Biotech's 'perfect storm' moves into Atlanta
by John Carroll
This year's unofficial theme at BIO is how to survive the economic crisis--with a lot of different ideas over just how this will play out in the future. "I think there are at least 10 sessions on how to sell your company," quipped Stephen Sands, the managing director at Lazard Freres. If you miss one discussion, "just go on to the next session." Article
Elton John speaks out on AIDS issues
by Maureen Martino
If you want to draw a crowd at BIO, landing Elton John as a keynote speaker is the way to do it. As with last year's Schwarzenegger keynote, the line for the event formed long before the speech started. It took another hour of awards, introductions and promotional videos, but John finally took the stage around 1 pm. Dressed conservatively in a black suit, rose shirt and rose-colored glasses, John frankly addressed his own difficulty facing the reality of AIDS. Report
Panel envisions EHRs as research tool
by George Miller
The "breakthrough application" to next-generation IT systems for biotech researchers--and for the healthcare industry in general--may well be the electronic health record, or EHR, a digital store of patient history data. So says Ken Buetow, PhD, associate director for bioinformatics and IT at the National Cancer Institute, chairing the Tuesday BIO session, "Transforming the Research Paradigm: 21st Century Models to Unify Discovery Research and Clinical Care." Report
Genentech, FDA work on quality pilot
by George Miller
Genentech has submitted--and had accepted--two proposals to an FDA pilot program intended to test quality by design concepts. The filings are part of an effort in which Genentech is working with the FDA on a case study designed to illustrate key principles of the quality by design manufacturing concept. Report
Promoting your biotech through social media
by Maureen Martino and Calisha Myers
For those who've never used it, Twitter may seem boring, pointless, and even narsisstic. Why would anyone need to publish 140 character observations and updates about themselves? It can seem even more useless as a tool to promote your biotech's work. But individuals and companies who have embraced this technology have come to understand how essential--and powerful--social media has becomes for business. Report