Industry news

Here's a welcome new-drug side effect: Physician access is on the rise, CMI/Compas' survey shows

Beth Snyder Bulik / FiercePharmaMarketing

The doctor is ready to see you, pharma. CMI/Compas' annual Media Vitals study out today forecasts increased access to physicians for pharma companies this year. Across the board, physicians are more willing to talk to pharma companies, with only 19% saying they won't see reps in person, down from 25% in 2014. Susan Dorfman, CMI/Compas' chief commercial officer, said in the three previous years of the study, doctors noted tighter access to reps and decreased engagement with pharma brands.

JAMA: 'Groundbreaking,' 'miracle' drugs not all they're cracked up to be in news stories

Emily Wasserman / FiercePharma

Back in September, researchers cautioned against overhyped language in FDA press releases about new meds, saying that using the terms "breakthrough" and "promising" in statements could sway individuals' expectations about a drug. Now scientists are adding more words to the wise, showing that news stories often use rosy descriptors that aren't necessarily warranted.

Genomics boom puts strain on data storage, electricity grid

Nick Paul Taylor / Fierce Biotech

A widely seen and much-celebrated chart maintained by the National Institutes of Health shows how the fall in the cost of sequencing has outstripped the steady decline of Moore's law in recent years. The chart is a visual representation of the race toward the $1,000 genome, but now the industry is feeling the flip side of the graph: It can no longer rely on Moore's law to meet its storage needs.

03 November 2015

NovaDigm Therapeutics’ Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Cooke, Appointed to the National Vaccine Advisory Committee

NovaDigm Therapeutics, a company developing innovative vaccines for fungal and bacterial infections, today announced that Timothy Cooke, Ph.D., NovaDigm’s Chief Executive Officer, has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) by Karen B. DeSalvo, M.D., MPH, MSc, Acting Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Researchers develop topical device that measures skin health, blood flow

Joseph Keenan / FierceMedicalDevice

Researchers have developed an epidermal electronic device that can monitor skin health and blood flow that is easier and less expensive to use than other noninvasive sensors relying on optical or ultrasound technology.

Haves and Have Nots in Biotech Venture Capital

BIOTechNow

Recent data from the BIO Industry Analysis team tells a story of “haves and have-nots” in US biopharma venture capital. Three key findings were discussed Wednesday at the 14th Annual BIO Investor Forum.

With targets aplenty, precision medicine seeks precise path forward

Marie Powers / BioWorld

With trailblazer 23andme Inc. re-emerging in the personal genomics space with a $115 million series E to reinvigorate its direct-to-consumer efforts and the price point for whole genome analysis falling below the important $1,000-per-person barrier, precision medicine (PM) has made its way into the everyday vernacular.

02 November 2015

Epic Sciences' Platform Capable of Single Cell CTC Identification Sequencing in Late Stage, Metastatic Cancer

After successive cancer therapies, multiple subpopulations of cancer cells arise, each with divergent genetic aberrations that may confer drug resistance or susceptibility. Tissue biopsies may not detect these subpopulations, but a liquid biopsy of blood using Epic Sciences' no cell left behind® technology may help identify these important tumor cells and characterize how a patient's tumors have evolved over time.

China slowdown? Life sciences remains steadfastly immune

Shannon Ellis / BioWorld

Another year, another Shanghai October packed with conferences. But this time around, the angst of regulatory and reimbursement challenges has been replaced with a growing realization that the momentum of change is accelerating, even if there is considerable unease around how to make the most of it.

Biotech IPOs are staggering as the bulls begin to fade back

John Carroll / FierceBiotech

Third Rock startup MyoKardia staggered onto Nasdaq on Wednesday, pricing its IPO at $10 a share--a deep, bargain basement discount from the hefty range it set for itself. The biotech raised $54 million--tens of millions of dollars below its expectations--along with fresh questions over the fate of the biotech IPO window.