Venture capital firm Frazier Healthcare has grabbed Scott Byrd, Ian Mills, and Gordon McMurray as its new Entrepreneur-in-Residence consultants.

Eli Lilly has teamed with China’s Junshi Biosciences in the U.S., marking the company's second COVID-19 pact to develop neutralizing antibodies against the virus. It promises to be a faster approach than designing a new small-molecule drug would be, but getting from idea to an effective product may not be so simple.

Following in the footsteps of an increasing number of biopharmas that want to use data to get more bang for their buck in R&D, J&J has promoted Najat Khan, Ph.D., to the role of chief data science officer.

Moderna is finalizing the protocol for a phase 3 trial of its COVID-19 vaccine with a view to starting the study early in the summer. The establishment of the timeline, which follows FDA clearance to run a phase 2 trial, puts Moderna on track to win approval for its mRNA vaccine mRNA-1273 next year.

Johnson & Johnson taps Khan for chief data role; Icon poaches AstraZeneca vet Buck as CMO; Intellia signs on Lebwohl as CMO.

Sorrento Therapeutics is jumping into the race to develop therapies against COVID-19, teaming up with Mount Sinai to develop a cocktail of antibodies from the blood of 15,000 recovered patients. The company's scientists believe their multipronged therapy will sidestep risks such as treatment resistance.

Fortress Biotech has licensed a treatment for KRAS-driven cancers from Columbia University. Sticking to its blueprint, Fortress has set up a new biotech, Oncogenuity, to advance the preclinical asset and work to generate more oligonucleotides from the underlying platform.

Tough times at Orchard Therapeutics as it swings the ax across staffers and facilities, phases in new pipeline advances and reduces interest in others.

Some producers of essential oils have thrown their hats into the coronavirus claims ring, according to recent warning letters from the US Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission.

From fewer containers and reduced shift work at harbors to delays in planned maintenance in factories, the coronavirus pandemic is impacting global supply chains in myriad ways. FoodNavigator-USA (FNU) caught up with Jon Peters (JP), president at Beneo, a leading supplier of chicory root fiber, rice ingredients, and the specialty low-GI carbs Isomalt and Palatinose, to find out more.

The dietary supplement industry as a whole is enjoying booming sales as consumer stock up on products to support optimum health. But an industry strategist warns that that sales bump is likely to be ephemeral, and brands that are not strategizing vigorously now may be caught out in the near future.

With social distancing in full effect, families have not only found themselves with a lot more time together, but a lot more time in front of their screens.

Researchers working with a group of postmenopausal women found that a technology using casein to encapsulate calcium nanoparticles reduced GI issues compared with more conventional calcium carbonate or calcium citrate supplements.

Recent research suggests that some brands may want to calm down their messaging.

The results provide priceless information on ancestry and predispositions to various illnesses.

Consumers are turning to dietary supplements in record numbers, but the industry must deliver on the results the products are promising if the industry is to convert them to long term customers, says Steve Mister.

The GMP Starter Kit aims to help guide brands through current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) regulations and FDA compliance for nutritional and dietary supplement brands.

Combining exercise with a bacterial strain isolated from an Olympic weightlifting gold medalist may synergistically increase endurance compared to training or the probiotic alone, suggests data from a mouse study.

Marketing experts recommend that brands formulate a strategy to be as nimble as possible to deal with the as yet unknown changes to the supplement marketplace in the post pandemic world. A greater online capability is seen as one of key parts of that toolkit.

This semester I’ve embarked on an adventure to co-teach a class in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Masters in Biotechnology program. What sold me on the experience was the majority of my responsibility is interacting with second year students on their final major project (essentially their thesis). That said, I will give one lecture, which will be “health

Today I had the chance for a panel conversation with Geeta Vemuri from Baxter Ventures and Ed Silverman from Pharmalot blog (Wall Street Journal) at the Midwest Healthcare Venture Forum. Our general topic was how we (an entrepreneur and a corporate venture capitalist) look at bringing drugs/devices to market. Here are a couple of takeaways from our

Alternative title: Pitching a VC on Disruption of Blood Testing You may have seen some recent editorials about the necessary frequency of blood tests for healthy individuals, many of them prompted by a series of tweets from Mark Cuban: Although there are certainly potential dangers in expecting any and all test results to be immediately

Scientists work tirelessly to find a coronavirus vaccine. But there are some questions to answer: How soon a viable vaccine would be developed? Would billions of people worldwide be able to to get it?

"Today, 75 years later, we are forced to commemorate alone, but we are not alone!" Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier says, celebrating international unity in the post-war era.

The tech giant announces it is extending its previous work-from-home plans for most of its staff and will begin reopening offices this summer.

The Census Bureau says it plans to continue its relaunch of limited 2020 census operations on May 13, when the next round of workers is set to resume hand-delivering paper forms in rural communities.

And as summer nears, the question must be asked: Is it risky from a COVID-19 standpoint to go in a swimming pool?

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

By Monday at least 31 states will be open or partially open. This as President Trump pushed for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon.

Call them victory anthems. Every time a patient with COVID-19 is well enough to be discharged, hospitals in New York and elsewhere play songs of celebration over the intercom. A doctor explains.

President Trump wants businesses to start reopening after the coronavirus forced shutdowns. Here's what the White House task force recommends for states.

Among those rallying against state shutdown orders are anti-vaccination activists. They see these protests as a way to form political alliances that promote their movement.

Yesterday’s conference sessions surfaced interesting questions and approaches regarding the post-acute sector, bundled payment, emergency medicine and anesthesia. Post-Acute Focus: With more and more focus on the need to rationalize and re-organize the post-acute sector, we have seen multiple industry leaders start to evolve their strategies.  I blogged yesterday about AccentCare’s interesting strategy in the...… Continue Reading

Modern innovation typically occurs one step-improvement at a time. Some clients initially question whether their new application of an existing technology is patentable. Usually, the answer is ‘yes.’ Under U.S. law (and most other jurisdictions), an innovation to an existing technology is patentable so long as at least one claim limitation is novel and non-obvious....… Continue Reading

After four years of negotiations, European lawmakers agreed on June 15 on a new EU Medical Devices Regulation (MDR). The MDR is the equivalent to the FDA’s CDRH regulations in the United States and essentially specifies the applicable rules when importing medical devices into Europe, which is the world’s second-largest device market. Rules relate, for...… Continue Reading

Pharmaceutical and biotech companies breathed a sigh of relief Monday when the Federal Circuit unanimously ruled in a precedential opinion that the mere sale of manufacturing services to create embodiments of a patented product is not a “commercial sale” of the invention that triggers the on-sale bar of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) (pre-AIA).[1]  The en banc opinion...… Continue Reading

A large amount of wind, much discussion about the U.S healthcare, and the public getting soaked again – if you were thinking about Washington, DC and the new Congress, you’re 3,000 miles away from the action. This is the week of the annual JP Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco, with many thousands of healthcare...… Continue Reading

Addressing the Social Determinants of Health:  Is the healthcare industry pushing a rock up a hill?  We collectively are trying to provide healthcare with improved quality and reduced cost, but the structure of the nation’s healthcare system remains heavily siloed with the social determinants of health often falling wholly or partly outside the mandate and...… Continue Reading

Day 3 of the JPMorgan healthcare conference was one of striking contrasts between the old and the new. (And, by the way, the rain finally stopped for a day, but it will be back tomorrow to finish off the last day of the conference). The Old:  Sitting in the Community Health Systems (CHS) presentation and...… Continue Reading

Some interesting presentations on the last day of the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference that concentrated on common themes – the increasing importance of ancillary business line to bolster core business revenue and of filling in holes to achieve scale and full-service offerings. Genesis Healthcare – The largest U.S. skilled nursing facility (SNF) provider, which also is...… Continue Reading

When it rains guidance, it pours. The MDCG just released Guidance on temporary extraordinary measures related to medical devices Notified Body audits during COVID-19 quarantine orders and travel restrictions. The guidance takes immediate effect and is valid for the whole period of duration of the pandemic COVID-19 as declared by the World Health Organisation. It […]

In several states and in parts of California, black and Latino people are dying of COVID-19 at higher rates than their white and Asian counterparts.

Andy Serkis, who plays Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" films, announced that he will livestream a reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" on Friday.

The L.A. Pride parade, which would have marked its 50th year, joins the list of events canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Newsom said earlier this week that bookstores, florists and others can reopen for curbside pickup Friday, unless barred by tougher local restrictions.

The coronavirus outbreak has forced the cancellation of myriad life events. Santa Clara County won't even let you celebrate in your car now.

Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose criticized Steven Mnuchin and Trump's coronavirus response, which irked the Treasury secretary and started a Twitter spat.

The U.N. triples its fundraising target for fighting the coronavirus, even as President Trump plans to freeze U.S. aid to its principal health agency.

California DMV will reopen 25 field offices after shutdown