biotechnology

Peter Saltonstall, president of the National Organization of Rare Disorders, speaks at a rally Tuesday in support of tax credits for companies that develop drugs for rare diseases.

Health & Safety

Advocates For Patients With Rare Diseases Defend Tax Credits For Orphan Drugs

6:13pm November 29, 2017

by Sarah Jane Tribble

The Republican tax plan could reduce or eliminate federal tax credits that reward companies for developing drugs to treat rare diseases. People who benefit from the medicines have objected.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, center, and other lawmakers have a plan to overhaul the tax code that includes a provision that would repeal a tax credit for makers of drugs for rare diseases.

Health & Safety

House Republicans Aim To Eliminate Tax Credits For Orphan Drugs

2:55pm November 03, 2017

by Sarah Jane Tribble

For more than three decades, pharmaceutical companies have claimed a 50 percent tax credit for the cost of clinical trials of drugs for rare diseases. The credit is now in jeopardy.

Scott Deeter, president and CEO of Ventria Bioscience, says that Chinese theft of his technology could have driven him out of business.

Spies In The Field: As Farming Goes High-Tech, Espionage Threat Grows

2:34pm June 08, 2017

by Bryan Thompson

Recent cases involving Chinese nationals conspiring to steal trade secrets — from gene-spliced rice to corn seed — have highlighted the risk of intellectual property theft from U.S. companies.

The Government Accountability Office will investigate potential abuses of the Orphan Drug Act.

GAO Will Investigate Skyrocketing Prices For Orphan Drugs

4:20pm March 22, 2017

by Sarah Jane Tribble

The Orphan Drug Act was created to help patients with rare diseases get life-saving medications. But soaring prices suggest the law is being manipulated to increase profits.

Seven of the top 10 drugs by U.S. sales in 2015 were orphan drugs.

Drugs For Rare Diseases Have Become Uncommonly Rich Monopolies

5:23pm January 17, 2017

Drugmakers have brought almost 450 orphan drugs to market and collected rich incentives by doing so. But nearly a third of the medicines aren't new or were repurposed many times for financial gain.

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The mantis shrimp has "hexnocular vision" (as opposed to our binocular vision), thanks to its three "pseudopupils" in each eye.

WATCH: Mantis Shrimp's Incredible Eyesight Yields Clues For Detecting Cancer

4:10pm November 15, 2016

by Elliott Kennerson

Cancer cells, it turns out, reflect light in a particular, polarized way that mantis shrimp can see. A tiny camera based on the shrimp's eye might help doctors better visualize tumors during surgery.

Virginijus Siksnys' large research team at the Vilnius University Institute of Biotechnology in Lithuania.

Science Rewards Eureka Moments, Except When It Doesn't

5:31pm November 02, 2016

by Rae Ellen Bichell

An easier way to edit genes, called CRISPR-Cas9, is revolutionizing biomedical research. But as patents and big prizes hover, some contributors to the discovery aren't getting much credit.

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A multi-million dollar effort to produce a test to guide treatment for a potentially lethal skin cancer recently fell apart after the scientific investigator discovered that the commercial antibodies he was using were unreliable.

Flawed Research Tool Leads To Faulty Medical Findings

5:00am September 29, 2016

by Richard Harris

Just as natural antibodies help your body find and fight microbial invaders, tailored research antibodies let scientists target and study cancer cells. But too many are poorly made, scientists say.

In 2015, the Sandoz unit of drugmaker Novartis won Food and Drug Administration approval of a drug called Zarxio, which is similar to Amgen's Neupogen, a medicine that boosts the production of white blood cells.

FDA-Approved Knock-Offs Of Biotech Drugs Could Safely Save Big Bucks

5:01pm August 01, 2016

by Alison Kodjak

Drugs that consist of proteins and antibodies typically made by living organisms represent the new frontier in drug industry competition.

Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of Theranos, speaks at the Fortune Global Forum in San Francisco on Nov. 2, 2015.

Health & Safety

Biotech's Theranos Offers A Cautionary Tale For Silicon Valley

6:38pm May 02, 2016

by Laura Sydell

The blood-testing startup led by Elizabeth Holmes soared on hype and celebrity boosters. Now it's under federal scrutiny. It could show that Silicon Valley's success model doesn't work in biotech.

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