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CRN’s Mister: ‘This could be a sea change for the industry as consumers take more interest in their health’

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.




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Herbal ingredient supplier benefits from incontinence product supply problems

The unpredictable spikes in demand that are distorting the supply chain in the current crisis has created another opportunity, in this case for herbal ingredients that help adults deal with urinary incontinence issues.




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Lief Labs launches GMP starter kit initiative

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.




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NutraCast Podcast: Michelle Ricker on biohacking

Youâve likely heard of life hacks, which are tricks or shortcuts that help you be more efficient in life. You may or may not have heard of biohacks. But chances are, youâve already tried some without even knowing it. You might even be biohacking right nowâ




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Bifido probiotic may enhance effects of exercise and boost training results: Study

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.




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Experts lay out post-pandemic retailing strategies

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.




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How Could Science #BreaktheInternet?

I saw the Breakthrough Prizes announced this weekend and was excited to learn about the interesting scientists on the list, including Jennifer Doudna who many of us in life science recognize for her CRISPR/Cas9 work. I’ll start out saying that I am glad to see a group of such influential people (Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki, Mark

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Supporting Biotech Development in Madison

As part of our follow up to our recent Biotech in Wisconsin Meetup about professional development skills, we are asking folks to fill out this poll.




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We All Need a Risk Framework

I recently read “The Most Important Thing Illuminated: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor” by Howard Marks, Chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management. While I’m not an investor, Juan Serrate (@JPZaragoza1) brought the book to my attention during a Twittersation about risk. In my job developing a discovery into an actual drug, I think

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What is the optimal biotech burn rate?

Ethan Perlstein, founder of Perlstein Lab, asked a question on Twitter and got some great answers from David Grainger, partner at Index Ventures and Katrine Bosley, CEO of Editas Medicine. (You can read the whole thread by clicking through.) @LifeSciVC @sciencescanner @ksbosley @scientre what's the burn rate distribution of biotech NewCos in for the first year of

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Case Study: When does “technology” turn into medical device

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

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Precision in Oncology: Using the Macro and Micro

Last week, the New York Times had a nice piece “A Faster Way to Try Many Drugs on Many Cancers” on basket clinical trials, which matches patients to a therapy based on the genetics of their tumor as opposed to the site of their primary tumor. This type of trial feeds into the current excitement about precision

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#MHVF Approaches to Drug Development

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

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Blood: Underappreciated Resource in the Health/Disease?

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

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None Better than One? (A Brief Note on VC in Smaller Hubs)

Biotech venture funding metrics continue at historic highs, highlighting that the robust financing environment in the public markets continues to fuel the private markets as well.  – Bruce Booth, partner Atlas Venture in Data Snapshot: Venture-Backed Biotech Financing Riding High, April 2015 Here in Madison, Wisconsin, you might not know that was true if you

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The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Pharma Day*

A challenge You are passionate about providing an intervention (drug or device) to a group of patients who can’t access the current options due to availability or pricing. You could could go the philanthropic route to pay for the interventions. You could work towards regulation to apply downward pressure on pricing. No matter what, you have to

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Some Questions On The Future Of The Coronavirus Vaccine, Answered

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?




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V-E Day: Europe Celebrates A Subdued 75th Anniversary During COVID-19 Pandemic

"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.




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Google Says Most Of Its Employees Will Likely Work Remotely Through End of Year

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.




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Seen 'Plandemic'? We Take A Close Look At The Viral Conspiracy Video's Claims

The video has been viewed millions of times on YouTube via links that are replaced as quickly as the video-sharing service can remove them for violating its policy against "COVID-19 misinformation."




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More Census Workers To Return To Rural Areas In 9 States To Leave Forms

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.




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Coronavirus FAQs: Do Temperature Screenings Help? Can Mosquitoes Spread It?

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




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Haitian Doctor Says This Is The Worst Epidemic He's Faced

A major health agency fears a humanitarian crisis. Migrant workers are returning home from the hard-hit Dominican Republic. Medical equipment is in short supply. And social distancing is improbable.




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What Happened Today: Health Care System Crumbles, Testing Questions

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.




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Public Health Experts Say Many States Are Opening Too Soon To Do So Safely

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.




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COMIC: Hospitals Turn To Alicia Keys, U2 And The Beatles To Sing Patients Home

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.




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Reopening After COVID: The 3 Phases Recommended By The White House

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




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Anti-Vaccination Activists Join Stay-At-Home Order Protesters

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.




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So, You're Not Talking Much In Quarantine. Here's How To Keep Your Voice Healthy

With social distancing, many people are speaking less and their voices sound raggedy. NPR's Scott Simon talks with speech pathologist Sandy Hirsch, about keeping the voice sounding as it should.




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Tracking The Pandemic: How Quickly Is The Coronavirus Spreading State By State?

View our map and graphics to see where COVID-19 is hitting hardest in the U.S., which state outbreaks are growing the fastest and which are leveling off.




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Coronavirus World Map: Tracking The Spread Of The Outbreak

A map of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world. The respiratory disease has spread rapidly across six continents and has killed thousands of people.




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Day Three Notes – JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, San Francisco

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




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Extending the Patentable Life of 3D Printers: A Lesson From the Pharmaceutical Industry

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




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PTO Cancer Immunotherapy Fast Track

In response to President Obama’s National Cancer Moonshot initiative to eliminate cancer, the USPTO has launched the “Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program.” The Pilot Program provides an accelerated review for applications related to cancer immunotherapy and is set to launch in July 2016. According to the USPTO, this initiative: aims to cut the time it takes to...… Continue Reading




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New EU Rules for Medical Devices

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




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En Banc: Federal Circuit Provides Guidance on Application of On-Sale Bar to Contract Manufacturers

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




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Looking Forward/Looking Backward – Day 1 Notes from the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference

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




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Food for Thought (and Health): Day 2 Notes from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference

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




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The Old and the New – Day 3 Notes from the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference

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




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Notes on Day 4 of the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference

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




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WannaCry Ransomware Alert

This is not a drill. Companies and law enforcement agencies around the world have been left scrambling after the world’s most prolific ransomware attack hit over 500,000 computers in 150 countries over a span of only 4 days. The ransomware – called WannaCry, WCry, WannaCrypt, or WannaDecryptor – infects vulnerable computers and encrypts all of...… Continue Reading





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Healthcare needs immigrants



  • in the news

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Launching a drug during lockdowns



  • Marketing to health care professionals
  • New Drug Launches

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Can pharma become a digital industry?



  • in the news
  • Working in the industry
  • Pharma Digital Transformations

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Gilead games the system




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10 Predictions for healthcare



  • in the news

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A vaccine probably won’t arrive any time soon.




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Do HCP’s want to hear from pharma during COVID-19?



  • in the news
  • Marketing to health care professionals
  • Bad Research

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“We’re going to need a bigger boat”