A Research Institute Seeks to Ignite Interest in Personalized Medicine
Podcast: November 27, 2009

Earlier this month the Commonwealth of Virginia announced it would provide financial support to help establish a home for the newly created Ignite Institute, a unique non-profit focused on translating innovations in personalized medicine into patient care. At the same time, the Institute announced it had formed a major founding partnership with Virginia’s Inova Health System. We spoke to Dietrich Stephan, founder and CEO of the Ignite Institue, about what it will take to realize the promise of personalized medicine, what makes his institute unique, and what barriers will need to be overcome to allow personalized medicine to deliver on its promise. Read More Here

Culture Shift
Novartis and HHS partner for faster flu vaccine manufacturing.
Novartis and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will invest nearly $1 billion to build the first large cell culture-based flu vaccine manufacturing center in United States. The new North Carolina manufacturing facility will be capable of producing up to 150 million doses of flu vaccine within 6 months of a pandemic declaration should an emergency warrant it, but not until 2011, Novartis says. Read More Here

Clavis and Clovis Click
Norwegian biotech inks $380 million cancer deal with newly formed private pharma.
Norwegian biotech Clavis Pharma and privately held Clovis Oncology signed an agreement for the development and commercialization of Clavis’ CP-4126 anti-cancer compound, currently in a mid-stage trial as a treatment for pancreatic cancer. Clovis Oncology is a relatively new company led by former Pharmion executives who had raised $145 million in venture capital in the spring of this year with the idea of finding promising oncology programs to develop. Now they have their deal, which includes a $15 million signing fee for Clavis, up to $365 million in milestone payments, and tiered double-digit royalties on sales. Read More Here

A Bone of Contention
Merck successful in Fosamax defense.
Merck has triumphed in the second of three key cases alleging its osteoporosis drug, Fosamax, can cause osteonecrosis of the jaw. The victory comes just two months after a similar case resulted in a mistrial when its jury deadlocked. In a summary judgment for Flemings v. Merck, issued November 23, Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge John Keenan said the case’s plaintiff, Bessie Flemings, failed to present sufficient evidence that Fosamax caused the deterioration of her jaw bone. Read More Here

Paying a Price for Ads
Drug ads ineffective for boosting sales, could cost taxpayers study finds.
U.S. taxpayers may be on the hook for the high cost of drug advertising that does little to boost sales, according to a new study led by a University of British Columbia health policy researcher. The study, published in theArchives of Internal Medicine, examined the U.S. sales patterns of Plavix (clopidogrel), a top-selling drug used to prevent blood clots after heart attack or stroke. The drug was selected for the study on the impact of advertising on sales because it was sold for more than three years before the launch of its first direct-to-consumer advertising campaign in 2001. Read More Here

Superbug on the Rise
New study finds potentially lethal MRSA increased seven-fold in hospital outpatients.
The community-associated strain of the deadly superbug MRSA—an infection-causing bacteria resistant to most common antibiotics—poses a far greater health threat than previously thought and is making its way into hospitals, according to a study in the December issue ofEmerging Infectious Diseases. The new threat is easily picked up in fitness centers, schools, and other public places and has increased the overall burden of MRSA within hospitals, the report found. Read More Here

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