Author: Biotech Express

This year Elsevier has put Prof Ashok Pandey among the top 5 scientists of India and is continuously coming on top in India in biotechnology among top 2% scientists in the world. Also this month he was awarded Topmost Indian Researcher second time by career360 held at Pradhanmantri Sangrahlay, New Delhi. Professor Ashok Pandey, who has an h-index of 132- the highest in biotechnology in India- is currently Distinguished Scientist at Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India; HTBS National Innovation Chair, and Honorary Executive Director at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability-…

by Dr Piyush Kumar I vividly remember my last conversation with Dr Swaminathan. I was planning a twitter based conference in the field of Biotechnology in 2018. Yes!! An online conference before pandemic and before it became a norm. I emailed Dr Swaminathan, explained him the concept, asked to put his name in the advisory committee and he readily agreed. He was always willing to guide the next generation for a better scientific landscape in India. I have another incident to share. Kamal and I were planning an issue on green revolution for Biotech Express Magazine in 2015 and we…

Conceived by a fiery Victorian physician and rights campaigner named Thomas Wakley, The Lancet came into the world in a fit of protest. Born in 1795 in Devonshire to a family of yeoman farmers with 11 children, Wakley had in his early twenties married the daughter of a wealthy businessman and hospital governor who set him up with a London medical practice. Ensconced in a 15-room house at 5 Argyll Street, Wakley had every reason to believe his success imminent until one evening in 1820 when an unexpected knock on his door was followed by a brutal assault. The assailants…

Helsinki, Finland, 10 Oct 2023 – Valo Therapeutics Oy (ValoTx), the developer of novel, adaptable immunotherapies for cancer, announces it is the first biotech company in Europe to install and use the Bruker Corporation’s new timsTOF Ultra mass spectrometer and liquid chromatography platform, which provides transformative speed and sensitivity for antigen identification in connection with ValoTx’s PeptiCHIP technology. Tumor neoantigens are expressed uniquely by cancer cells and their presence can trigger an efficient immune response against the tumor. Currently the methods available to identify these antigens have significant limitations by being long, complicated and resource demanding. Using the timsTOF Ultra in conjunction with ValoTx’s…

The global population is projected to expand from 8 billion people now to 10 billion by 2050. The world food production (measured in crop calories) will consequently need to increase by about 50% compared with 2010. Yet, today, around 765 million people face hunger. More than 3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet due to high costs, income inequality, persistent pandemic conditions and unceasing armed conflicts around the world (Genome Edited Foods, Nat Rev Bioeng (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-023-00115-8). Conventional plant breeding and genetic engineering technologies alone will not meet the growing demands for food production. In this connection emerging technologies…

Innovative biotech company Noxopharm Limited (ASX:NOX) announces that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) status to Noxopharm’s CRO-67 preclinical drug candidate, for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. The FDA grants ODDs for drugs designed to prevent, diagnose or treat rare diseases or conditions, and the designation comes with various benefits that include: •       Tax credits for qualified clinical trials •       Exemption from user fees (e.g. FDA application fees) •       Potential seven years of market exclusivity after approval So far this year only two other Australian companies have received an ODD from the FDA, from a total of 260…

Research Nester released a report titled “Integrative Medicines (IM) Market: Global Demand Analysis & Opportunity Outlook 2035” which delivers detailed overview of the global integrative medicines (IM) market in terms of market segmentation by intervention, sales channel, and by region. Further, for the in-depth analysis, the report encompasses the industry growth indicators, restraints, supply and demand risk, along with detailed discussion on current and future market trends that are associated with the growth of the market. The global integrative medicines (IM) market is projected to grow with a high CAGR during the forecast period, i.e., 2023-2035 on account of the…

In a scientific first, researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science have successfully created synthetic models of 14-day-old human embryos derived entirely from stem cells grown in a lab. The breakthrough, reported in the journal Nature, provides an unprecedented glimpse into the mysterious earliest stages of human development and could open up new avenues of research into infertility, birth defects, and organ growth. Led by molecular biologist Professor Jacob Hanna, the Weizmann team started with two types of stem cells – those reprogrammed from adult skin cells and others derived from established lab-grown stem cell lines. Using a specialised technique…

Concord Biotech Ltd initial public offering (IPO) opens for subscription on Friday, August 4, and closes on Tuesday, August 8. The allocation to anchor investors for Concord Biotech IPO is scheduled to take place on Thursday, August 3. Concord Biotech IPO price band has been fixed in the range between ₹705 to ₹741 per equity share of face value of ₹1 each. Concord Biotech IPO lot size is 20 equity shares and in multiples of 20 equity shares thereafter. 20% of the company is owned by Helix Investment Holdings Pte Ltd, which is backed by Quadria Capital Fund LP, an Asian private equity fund with…

It was 2018 when the nation first heard about National Research Foundation(NRF) through a speech by Prime minister of India in Indian science congress. Later it was recalled by finance minister N Sitharaman in budget session of July 2019 when she said that the creation of NRF was also one of the key recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020. Again in June 2023 NRF became the topic of discussion when legislation was put on table in the current monsoon session of Parliament. Though the papers describing its detail are not available in public domain, various govt and non govt…