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Company News: Micromet’s BiTE Antibody MT112/BAY 2010112 Demonstrates Potent Activity against Human Prostate Cancer Cells

Micromet, Inc. (NASDAQ: MITI) yesterday evening announced the presentation of pre-clinical data on its BiTE antibody MT112/BAY 2010112, discovered and developed in collaboration with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in Orlando, Florida.

The data (poster # 4561) demonstrate the potent activity of the BiTE antibody against human cancer cell lines and inhibition of tumor growth in animal models.  MT112/ BAY 2010112 directed human and non-human primate T cells against PSMA-positive human prostate cancer cells, resulting in highly efficient cancer cell destruction. In mice, daily doses of MT112/BAY 2010112 as low as 0.05 milligram/kilogram were sufficient to inhibit growth of tumors from human prostate cancer cells.

During the course of the meeting, the Company also presented preclinical data on MT110, its BiTE antibody targeting epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM).  Results reported (poster # 1790) provide further validation of EpCAM as a cancer stem cell target, and show utility of MT110 to eradicate cancer stem cells derived from breast and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Food for Thought: Weekly Wrap-up

Die Welt this week reports on attempts by researchers from the University of Heidelberg to grow a human heart as a replacement organ. As a matrix, they plan to use the collagen structure of a pig’s heart depleted by all its cells. The structure will be incubated in a bioreactor with the cells of the patient who needs a new heart.

How damaged arteries or wounded skin may be regenerated by a new method, which will be available soon, is described by Wendy Zukermann in New Scientist. The trick is done by turning tropoelastin, a precursor of elastin found in skin and blood vessels, into a flexible fabric by electrospinning. The technology will now be further explored with support by Australian biotech company Elastagen.

Novel insights into how tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC,  exerts its mind-altering and pain-relieving effects revealed that THC binds to different molecular targets on cells to produce the to effects. As Andy Cochlan describes in New Scientist, the pain-relieving effect is caused by THC binding to glycine-receptors, increasing their activity. The typical “high” in contrast is caused by THC binding to the cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1). As a result, it may now be possible to create new pain killers.

In the same magazine, Mark Buchanan features a computer model of neural networks supporting the idea that the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are caused by excessive uncontrolled synchronization of neurons. This makes it more difficult for the brain to end a task or begin a new one. In healthy brains, neurons fire synchronously only in a brief and controlled way.

Gina Kolata in the New York Times features two new, large gene association studies on Alzheimer’s disease that led to the discovery of five novel genes involved in the disease, making onset more likely and/or influencing disease progression. The studies, which are to appear today in Nature Genetics, confirm already existing hypotheses that the onset of AD is linked to inflammatory processes in the brain as well as to blood cholesterol levels.

The Economist introduces a powerful new battery suitable for cars that can be recharged completely in minutes. It is based on Nickel and charging rates are ten to 100 times higher than that of marketed battery. However, the development is still at a very early stage.

Much more advanced is a revolutionary car battery developed by German DBM Energy. The lithium polymer based battery enabled an electrically powered Audi A2 last autumn to drive 600 km from Munich to Berlin without recharging and has now been meticulously tested by the Germany’s Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). Jürgen Rees in Wirtschaftswoche reports that  BAM found the battery to be safe and confirmed the extraordinary cruising range. In the BAM tests, the car drove more than 450 kilometers on a single charge. Media reports had cast doubt about the features and performance of the battery after the test car was destroyed by a fire shortly after the record drive last year.

Company News: bubbles & beyond launches printing roll cleansing agent line enpurex®

Next-generation, superior intelligent cleansing fluids reduce printing down time, get rid of dangerous substances

bubbles & beyond, a technology company focusing on customized intelligent fluids™, today announced the official launch of its enpurex® product line, a range of next-generation cleansing agents that mark the beginning of a new era in printing industry cleaning. The cleansers are water-based, non-flammable, free from aggressive chemicals, biodegradable, and also superior to existing products in terms of efficacy. enpurex® products are based on bubbles & beyond´s novel, proprietary intelligent fluids™ approach and offer significant process cost savings, excellent compatibility of materials, optimum efficacy and operating safety.

Food for Thought: Evotec’s Werner Lanthaler on Capital Efficiency in the Biotech Industry

Werner Lanthaler, CEO of German biotech company Evotec AG, who managed to make the company profitable for the first time in 18 years, this month gave his appraisal of how medical research can regain its former glory in a commentary in MedNous.

With only 200 of 6,000 biotech projects being potential deal candidates for big pharma (and less than half of them being potential top-sellers), Lanthaler states that capital efficiency needs to be the new norm in innovation.

To make this happen, he gives four recommendations:

1. Always fight the cause of the disease, not the symptoms. To make this happen, Lanthaler calls for new cooperation models involving research institutions, companies, regulators, and payers. In large indications, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Lanthaler suggests joint initiatives by big pharma corporations.

2. Only end-products, not processes count. This means that efforts to pump more public money into early stage research is fruitless unless it is accompanied by translational work. To focus on products, Lanthaler recommends that companies build more flexible organizations and  lower fixed costs and spending.

3. Learn killing projects early. Lanthaler states this requires delegation, very fast decision-making and increased trust in innovation that comes from outside the larger company. Companies should even consider outsourcing certain decision-making processes.

4. Win the next war for talent, so that you can identify and access the best science, be it internal or external.

On the last point, Lanthaler is currently seeking scientists. He told the Hamburg-based local paper Hamburger Abendblatt recently that Evotec is heavily recruiting and welcomes applications of excellent researchers. “If the profile is matching we hire every talent,” he said.

MedNous is a print publication and a website for everyone involved in medical research in Europe. It was founded by Victoria English and William Ellington, two seasoned business and science  journalists.

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