Replies to post #88757 on Biotech Values

[dewophile]

OT new yorker piece

The scientific response has been reverential—their artemisinin has been seen as the first bona-fide product of synthetic biology, proof of a principle that we need not rely on the whims of nature to address the world’s most pressing crises. But some people wonder what synthetic artemisinin will mean for the thousands of farmers who have begun to plant the wormwood crop. “What happens to struggling farmers when laboratory vats in California replace farms in Asia and East Africa?” Jim Thomas, a researcher with ETC Group, a technology watchdog based in Canada, asked. Thomas has argued that there has been little discussion of the ethical and cultural implications of altering nature so fundamentally. “Scientists are making strands of DNA that have never existed,” Thomas said. “So there is nothing to compare them to. There are no agreed mechanisms for safety, no policies.”

Keasling, too, believes that the nation needs to consider the potential impact of this technology, but he is baffled by opposition to what should soon become the world’s most reliable source of cheap artemisinin. “Just for a moment, imagine that we replaced artemisinin with a cancer drug,” he said. “And let’s have the entire Western world rely on some farmers in China and Africa who may or may not plant their crop. And let’s have a lot of American children die because of that. Look at the world and tell me we shouldn’t be doing this. It’s not people in Africa who see malaria who say, Whoa, let’s put the brakes on.”

i couldn't help think of taxol when i read this part of the article. it was of course a cancer product and there was no backlash when a biotech solution to the supply problem arose. in fact, back then there was concern of harming the yew tree population and synthetic production of taxol was hailed as an ecological savior rather a threat of sorts to farms growing the drug in its natural form.

[DewDiligence]

GSK Malaria Vaccine On Target for 2012 Launch

[Quiz: What other company once had a malaria vaccine in its pipeline?]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idCNN1922993520100120

›12:01am EST
By Ransdell Pierson

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc <GSK.L> hopes to seek approval by 2012 for its experimental vaccine to prevent malaria and will seek only a small profit on the product in order to make it widely available in hard-hit countries, the company said.

"(Its) sales in dollars will be a very small number," Glaxo Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty said of the product during an interview with journalists in New York on Tuesday.

Glaxo will likely derive a "small 5 percent return" on the product -- enough to help encourage other drugmakers to continue their own research against diseases in least developed countries that remain big killers, he said.

"We must ... ensure that we do not do anything which would discourage other companies from entering into this field," Witty said. "If we set a precedent of not-for-profit (pricing), we could discourage others from doing research into malaria or other neglected tropical diseases."

Witty said the vaccine, called Mosquirix, is expected in 2011 to complete late-stage trials involving 16,000 people. If proven safe and effective, and approved by regulators, it would be the first vaccine to protect against infection with mosquito-borne parasites that cause malaria in Africa and other developing regions.

Glaxo last year said it would grant researchers in developing countries access to 800 related patents and patent applications -- known as a 'patent pool' -- related to tropical diseases.

He said the company will likely be inclined at some point to also allow researchers access to patents involving possible treatments for HIV - the virus that causes AIDS, which has taken an especially heavy toll in Africa.

"We want to be part of constructive engagement to see if we can work through the details," Witty said, referring to a possible HIV-drug patent pool.

In the meantime, Witty said Glaxo has already granted eight voluntary licenses in Africa that allow others to produce generic forms of the company's HIV treatments without paying royalties to the London-based drugmaker.

"Last year, those people who took those licenses from us actually manufactured and delivered into least developed countries four times more product than we did," Witty said.

Witty spoke to reporters ahead of a planned speech on Wednesday to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.‹

[DewDiligence]

NVS Inks Vaccine-Development Deal with Synthetic Genomics

[Synthetic Genomics is the company founded by Craig Venter that was recently highlighted in the mainstream press (#msg-50409492). The vaccine collaboration runs for three years and is partially funded by a grant from BARDA. Regrettably, the comment in #msg-50424811 will doubtless continue to be accurate.]

http://www.novartis.com/newsroom/media-releases/en/2010/1449685.shtml

›October 07, 2010 07:15 CET

• Collaboration with Synthetic Genomics Vaccines Inc. combines synthetic biology and genome sequencing capabilities with leading edge vaccine technology

• New technology aims to create more flexible processes to generate influenza seed viruses, with the aim to speed up influenza vaccine production

• Development of library of fully synthetic flu virus strains and ability to rapidly generate new strains could speed response to seasonal and pandemic flu outbreaks

Basel, October 7, 2010 - Novartis announced today an agreement with Synthetic Genomics Vaccines Inc. (SGVI) to apply "synthetic genomics" technologies to accelerate the production of the influenza seed strains required for vaccine manufacturing. The seed strain is the starter culture of a virus, and is the base from which larger quantities of the vaccine virus can be grown. The three-year agreement, supported by an award from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), could ultimately lead to a more effective response to seasonal and pandemic flu outbreaks.

Currently Novartis and other vaccines companies rely on the WHO to identify and distribute live reference viruses to create seasonal or pandemic vaccines. Under this collaboration, Novartis and SGVI will work to develop a "bank" of synthetically constructed seed viruses ready to go into production as soon as WHO identifies the flu strains. The technology could reduce the vaccine production time by up to two months, which is particularly critical in the event of a pandemic.

"Our research strategy has always been to apply new vaccine technologies and innovation to deliver better prevention methods and meet patient needs," said Rino Rappuoli, Head of Research for Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics. "We are pleased to work in collaboration with Craig Venter and SGVI to study and develop this promising and important new synthetic genomics technology. It has the potential to safely reduce the time needed to develop new vaccines and improve pre-pandemic preparedness."

"Synthetic Genomics Vaccines Inc is pleased to be working with Novartis on this key application of synthetic genomic technology," said Dr. Venter, founder and CEO of SGVI. "The Venter Institute has a long and successful history of working with Novartis and we are excited to extend this relationship with SGVI to use the latest advances in our science to improve and enhance vaccine development and production."

Novartis plans to test vaccines that could potentially result from this new approach in large-scale clinical trials. Review and approval from country health authorities will be obtained before any commercial use.

SVGI is a new company formed by Synthetic Genomics Inc and the not-for-profit research institute, the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). JCVI is currently working to sequence genes representing the diversity of several viruses, including influenza virus, and Novartis has been working with JCVI for more than a decade to apply their findings in the genomics field to develop novel vaccines that prevent disease. The last collaboration introduced the use of genomics in vaccines research, a technology today known as "reverse vaccinology".

About Synthetic Genomics Technology

Synthetic genomics is a field of science in which genomes are designed using the computer and constructed in the laboratory using chemical techniques. When the genome of a potential influenza vaccine seed virus is synthesized and placed in a suitable cell, the essential starting material for an influenza vaccine can be produced. This technology holds promise to create a fast and flexible process to produce vaccines more rapidly when a new strain emerges.‹