[Source: The Arizona Republic] - The South Mountain Community College for Agriculture and Bioscience Education was awarded a $290,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The three-year Expanding Undergraduate Bioscience Engagement Track (eUBET) grant gives students a chance to conduct biotechnology research projects and publicly present their works. Students in advanced eUBET biotechnology classes conduct rigorous genomics research by mapping genes and publishing. South Mountain is at 7050 S. 24th St.
eUBET is also designed to increase minority-student access to bioscience education and employment and to overcome barriers for high schools to teach biosciences.
The grant will provide partner high schools with a customized package of resources that may include: bioscience laboratory instruments, bioscience training for high school science teachers, college bioscience curricula for the high schools to teach dual enrollment bioscience courses through SMCC, science lab-technician support, lab supplies, student research project materials, student paid internships and science-fair fees.
Partner schools are Phoenix Bioscience High School, Tempe High School, Marcos de Niza High School, Mesa High School's Biotechnology Academy, Corona Del Sol, Carl Hayden Community High School and Arizona Agribusiness & Equine Center.
Showing posts with label biotech. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biotech. Show all posts
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Company picks Valley to develop skin products
[Source: Ken Alltucker, The Arizona Republic ] - Sunshine and skin damage have prompted a San Diego biotechnology company to expand in Arizona to develop a line of anti-aging skin products.
Histogen Inc. has opened a Tempe office and plans to begin selling three new skin-care products in the first quarter of 2009.
The company said it uses a stem-cell-like technology to foster a skin product derived from skin discarded from infants after circumcisions.
The company wants to parlay revenue collected from the sale of aesthetic products to fund research in areas such as cardiovascular and wound healing.
It's the same playbook sketched out by other Arizona biotechnology companies such as Tucson-based Niadyne Development: develop anti-aging skin products backed by science to raise cash while focusing on a bigger prize of health research.
The Tempe division is called Histogen Aesthetics.
President Lawrence Rheins said the company chose Arizona to launch its aesthetics business due to the Phoenix-area's large network of dermatologists and plastic surgeons focused on cosmetic and anti-aging procedures as well as the state's growing biotechnology hub.
"Everybody who lives here gets photo (sun) damage," said Rheins, who previously served as a director at Hill Top Research in Scottsdale and an assistant dermatology professor at the University of Cincinnati. "There is a real need for these types of products because of the desert climate and the intense sun."
Histogen CEO Gail Naughton was the co-founder of Advanced Tissue Sciences, a former San Diego biotech company that had a promising skin-patch technology to treat burns and wounds.
The company eventually filed bankruptcy amid heavy debt and a struggle to get Food and Drug Administration approval for a key product.
Naughton, now a dean of the college of business administration at San Diego State University, has reloaded with Rheins and several of her former Advanced Tissue colleagues.
Of Histogen's first 25 employees, 18 worked together at Advanced Tissue, Rheins said.
"It is clearly the reason we were able to start as fast as we were able to," he said.
Histogen's Tempe office has four employees, with plans to expand to about 20 workers as the company launches its line of skin products targeting baby boomers and others. The positions will mainly be sales and marketing.
Rheins said the company expects its non-prescription products will be sold by plastic surgeons and dermatologists and distributed by a Tempe company, Secure Medical. Secure Medical CEO John Rao also sits on the board of Histogen, and Secure Medical is an investor.
Histogen's products will be made from an ingredient the company calls ReGenica, which can be used for skin, hair and nail care.
The company said its technology mimics the embryo, allowing the growth of protein-rich material that is similar to what is found in young skin.
Rheins said the company's initial products will include a gel that can be applied to skin after laser resurfacing. It also will unveil anti-aging lotions that are applied day and night.
Earlier this year, Histogen unveiled a kit to grow stem cells, called BioNuesis.
The Tempe division expects to expand with other skin offerings such as dermal fillers or treatments for skin conditions such as acne or rosacea.
Rheins said Histogen has no plans to conduct research at its Tempe office, but the company may conduct clinical trials here.
The parent company, which formed last year, believes the technology can be used to eventually have many beneficial therapeutic uses, including regenerating cells that can help treat cardiovascular patients and heal wounds.
Histogen Inc. has opened a Tempe office and plans to begin selling three new skin-care products in the first quarter of 2009.
The company said it uses a stem-cell-like technology to foster a skin product derived from skin discarded from infants after circumcisions.
The company wants to parlay revenue collected from the sale of aesthetic products to fund research in areas such as cardiovascular and wound healing.
It's the same playbook sketched out by other Arizona biotechnology companies such as Tucson-based Niadyne Development: develop anti-aging skin products backed by science to raise cash while focusing on a bigger prize of health research.
The Tempe division is called Histogen Aesthetics.
President Lawrence Rheins said the company chose Arizona to launch its aesthetics business due to the Phoenix-area's large network of dermatologists and plastic surgeons focused on cosmetic and anti-aging procedures as well as the state's growing biotechnology hub.
"Everybody who lives here gets photo (sun) damage," said Rheins, who previously served as a director at Hill Top Research in Scottsdale and an assistant dermatology professor at the University of Cincinnati. "There is a real need for these types of products because of the desert climate and the intense sun."
Histogen CEO Gail Naughton was the co-founder of Advanced Tissue Sciences, a former San Diego biotech company that had a promising skin-patch technology to treat burns and wounds.
The company eventually filed bankruptcy amid heavy debt and a struggle to get Food and Drug Administration approval for a key product.
Naughton, now a dean of the college of business administration at San Diego State University, has reloaded with Rheins and several of her former Advanced Tissue colleagues.
Of Histogen's first 25 employees, 18 worked together at Advanced Tissue, Rheins said.
"It is clearly the reason we were able to start as fast as we were able to," he said.
Histogen's Tempe office has four employees, with plans to expand to about 20 workers as the company launches its line of skin products targeting baby boomers and others. The positions will mainly be sales and marketing.
Rheins said the company expects its non-prescription products will be sold by plastic surgeons and dermatologists and distributed by a Tempe company, Secure Medical. Secure Medical CEO John Rao also sits on the board of Histogen, and Secure Medical is an investor.
Histogen's products will be made from an ingredient the company calls ReGenica, which can be used for skin, hair and nail care.
The company said its technology mimics the embryo, allowing the growth of protein-rich material that is similar to what is found in young skin.
Rheins said the company's initial products will include a gel that can be applied to skin after laser resurfacing. It also will unveil anti-aging lotions that are applied day and night.
Earlier this year, Histogen unveiled a kit to grow stem cells, called BioNuesis.
The Tempe division expects to expand with other skin offerings such as dermal fillers or treatments for skin conditions such as acne or rosacea.
Rheins said Histogen has no plans to conduct research at its Tempe office, but the company may conduct clinical trials here.
The parent company, which formed last year, believes the technology can be used to eventually have many beneficial therapeutic uses, including regenerating cells that can help treat cardiovascular patients and heal wounds.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Tucson-created cancer drug advances
[Source: Dan Sullivan, Arizona Daily Star] - A local drug-development company with links to the University of Arizona got a boost from a drug-licensing deal with a South Korean company — even before the cancer drug is approved by U.S. regulators.
Tucson-based AmpliMed Corp. said Wednesday that it has entered into a license agreement with a leading South Korean-based pharmaceutical company for exclusive rights to its developmental cancer drug Amplimexon in the Asian nation.
Under terms of the agreement with Seoul-based Handok Pharmaceuticals, Handok will receive marketing and distribution rights for all cancer uses for Amplimexon in South Korea.
The company will pay AmpliMed an upfront fee, plus additional payments based on certain development and regulatory milestones. Additional financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
AmpliMed CEO Robert Dorr said deals like these don't usually happened until results from randomized trials are returned, but Handok came looking to make an investment in the drug.
"Handok was willing to make a substantial investment before the trials were over," Dorr said. "It's a real vote of confidence in the technology."
A local biotech industry official said the deal is a big step for AmpliMed's technology.
"The drug's going to move forward through this relationship," said Nina Ossanna, director of business development for the UA's Bio5 Institute. Bio5 is the UA's cross-campus genetics institute.
Ossanna, who also chairs the Bioindustry Organization of Southern Arizona, said such early licensing deals provide "third-party validation" of a drug's potential.
Dorr said AmpliMed — founded in 1989 by UA cancer researchers — will retain the drug's rights in the United States but may look to sell similar rights to its drug in the European Union and Japan.
So far, the company said it has raised $29.3 million since 2004 to help fund its research.
The drug has undergone rigorous trials and is making progress toward approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said Dorr, who is a UA professor of pharmacology and toxicology and director of pharmacology for the Arizona Cancer Center.
Amplimexon, a spinoff from UA research, has shown results in fighting melanoma, breast, lung, prostate and pancreatic cancer, the company said.
Representatives from Handok noted the drug's potential in the fight against cancer.
"Amplimexon is poised to be a leading product in Handok's cancer pipeline, and we anticipate this promising agent will improve the quality of life for cancer patients," Handok CEO Young-jin Kim said in a press release.
Currently, Amplimexon is in Phase II clinical trials combined with gemcitabine to test for use against pancreatic cancer.
Dorr said that Phase II trials should be completed by the second quarter of 2010, with Phase III trials to wrap up by 2013.
Phase III trials are typically the last step before a drug is submitted for final approval.
The company also plans to start a Phase II trial of Amplimexon in combination with the chemotherapy drug taxotere in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer later this year.
More tests for other cancers, as well as potential further deals with Handok are in the works.
AmpliMed plans to hold trials of Amplimexon in South Korea to combat gastric cancer, Dorr said.
"I foresee further interaction with Handok in the future," he said.
Find the latest news on the local biotech industry at www.azstarbiz.com.
Tucson-based AmpliMed Corp. said Wednesday that it has entered into a license agreement with a leading South Korean-based pharmaceutical company for exclusive rights to its developmental cancer drug Amplimexon in the Asian nation.
Under terms of the agreement with Seoul-based Handok Pharmaceuticals, Handok will receive marketing and distribution rights for all cancer uses for Amplimexon in South Korea.
The company will pay AmpliMed an upfront fee, plus additional payments based on certain development and regulatory milestones. Additional financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
AmpliMed CEO Robert Dorr said deals like these don't usually happened until results from randomized trials are returned, but Handok came looking to make an investment in the drug.
"Handok was willing to make a substantial investment before the trials were over," Dorr said. "It's a real vote of confidence in the technology."
A local biotech industry official said the deal is a big step for AmpliMed's technology.
"The drug's going to move forward through this relationship," said Nina Ossanna, director of business development for the UA's Bio5 Institute. Bio5 is the UA's cross-campus genetics institute.
Ossanna, who also chairs the Bioindustry Organization of Southern Arizona, said such early licensing deals provide "third-party validation" of a drug's potential.
Dorr said AmpliMed — founded in 1989 by UA cancer researchers — will retain the drug's rights in the United States but may look to sell similar rights to its drug in the European Union and Japan.
So far, the company said it has raised $29.3 million since 2004 to help fund its research.
The drug has undergone rigorous trials and is making progress toward approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said Dorr, who is a UA professor of pharmacology and toxicology and director of pharmacology for the Arizona Cancer Center.
Amplimexon, a spinoff from UA research, has shown results in fighting melanoma, breast, lung, prostate and pancreatic cancer, the company said.
Representatives from Handok noted the drug's potential in the fight against cancer.
"Amplimexon is poised to be a leading product in Handok's cancer pipeline, and we anticipate this promising agent will improve the quality of life for cancer patients," Handok CEO Young-jin Kim said in a press release.
Currently, Amplimexon is in Phase II clinical trials combined with gemcitabine to test for use against pancreatic cancer.
Dorr said that Phase II trials should be completed by the second quarter of 2010, with Phase III trials to wrap up by 2013.
Phase III trials are typically the last step before a drug is submitted for final approval.
The company also plans to start a Phase II trial of Amplimexon in combination with the chemotherapy drug taxotere in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer later this year.
More tests for other cancers, as well as potential further deals with Handok are in the works.
AmpliMed plans to hold trials of Amplimexon in South Korea to combat gastric cancer, Dorr said.
"I foresee further interaction with Handok in the future," he said.
Find the latest news on the local biotech industry at www.azstarbiz.com.
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