-pharmaceutical-partners-301516187.html

Tang Prize Laureates Reflect on the Breakthroughs Made Possible by Cytokine Research

TAIPEI, Nov. 27, 2021 — Following the inspiring opening speech, "Future Perspective of Cancer Immunotherapy," delivered by Nobel Prize and Tang Prize laureate Prof. Tasuku Honjo at the 14th Asia Pacific Federation of Pharmacologist Conference (APFP) on November 26, the 2020 Tang Prize Laureate’s Lecture for Biopharmaceutical Science, co-organized by the Tang Prize Foundation and The Pharmacological Society in Taiwan, took place at the 14th APFP at 1:30 p.m. (GMT+8) on November 27. Co-hosted by Dr. Wen-Chang Chang, chair of Taipei Medical University’s board of directors, and Dr. Yun Yen, chair professor at Taipei Medical University, this special session featured lectures delivered by three winners for the 2020 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science, Drs. Charles Dinarello, Marc Feldmann, and Tadamitsu Kishimoto, providing valuable informaiton on the role cytokines play in inflammation and the COVID-19 disease as well as possible treatments.

The first lecture by Dr. Dinarello, titled "Interleukin-1: The Prime Mediator of Systemic and Local Inflammation," began with his purification of leukocytic pryogen from human white blood cells in 1971. It then took him six years to identify two fever-producing molecules, later named IL-1αand IL-1β. In 1977, the research outcomes were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and for Dr. Dinarello, "that was an important step in the history of cytokine biology," because many people in the field of life science were encouraged to study the immune system’s influence on human physiology. As a result, cytokine biology expanded rapidly. He also talked about how after the early experiments in humans, "the history of cytokines being used as a treatment changed dramatically," and the focus was shifted to "inhibiting cytokines, such as IL-1, such as TNF, such as IL-6." To help the audience understand the complicated network constituted by the pro-inflammatory molecules of the IL-1 family, Dr. Dinarello elaborated on the signal transduction of IL-1 family members, their pro- and anti-inflammatory characteristics, and the symptoms of different inflammatory diseases, so as to ease the way for the audience to get a proper grasp of the second half of the lecture which centered on "the clinical application of Il-1 blockade." IL-1 overproduction, as Dr. Dinarello remarked, is a common cause of many diseases. IL-1Ra, on the other hand, can inhibit Il-1αandβ, and block the IL-1R signaling. Anakinra, a recombinant human IL-1Ra has been produced. It is used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and can also prevent glycemic disorders in type 2 diabetes. Moreover, canakinumab, an anti-IL-1βmonoclonal antibody successfully developed by Novartis, has been approved in a variety of diseases, ranging from rare hereditary diseases, rheumatic diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, to cardiovascular diseases. The most exciting news involving canakinumab is the clinical trial, CANTOS, which unexpectedly proved that canakinumab has an important role in treating cancer. Therefore, Dr. Dinarello believes that blocking IL-1 can usher in the dawn of a new cancer treatment.

The second speaker, Dr. Feldmann, shared his views on "Translating Molecular Insights in Autoimmunity into Effective Therapy." The emphasis of the first half of his lecture was on how he discovered that anti-TNF can be effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis. Administrating either high or low doses of this drug can block TNF while also rapidly reducing the production of other inflammatory mediators. In their earlier experiments, Dr. Feldmann and his team demonstrated that around 50% of people with rheumatoid arthritis responded to the combination therapy using anti-TNF and the cancer drug methotrexate. That led him to believe that "we’ve got a long way to go before every patient is cured." During the second half of the talk, Dr. Feldmann informed us that "TNF is a very unusual meditator, because it has two different targets: TNF receptor-1(TNFR1), which drives inflammation, and TNF receptor 2, which does the very opposite. So if you block all of TNF, you block of receptors. You block inflammation, but you also prevent the body’s attempt to dampen down the inflammation." Therefore, he and his colleagues are "in the process of generating tools" and has already blocked TNFR1 without change the function of regulatory T cells. In addition, Dr. Feldmann mentioned the potential of anti-TNF for addressing many unmet medical needs, such as treating fibrosis of the hand by injecting anti-TNF into the palm. However, he pointed out the two obvious disadvantages of the anti-TNF he first developed: it was cost-prohibitive and "it was an injectable drug." Thus, to develop "cheaper drugs that could be delivered by mouth" would bring greater benefit to the society. Throughout the lecture, Dr. Feldmann kept bringing up many people with whom he was or is collaborating for different projects and experiments, as he tried to drive home the message that what he had learned from these experiences was "how to work effectively with others" to ensure continuous breakthroughs in their research. It has been the hallmark of his career to find "talented people to work with," and, "together with them," to achieve much more "than we could alone."

Presenting the third lecture on the topic "Interleukin-6: From Arthritis to CAR-T and COVID-19," Dr. Kishimoto drew the audience’s attention to how IL-6 was discovered, why IL-6 is a pleiotropic molecule, and why IL-6 "is responsible for both antibody production as well as inflammation induction." He also shed light on IL-6’s effects on autoimmune diseases and how IL-6 can trigger cytokine storms. Early on in his talk, Dr. Kistimoto made clear that the overproduction of IL-6 has found to be associated with many diseases, such as cardiac myxoma, Castleman’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic onset of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). To tackle the inflammatory responses provoked by IL-6 overproduction, Dr. Kishimoto and his team tried to treat patients by blocking IL-6 signals. Subsequently, tocilizumab, a recombinant humanized anti-IL-6 receptor monoclonal antibody, was successfully developed and has been approved for use in more than 100 countries for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and JIA. With regard to how the production of IL-6 is regulated and why IL-6 overproduction often occurs in chronic inflammatory diseases, Dr. Kishimoto explained that the stabilization of IL-6 strongly depended on its messenger RNA. To rescue patients suffering from CAR-T cell-induced cytokine storms, many in the medical profession now will use tocilizumab to cushion the side effects of this therapy. In view of this example, Dr. Kishimoto and his team speculated that tocilizumab can also be effective in helping seriously-ill COVID-19 patients combat cytokine storms. Several large-scale clinical trials proved that it can lower the possibility of requiring invasive ventilation or the risk of death. For this reason, the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization have both issued an Emergency Use Authorization for tocilizumab for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. In this lecture, Dr. Kishimoto gave us a comprehensive overview of the research on IL-6 he led his team in carrying out over the past 50 years. It was a journey that took them from basic research to drug development and clinical application.

These three lectures by the 2020 Tang Prize laureates in Biopharmaceutical Science will be premiered on the Tang Prize YouTube channel from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. (GMT+8) on November 27. To watch the complete version of the "2020 Tang Prize Laureate’s Lectures for Biopharmaceutical Science," please consult the schedule below.

  • Dr. Charles Dinarello – Interleukin-1, the prime mediator of systemic and local inflammation
    11/27 16:00 Taipei time (GMT+8):https://youtu.be/gVXKCkTKkcg  
  • Dr. Marc Feldmann – Translating Molecular Insights in Autoimmunity into Effective Therapy
    11/27 17:00 Taipei time (GMT+8):https://youtu.be/_M3R9WFtDt4  
  • Dr. Tadamitsu Kishimoto – Interelukin-6: From Arthritis to CAR-T and COVID-19
    11/27 18:00 Taipei time (GMT+8):https://youtu.be/93rNLo5QMQc

MicroConstants to Join BioAgilytix Family


Highly complementary transaction strengthens BioAgilytix’s ability to support bioanalytical services across all major therapeutics in development; adds LC/MS/MS capabilities; and expands team of seasoned scientists

DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 19, 2021 — BioAgilytix Labs, LLC (BioAgilytix), a leading global contract research laboratory focused on supporting its pharmaceutical and biotech partners in all stages of large molecule drug development, announced today that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire MicroConstants, adding it to its family of companies.

MicroConstants, to be known as BioAgilytix San Diego, provides industry-leading services in method development, validation, and sample analysis for small and large molecule therapeutics and biomarkers using LC/MS/MS, HPLC, immunoassay (including multiplexing and high sensitivity SIMOA) and qPCR techniques. Since 1998, MicroConstants has supported 290+ biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

"We are excited to welcome the MicroConstants team to BioAgilytix and to work with them to integrate the business," said Jim Datin, President and CEO of BioAgilytix. "We believe that by joining forces, BioAgilytix and MicroConstants will not only create significant scientific and performance synergies, but also we are better able to serve the growing biotechnology community on the West Coast. Most importantly, our customers and their patients will benefit from the leading-edge science the combined company will bring to market."   

MicroConstants, which serves clients across the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, has deep expertise in bioanalytical testing services with over 20+ years of experience performing GLP compliant bioanalytical services. The business will complement BioAgilytix’s already impressive contract research services for the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. MicroConstants China remains a separate business entity and is not part of this transaction.

About BioAgilytix
BioAgilytix is a leading bioanalytical testing laboratory specializing in large molecule bioanalysis. With laboratory locations in North Carolina’s Research Triangle area, the Cambridge area of Massachusetts, and Hamburg, Germany, BioAgilytix provides PK, immunogenicity, biomarkers, and cell-based assay services supporting the development and release testing of biologics across a number of industries and disease states.

BioAgilytix offers assay development, validation, and sample analysis under non-GLP, GLP, and GCP, as well as GMP quality control testing (i.e., product release testing, stability testing, etc.). BioAgilytix also offers diagnostic testing services at its CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited Boston laboratory.

BioAgilytix’s team of highly experienced scientific and QA professionals ensures high-quality science, data integrity and regulatory compliance through all phases of clinical development. BioAgilytix is a trusted partner to many top global pharmaceutical and biotech companies. For more information, visit www.bioagilytix.com.

About MicroConstants, Inc.
MicroConstants Inc., is one of the largest bioanalytical LC/MS/MS service providers in the United States, with headquarters in San Diego, California for over 20 years.  MicroConstants helps its clients develop novel therapeutics by supporting clinical and preclinical regulated bioanalysis studies. Since 1998, MicroConstants has supported 290+ clients in 45 countries, completed over 8,200 projects, and developed more than 2,400 methods. For more information on how MicroConstants fulfills its purpose, please visit www.microconstants.com.

Media Contact:
Pam O’Connor
BioAgilytix
(919) 621-1230
pam.oconnor@bioagilytix.com

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Atonarp announces innovative new metrology platform Aston, aimed at increasing yield, throughput, and efficiency in semiconductor manufacturing processes


TOKYO, July 15, 2021 Atonarp, a leading manufacturer of molecular sensing and diagnostics products for the semiconductor, healthcare, and pharma industries, today announced Aston, an innovative in-situ semiconductor metrology platform with an integrated plasma ionization source.

Atonarp's Aston is an innovative in-situ semiconductor metrology platform with an integrated plasma ionization source.
Atonarp’s Aston is an innovative in-situ semiconductor metrology platform with an integrated plasma ionization source.

Aston is a major evolution in metrology for semiconductor production processes, enabling in-situ molecular process control and allowing existing fabs to run more efficiently, driving higher output. Built from the ground up for semiconductor production, Aston is a robust platform that can replace multiple legacy tools and provide unprecedented levels of control across a comprehensive set of applications, including lithography, dielectric and conductive etch and deposition, chamber clean, chamber matching, and abatement.

"With Aston, we’ve seen unit process throughput increases exceeding 40% in certain applications – that’s a big improvement. Even a 1% improvement in overall fab throughput can add up to tens of millions of dollars a year in production for a typical fab," said Prakash Murthy, CEO, CTO, and founder of Atonarp.

"Retrofitting Aston to an existing production process tool can deliver greater throughput within just six to eight weeks, compared to up to a year when installing new production equipment," said Murthy. "This will materially help manufacturers increase their production levels and help to address the current shortage of semiconductor fab capacity."

Rapid, actionable endpoint detection (EPD) is the most efficient way to run a semiconductor tool and fab. Until now, EPD could not be deployed in many process steps because the required in-situ sensor would not survive the harsh process or chamber cleaning chemicals, or would alternatively suffer clogging from condensate deposits. Historically, fabs were forced to use a fixed time in order to ensure that a process was complete. Conversely, Aston optimizes production by detecting exactly when a process has finished, including chamber cleaning, which can reduce the required clean-time by up to 80%.

Aston is resistant to corrosive gases and gaseous contaminant condensates. It is more robust than existing solutions, featuring independent dual ionization sources – a classic electron impact ionization source and a filament-less plasma ionizer – that work reliably in the harsh conditions encountered in semiconductor production. This enables Aston to be used in-situ, in demanding environments where traditional electron ionizers would corrode and fail very rapidly.

Aston offers an interval between service events that is up to 100 times longer compared to legacy mass analyzers. It includes self-cleaning capability that eliminates the build-up resulting from the deposition of condensates present in certain processes.

Since Aston generates its own plasma, it works with or without process plasma present. This provides a clear advantage over optical emission spectroscopy metrology techniques, which require a plasma source to operate, making Aston ideal for ALD and certain metal deposition processes that may use a weak, pulsed, or no plasma for processing.

Aston also delivers improved process consistency by offering quantified, actionable, real-time data, facilitating powerful machine learning via artificial intelligence (AI) for the most demanding process applications. This is in addition to enhanced line and product yields, thanks to high accuracy, sensitivity, and repeatability for statistical analysis of real-time data and process chamber management.

Aston is primarily aimed at use with chemical vapour deposition (CVD) and etching applications, both of which are registering annual growth rates in their usage exceeding 13%. The spectrometer can either be installed within new process chambers during their assembly, or retrofitted into existing chambers already in operation.

Aston can also be used with Psi, an intelligent pressure controller developed by ATI Korea. After undergoing a comprehensive, multi-month technical feasibility evaluation, this combined solution was recently purchased by Samsung for an advanced process control application.

Aston is now available for evaluation and ordering, through either direct purchase or Atonarp’s global partner network.

About Atonarp

Atonarp is leading the digital transformation of molecular sensing and diagnostics for life sciences, pharmaceutical, and semiconductor markets. Powered by a unifying software platform and breakthrough innovations in optical and mass spectrometer technology, Atonarp products deliver real-time, actionable, comprehensive molecular profiling data. Led by a world-class team of experts in the development and commercialization of semiconductor, life sciences, and health diagnostic instruments, Atonarp has operations in Japan, the United States, and India. Learn more at https://atonarp.com

 

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